What Is Colic Babies

From BJM one can read the following we took as an excerpt from their online PDF:

Colic in babies

If your baby has colic, you can feel anxious and exhausted. There’s no cure for colic, but there are things you can try which may comfort your baby.

What is colic?

Babies who have colic are not ill, but they cry a lot more than babies usually do. Colic usually starts when a baby is a few weeks old and stops at 4 or 5 months. No one knows what causes it.

Some researchers think that colic could be caused by wind or painful bowel cramps. Some babies might be sensitive to lactose, a sugar that’s in cow’s milk. Other babies may be sensitive to protein in cow’s milk.

But other researchers think that colic isn’t caused by stomach problems. They think that some babies just cry a lot and some parents are more worried by their baby’s crying.

There are things that may trigger colic in some babies, although researchers don’t know for sure.

Here are some examples.

• What the mother eats and drinks if she is breastfeeding. Chocolate, dairy products, spicy food, caffeine (found in coffee, tea, cola, and some other drinks), and some fruits and vegetables may bring on colic.
• Medicine the mother might be taking that goes through to the breast milk.
• Fast bottle feeding. If your baby feeds in less than 20 minutes, the hole in the bottle’s teat might be too large.
• Worrying or feeling anxious about the baby.

It’s important to remember that colic isn’t caused by you doing anything wrong. And it won’t harm your baby.

There’s some more if you want to read up, just follow the link above. But there are other sources as well:

• The pharmacist “Colic Relief Training Guide” or
• E. Pantley’s “Gentle Baby Care“

It is not an easy thing to cope with, so the main question is: “What can be done?”

Self-Help for colic babies?

You can start by subscribing to our free 10-part mini-course  that is loaded with tips, tricks and advice or you can just go straight to the “recommended reading” page to let us woo you into buying our baby colic eBook, that will help us maintain the yearly server fees our site is hosted on and it will give you all the solutions we know of in a single work. And no, we won’t ruin you in the process.

What is colic in babies?

What is colic in babies is not known yet even though many moms know all about the consequences as they struggle to come to grips with this phenomenon.

There you are, with a fretting, fussing, howling baby who seems to be suffering from some pain; it looks like tummy ache, feels like the baby is having cramps, sounds like someone is torturing the poor thing and it goes on and on and on.

Doctors, pediatric practitioners, midwives, experienced mothers and specialists all stand there, shaking their heads in dismay; there is nothing they can really do except sympathize and ask you to “hang in there” until it blows over, at the latest between 8 or 9 months old.

A fat lot of good this does when you are in this kind of impossible situation, piling up the things that need to be done while on top of this all, the tiredness drags you down; how on earth can you get your rest under such circumstances; pray, tell me if you know.

Doctors discover a new organ

But what is colic in newborn babies? European scientists seem to have discovered a “new” organ and TV channels have reported this: the human gut would contain several pounds of what can only be described as bacteria or germs.

These are extremely useful when it comes to digesting the food we eat; so much so, that these scientists have come to the conclusion that this mass of bacteria must be considered as an extra organ in the human body. When these billions of germs are not in our system any more, we simply would die, unable to absorb new nutrients.

One of the theories that has sprouted from this new knowledge, is that for some newborns, the colonizing process that takes place when the gut becomes populated by the bacteria that are needed for the gut to function properly is more painful.

As far as we seem to know, these bacteria fight each other for their spot in the food chain and while these fights break out, it is not unthinkable that these provoke colic bouts.

This basic bacterial flora is transmitted from mother to child during birth and all children inherit their mother’s intestinal flora.

The repercussions this know-how has is mind boggling to say the least. It seems these days that the medical community sometimes will prescribe a bacterial flora repopulating procedure to cure some ailments for which there are no known medicines.

What really happens is that they ask a healthy person for for some feces; this is then diluted some and the result  is introduced in the recipients’ bowels via a tube inserted though the nose into deep in the digestive system. In short: get someone else’s shit, literally.

The irony of course, is that this quite unsavory medical procedure has the desired results; the patient is cured!

Baby Colic And Migraine

After the shocking revelation that the US military used baby crying sounds to torture prisoners at Guantanamo Bay; which you might find appalling, hang on to your hat, because that’s not the worst that can befall you.

How about being a mom with a colic baby and combining that with migraine?

Moms are more likely to get migraine when the newborn has colic a study shows.

Dr. Amy Gelfand, M.D., a child neurologist with the Headache Center at the University of California, San Francisco, led the study.

Gelfand and her colleagues analyzed data on 154 mothers and their children, determining whether the babies had colic based on parents’ answers to a specific set of questions for the study. Parents were quizzed at their child’s two-month well-baby appointment since colic tends to be most prevalent at that age.

The researchers discovered that mothers who had a history of migraines were 2.6 times more likely to have a baby with colic than mothers who didn’t have migraines.

Among mothers with migraine histories, 29 percent of the babies had colic compared to 11 percent of colicky babies born to moms who didn’t have regular migraines.*

Both seem to be interlinked, in a way, one could state that moms who don’t have migraines will be less likely to have to deal with a colicky baby.

The researchers also seem to know that baby colic is most likely to be more prevalent in babies that are two months old. If it is any consolation to moms dealing with a colic baby, they should be told that colic usually disappears completely at 8 to 9 month at the latest, which is unfortunately also the probable reason why researchers don’t go after a cure.

You could start by subscribing to the free 1o-part mini course or just go to the recommended reading page to check if the eBook on sale is worth considering, as it is a collection of self-help cures, techniques, tips and tricks that has been appreciated by many a parent so far.

* Source:  CBS News and Google Alerts on a Blog

Baby gripe…

is often misunderstood because the causes are not easy to understand.

Many parents have to deal with fretting fussing babies, sometimes, these babies will even have long bouts of unexplained yelling at the most inconvenient times, which puts everyone in the family on edge. In most cases, this difficult period blows over when the child reaches 8 to 9 months of age as if nothing had ever been wrong.

The yelling can go on and on, sometimes for hours on end and nothing the parents do will be able to help, save skin to skin cuddling and gentle waddling. You guessed right of you’re thinking “baby colic”, because often, it is.

The medical community hasn’t been able to solve baby colic as yet. There is not even a definite way of diagnosing the condition, let alone find the cause. That makes it very hard, even for doctors, to help.

Baby colic is an old ailment and scrolls dating back to the 16th century already mention “gripe”, describing symptoms that parents today can easily recognize. To this day, the medical community is still clueless on what the cause could be, but in general, the condition all these symptoms describe is referred to as “baby gripe” or “baby colic”.

Colic symptoms:

1. Lengthy bouts of very loud crying or yelling
2. No apparent cause
3. Strong indications of tummy pains or cramps
4. Several of these events each day
5. Rigid abdomen
6. Legs drawn up

When the above symptoms appear together, doctors will usually diagnose baby colic, without being able to deliver a cure or something to ease the symptoms. That is because they don’t know why it happens. What is known, on the other hand, is that this period of baby colic will eventually blow over, it will go away when the baby reaches 7 to 8 months of age.

The scientific community is not very highly motivated to find a cure for something that will heal all by itself after a couple of months, even though it should be mentioned that some efforts are being made. It is easy to understand when one knows there are very many other much more dangerous diseases in need of cures to be found. In short, scientists are first targeting the killer diseases rather than targeting a condition that cures itself.

In short, parents have to rely on the tips and tricks previous parents have found to be helpful and should you want to find out more, we have compiled a short guide that recaps most of them here.

Gas Relief For Baby With Gas Pains

Gas pains in babies point to baby colic sometimes and parents are ready to go crazy when they don’t know how to get gas relief for their newborn as it tends to cry for hours on end without anyone being able to do anything to soothe the infant.

Gas pains can be horrendous for any infant to experience, especially as they can’t express what is bothering them. They cramp up and rebel against this unfair situation and fight it as best they know how to stop this torture. All family members suffer because of this and sleep deprivation doesn’t help either.

There are many reasons gas pains appear, many agree on possible reasons such as breastfeeding, lactose intolerance or a digestive system that still needs to mature. Soothing an infant to offer gas relief is possible though if you get organized to start coping with the issue, it will take a bit of change and knowing how to go about trying different options.

Solutions to help find gas relief

Skin contact or swaddling are obvious choices, better control of the food, stomach massage all can help to find gas relief for your infant. It will require trial and error and lots of patience to go about eliminating many of the possible causes. The only real hope for gas relief for babies is that in time, it goes away by itself. Gas pains can cause colic and these usually pass when the infant reaches 8 to 9 months of age.

We have a colic guide that will help you get organized to go through all the motions of finding what works best for the infant, whether the pains cause colic from breastfeeding, infant gas, lactose intolerance or any other known disrupting element.

Obvious quick choices are changing the baby, proposing the child to nurse or bottle feed, burping, pacifiers and if breastfeeding, cutting down on spicy foods of strong stimulants such as caffeine or teas.

Other solutions could include walking the baby, going for a drive, creating a background noise or white noise, skin contact and/or swaddling.

Of paramount importance is informing other family members as well as involving them to make sure several goals are met. Very often, mothers will feel they get looks, siblings get annoyed and partners become irritated, so avoiding this is crucial.

Siblings should be made aware of the hard time their new brother or sister is going through because of the colic bouts, mothers in law should avoid looks that can possibly cause confusing messages and partners should be involved to partake in sharing some of the burden to avoid a burn out.

Parents should know that many other families have to deal with colicky babies, that there are relief groups, that there are insidious dangers involved, such as the shaken baby syndrome and that solutions sometimes involve old remedies such as gripe water.

All in all it is a very challenging situation for any parent, but knowing that there are practical solutions and help out there as well as guides goes a long way to comforting everyone involved.

Screaming Baby, Never Shake A Newborn

Newborn screaming baby and shaken baby syndrome are often a sad pair, however you care to look at it.

So how does one react to a continually screaming baby in the house? Whatever you do, don’t take it out on the newborn. The “shaken baby syndrome” is, sadly enough, something that still happens way too often.

Remember, a newborn is fresh out of the womb, where he had nine months of heavenly warmth, not even needing to breathe, let alone regulate his own body temperature or eat, as everything was taken care of.

Suddenly, the newborn is out there, in a cold, loud, brutally uncomfortable world in comparison as to how it was before, after a traumatizing expulsion and what’s more, there is now the feeling of being HUNGRY all of the time!

As adults, we would sometimes kill for less, but babies have only one way of expressing their distress and that is when we get a screaming baby.

It is enough to drive a parent completely nuts, unfortunately, sometimes, this is when the unthinkable happens: in sheer desperation, a father, meaning to do well, will pick up his baby and try and shake some sense into it.

While he means to send a clear message saying “enough” he takes the enormous risk of ending up with a child suffering from the shaken baby syndrome, while his screaming baby was dealing with something no one will ever know.

And the shaken baby syndrome is not something to wave off lightly, as it can happen so fast. During the first year of growth after birth, the human body needs to do some finishing touches. Actually, human babies should remain in the womb a little longer, but then they would be so large that no women would be able to give birth to them.

This means that humans get born a little bit too early for their own good and that they need the time to adjust their bodies to their new living conditions, in short, they need to finish growing into a body a little bit stronger.

It is why a newborn is so fragile and why the shaken baby syndrome is something to avoid at all cost, even if the screaming baby drives one nuts. Remember that it is child abuse and that child abuse is not something society looks upon kindly.

Get help from a friend, a neighbor, a family member, anyone will do to be present for an hour or two so the child isn’t left alone or unattended, while you go and clear your head and take a break. And remember that this isn’t your fault, that you made no mistakes and that a guilt trip is out of the question, you haven’t done anything to earn it.

Remember, it won’t last. The screaming stops at some point in time. If you want to know even more, subscribe to  our 10 part mini-course or check out our recommended reading page, we’ll see you on the other side with more information yet.

Happy Baby, Do colic remedies even exist?

A happy baby colic remedies do not always make. A cure to calm colic simply doesn’t exist yet, but that doesn’t mean people haven’t been looking for one since as far back as the 16th century, because that’s where we find the first mentions of gripe water in ancient manuscripts!

There are numerous baby colic remedies providers and most of these sell their drops online, so it is not hard to get a hold of them. If they work or will do any good is another matter altogether, because there is no known medicine for colic in babies.

As you will hear me voice clearly if you visit the recommended reading page, there is no known medicine, there are no herbal remedies or natural remedies.

If there was, you and your doctor would know! But sometimes, a natural remedy such as gripe water can help, so unless you try them out, you won’t know.

Since the different opinions state that there are between 1 and 2 babies out of 10 who will get colic bouts, imagine the amounts of parents that have to cope with a baby that doesn’t stop howling away four hours on end, day in day out. With that many people looking for colic remedies, it is amazing science doesn’t look a bit harder for a solution to this problem.

As parents, we have to find another way to make a happy baby when baby colic appears. Of course, you could try different types of gripe water, as that is one of the more popular colic remedies to make a happy baby, but if it doesn’t work, you can fall back on other baby colic soothing tricks.

Gripe Water a miracle cure?

There are many things you can try to get a happy baby back, start by telling yourself you are one of a huge crowd of parents that have to deal with this type of situation every year and that it is not your fault. And you can drop the guilt feeling as well, because you are not a bad parent, even if you don’t try gripe water.

Gripe water could be seen as one of many possible remedies that can help solve the situation but it is not a miracle cure and it doesn’t work for all cases.

What Fussy Baby Signs Point To Baby Colic?

What symptoms to look for when you have a fussy baby before thinking of colic remedies, whether you are breastfeeding or not? According to two online sources, the fussy baby site and colic calm, this definition for baby colic was given by a pediatrician named Morris Wessel, way back in 1954:

“Unexplained crying in an infant between the ages of 2 weeks and 4 months, at least 3 hours a day, 3 times a week, for 3 weeks or more.”

Medterms describes baby colic as follows:

Colic is characterized by episodes of irritability, loud crying, and what appears to be abdominal pain with the legs drawn up and the abdomen feeling rigid.

An attack of colic usually begins suddenly, often after a feeding. The cry is loud and continuous. The spells last from one to four hours and the baby’s face often gets flushed or red. The belly is sometimes distended or prominent; the legs alternate between flexed and extended straight out; the feet are often cold and the hands clenched. The episodes, while they can occur at any time of the day or night, typically begin in the late afternoon or early evening.

So what to do about that fussy baby?

How to deal with these symptoms? Can I buy colic remedies? Do colic remedies even exist?

Medterm also states that about 10% of babies get baby colic and if I count the number of newborns every year, that is a huge crowd of parents that are going to have to deal with a fussy baby, even if there are colic remedies.

The sad news is that there is no cure for baby colic but there is a lot you can do to make life a little easier to bear for the baby with baby colic. For starters, you should allow yourself to stop feeling guilty in any way, it is not your fault and you are not a bad parent because your infant has symptoms that point to colic.

A continuously crying infant can drive parents completely mad, it would not be the first time either that a nanny loses her patience with a loudly crying infant. There have been documented cases where one can see a nanny shake the infant so violently that it will suffer from the shaken baby syndrome.

Let us consider what can be done, as there are no miracle cures. If you are breastfeeding, there are certain types of food to avoid. If you are not breastfeeding, there are a number of baby food variations you can consider. As there are no colic remedies as simple as drops or a pill you will have to look for other ways to make the symptoms go away.

These exist, but it will require a bit of organizing and there are also many other articles on this website that will point the way. Of course, you could take the short cut and check out our baby colic relief ebook.

How To Buy Baby Bottles To Solve Infant And Gas Problems

Baby bottles are essential for babies, particularly for mothers who are not into breastfeeding or having a hard time doing so. When you are planning to buy baby bottles, choosing the right baby bottle may not really matter, but for some particular feeding situations, such as an infant with gas problems, having the right baby bottle can make a lot of difference.

When you are to buy baby bottles, first thing that you need to take note of is the shape of the nipple as this is one of the most important things. If you cannot breastfeed your child and wish to feed him with formula, the shape of the nipple may not be of utmost importance.

But, if you are breastfeeding your child and want to occasionally use baby bottles to feed him, make sure to choose a wide base nipple which closely resembles a mother’s breast. This is due to the fact that your baby may have a hard time switching from wide into a narrow latch, especially if he is already used to getting feed from his mother’s breast.

As things go, changing from a natural wide nipple during breastfeeding to a narrow baby bottle nipple can cause the infant to swallow more air than before and before you know it, you have an infant and gas situation that might even resemble baby colic, witch is a place no parent wants to go. Remember though, that colic is only really there if the crying doesn’t stop for three hours for more than three days, because it is easy to confuse the temporary discomfort of an infant with gas and baby colic.

Check the liquid flow rate of the nipple.

Another thing that should be considered is the flow rate of the nipple. The speed at which the milk or formula can come through may vary a lot and so make sure to have a keen eye on these details. There are some baby bottles that are designed for slow or fast flow. But for newborns, make sure to opt for the nipples that can provide a slow flow to prevent your child from choking.

Aside from that, a nipple that delivers milk or formula way too fast for the baby may cause stomach troubles such as colic or gas pain. A little experimentation may also be needed when choosing the right nipple with the right flow type for your child. If you think your child does not like a nipple with a slow flow, try using a nipple with a fast flow when feeding him and observe which of the two works best for him. Also, fast-flow nipples might be required as well as your baby grows older.

Should one buy glass or plastic bottles?

When you are to buy baby bottles, the material used for the bottle should also be taken into consideration. Baby bottles made of glass are easier to clean and may usually last longer. The only disadvantage is that if the bottle breaks, it may cut the child or the mother so you should be very careful when using glass bottles. On the other hand, plastic bottles may not last as long as the glass bottles but they are more economical and are easier to find.

Glass bottles are also a little heavier than plastic baby bottles so when you need to move bags containing baby’s food, there will be noticeable difference in the weight of the bag. That is not a problem when you have a car, but if you rely on public transport, you need to think this one through.

Add to that the possibility of having a slow eater and the heavier glass bottle can cause some discomfort for the one holding it for prolonged periods of time at regular intervals.

Is the shape of the bottle important and what about venting?

Another thing that you should consider is the shape of the bottle and its vent system. Some babies may suck in more air than others while they eat and some are at higher risk of having stomach discomforts than the others. Thus, a bottle with an angled shape and an air vent system might be needed. These can also prevent air from getting into your child’s stomach and reduces stomach discomforts as well.

Should I consider baby bottle liners?

If you do not want to wash bottles often, you may choose to buy baby bottle liners. These are disposable, flexible plastic bags that can be placed inside the bottle and can be removed after each feeding session. This way, you only have to wash the nipples and rinse the rest of the bottle parts.

Silicone or latex nipples for the bottle?

Last but not the least; when you are planning to buy baby bottles, you need to very well consider the material used for the nipples. Silicone nipples are most preferred since they do not pick up tastes or smell even after several usage.

Aside from that, they do not pose any potential risk of having allergies unlike latex nipples. Most importantly, silicone nipples are difficult to chew holes in and so the risk of choking due to chewed off pieces are very low. Do not forget to take note of these factors when you are to buy baby bottles as this may be helpful in your child’s nourishment and to ensure his safety as well.

Sources if you want to buy cheap baby bottle online:

Diapers.com, where there is also a wide choice!

Baby bottle from Diapers.com

Feeding Newborn Baby

One of the biggest concerns parents have when it comes to feeding new born baby is scheduling. However, for the very young infant, scheduling feedings may not be possible. Particularly when it comes to breastfed infants, milk tends to be digested so quickly that multiple feedings around the clock are required.

For bottle fed babies, you may not have to feed as often, but there will still be nighttime feedings for the first few months. This is entirely necessary and normal – your baby should not be deprived of nighttime feedings when they are first born.

Feeding routines are good

However, even when feeding new born baby in the first few months, you can regulate the routine even if scheduling is not possible. By setting a consistent ritual or routine at feeding times, you will help your baby to associate the routine with being fed. This can reduce crying and fussiness as baby learns to expect that feeding is forthcoming when certain things happen.

Training baby helps

For example: if you regularly change your baby’s diaper, and put on calming music before nursing or bottle feeding your infant, then he or she will learn to expect to be fed after a diaper change if the music is playing. Because of this, even a fussy, hungry baby can learn to wait as long as the cues are consistent. That means that you must do the same thing, in the same order, every time.

For nursing mothers, it can be especially helpful to divide up the tasks required when you are setting up a feeding routine. Fathers or other caregivers can bring warm blankets, offer to change baby’s diaper, or bring water for the nursing mother to drink. By taking some of the load off of one individual when it comes to setting the routine, it can make it easier to be consistent, even if it’s 2 or 3 in the morning.

It is important to follow the recommended feeding advice of your baby’s pediatrician. This typically means that when feeding newborn baby, you only want to provide formula or breast milk. Rice cereal should not be given in formula to any baby under 4 months of age, and water is not a substitute for proper feeding and nursing.

Remember, it is important for babies to gain weight at this stage for brain development and overall health. Don’t worry about overfeeding a newborn – they are very good about knowing when they are hungry and when they are not.

You may have heard the old advice that you should only feed at scheduled times and that you should not feed your child whenever he is hungry because you will “spoil” the baby. This type of thinking is absolutely false. Babies under three months of age cannot be spoiled. They can, however, learn to cry more and more often if their needs are not met. Generally speaking, you will have a quieter, happier baby if you attend to his needs as soon as possible rather than making him wait and cry for comfort or food.

Routines can help with this process as well – babies can gradually pick up on patterns and cues, and you will soon learn to distinguish the difference between a cry of hunger and one that is just fussiness. When your routines are synced with your baby’s needs (i.e. you respond to a hunger cry with the feeding routine) you can eliminate much of the general fussiness of a newborn infant.

Once you have established a set feeding routine for your baby, you can work on the scheduling as he or she gets older. Having specific times for feeding is easier when your baby is old enough to remain full for several hours at a time. Some infants take longer to give up their night-time feeding, but with patience and consistency, you can soon have your little one sleeping through the night.