Coping with colic

What is colic?
Colic is a pattern, not a disease. By that I mean, a baby is considered to have colic if she cries for more than three hours a day, for more than three days a week and the crying persists longer than three weeks. All babies cry, but the vast majority can be calmed without difficulty. While most babies will stop crying as soon as you pick them up, a colicky baby only stops long enough to feed. I tell parents that crying, colicky or not, peaks at about six weeks of age.

There are many theories about what causes colic, but nothing is proven. The theory that makes the most sense to me is from Dr. Harvey Karp, an assistant professor of pediatrics at UCLA School of Medicine. He believes all babies are born a month too early and that the best way to comfort a crying baby is to provide him or her with conditions similar to the womb. In his book The Happiest Baby on the Block: The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Newborn Baby Sleep Longer (Bodley Head, 2003, $21), he teaches five steps that imitate the uterus to help calm babies. They are swaddling, rolling Baby on his side or stomach, sh-ing, swinging and offering lots of sucking.

Does formula make a difference?
Some bottle-fed babies appear to cry excessively because of a milk or lactose intolerance. While most colicky babies are not calmed by a change in formula, the odd baby does improve on a soy-based or hypoallergenic formula. However, if no improvement is noted within five days, I suggest parents resume a milk-based formula. Note: This only applies to bottle-fed babies.

What helps?
I suggest parents try a variety of approaches until they find ones that work for their baby. Some babies respond to constant jiggling, others to gentle rocking. You can wear Baby in a carrier, bring the stroller in the house and rock her in it, offer a pacifier or swaddle her. One of my patients suggested warming the baby blanket in the dryer and then using it to swaddle the baby.

What if nothing helps?
Sometimes babies cry and can't be consoled no matter what measures you take to calm them down. This is enormously stressful; however, I want to reassure you this phase will not last forever, even if at the moment it feels like it will never end. By two months of age, your baby will begin to smile, and shortly thereafter the crying will gradually decrease and eventually stop.