Infantile colic
Introduction
Infantile colic is defined based on rules of three: inconsolable crying for more than three hours per day, more than three days per week and for longer than three weeks that occur in otherwise healthy infants due to abdominal discomfort, affecting about one-fifth of newborns and infants.
Symptoms usually begin in the second or third week of their lives, reach their peak around 6 weeks, and resolve spontaneously after that.Although infantile colic is a benign process that does not cause short-term or long-term medical problems for an infant, it can be associated with parental guilt and postpartum depression in mothers.
Episodes of colic typically occur at a predictable timing, usually in the evening, and infants often display symptoms of distress. In addition, shaken baby syndrome can also occur if parents are ignorant of how to comfort a crying infant.
- Feeding intolerance and digestive system abnormalities due to underdeveloped digestive system
- Having sensitive stomach or gut
- Bacterial imbalance in the gastrointestinal tract
- Food allergies or intolerances (e.g. cow’s milk protein allergy)
- Bloating resulted from overfeeding or infrequent burping
- Early age presentation childhood migraine
- Inability to appease negative emotions or feelings
- Sex
- Gestational age (preterm and full-term pregnancies)
- Feeding type (formula-fed and breast-fed babies)
- Season of the year
- Sex
- Gestational age (preterm and full-term pregnancies)
- Feeding type (formula-fed and breast-fed babies)
- Season of the year
- Intense weeping that resembles screaming or a sign of agony
- Weeping for no obvious reason as opposed to crying out of hunger or the need to change their diaper
- Severe fussiness
- Facial discoloring such as skin flushing
- Body tension such as clenched fists, arched back, pulled up or stiffened legs, stiffened arms, tense abdomen
Graph + description of effects + citation, incl. studies for different age groups if applicable
L. reuteri significantly reduced daily crying time in infants 2-16 weeks old compared to placebo (Savino, 2010). More than 95% of infants experienced a 50% reduction in their daily average crying time from the baseline measurement by day 14 of supplementation of L. reuteri (Savino, 2010), suggesting reuteri is effective in relieving colic symptoms.
- Feeding practice
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Avoid overfeeding, underfeeding, or feeding too quickly to prevent ingesting too much air
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Bottle-feed the baby in an upright position and burps them frequently to facilitate feeding
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- Diet choices
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Try to feed the baby with breast milk instead of formula since it contains human milk oligosaccharides that can strengthen their digestive and immune system. Breast milk can also shield infants from milk protein allergies. In addition, mothers should also avoid consuming common dietary allergies like dairy and nuts.
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Switch formula milk to low-lactose milk powder or hydrolyzed protein milk powder when the baby starts to exhibit colic symptoms
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- Diet choices
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5S
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Swaddling: wrap your baby with their arms snug and straight at their sides
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Swinging: swing in fast and tiny movements while supporting the baby’s head and neck
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Sucking: suck the baby using a pacifier, thumb, or breast to reduce baby’s heart rate, blood pressure, and stress levels
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Side or stomach position: place the baby on their stomach or side
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Shushing: play white noise to recreate the sound of blood flow in the womb
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Apply hot compress to the baby’s belly and gently rubbing it in a clockwise direction to relieve bloating
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- Probiotic supplementation: Probiotics can modulate the immune system and balance of gut microbiome by inhibiting the growth of harmful bacteria. It can also stimulate intestinal peristalsis to prevent toxins from accumulating in the body and maintaining digestive health.
