Ancient scholars first described infantile colic in the sixth century. Parents today have no trouble describing it today. The baby cries, pulls his knees up to his abdomen, and appears to be in great pain. He may become gassy, then become quiet, then begin crying again. Not much seems to help, colicky babies cannot generally be quieted with feeding or a change of diaper and episodes can last for hours. Colic tends to be most severe at 4-6 weeks of age and gradually subsides by 3-4 months. None of our home remedies will cure colic but most have brought some relief. Mostly remember that this too shall pass!!
Try the colic carry – Extend your forearm with your palm up, place baby on your arm chest down, with his head in your hand and his legs on either side of your elbow. Support the baby with your hand and walk around the house with him in this position.
Burp that baby – some colicky babies do have more abdominal gas than the norm and may be more difficult to burp. Watch the position of the baby when feeding, burp after every ounce, and try a couple of different nipple types if bottle feeding. Have patience! Burp as long as needed
Cut the milk – Breast feeding moms pass on whatever they eat to the baby. Some babies will have a difficult time with cow’s milk. Cut the cow’s milk from your diet and see if the colic clears up, if not eliminate other things one at a time. Some potential problem foods are: caffeine drinks, bananas, oranges, strawberries, strongly spiced foods. My babies had a very hard time with radishes and chocolate. You’ll learn over time what effects your baby the most.
Wrap him up – swaddling a baby can have a very comforting effect and help the baby settle. If your baby needs more physical contact try a front pack to keep him near you but your arms free
Vacuum – It’s bizarre but the sound of a vacuum seems to help colicky babies. Vacuum away and have a really clean house or record the sound and play it back when needed.
Dryer cure – Place the baby in an infant seat and rest it against the side of the dryer so the baby gets the buzzing and the vibrations. This worked perfectly for one of my children!
A hot water bottle or heating pad on babies tummy can help. Place a towel between them and the baby and make sure the heat is just warm, you can easily burn babies tummy so be very careful with this one
Keep a log – Keeping a log helps you track when the baby is having the hardest time and also track the possible causes, foods, stress, how long has the baby been crying, what happened just before this attack? When we are very tired parents things seem much worse than they really are, so keep a log and then you’ll have more info to help you move things along
Swing! – Motion type things are very good for colicky babies. A swing will let most parents get through dinner and sometimes that’s all we need for today!