Colic in a newborn: what to do, how to help, causes

The birth of a baby is a holiday. The life of new parents revolves around a newborn. Up to 2-3 weeks, the child eats and sleeps, without bringing worries to others. But one fine evening a nightmare begins: the child starts crying. Complainful crying with enviable regularity is repeated every day, more often in the evening or at night. Mom and Dad, despite the assurances of others that this is a normal phenomenon in infants, run to the clinic. The doctor delivers a verdict: infant colic, asks to be patient for several months, prescribes treatment to alleviate the baby's condition.

Intestinal colic in a newborn is severe pain in the abdomen from time to time. They occur from excessive gas accumulated in the intestines, cramps and difficulty in emptying, begin in the third week after birth, subside by the fifth month.

Attacks are associated with the fact that from the moment of birth, babies begin to eat on their own, while the children's gastrointestinal tract adapts to new conditions of functioning. The first time the pain is single, about fifteen minutes. Gradually, they become more frequent, increasing in duration up to three hours, until the baby is pumped or gases leave. It has been noticed that colic is more common in boys.

Symptoms

It is difficult to confuse the symptoms of intestinal colic:

• The baby's face turns red;
• The fingers of the palm are clenched into fists;
• He twists with arms and legs;
• His tummy turns into an inflated tight bundle of nerves;
• He cries long and painfully;
• Difficulty stooling
• Regurgitation and flatulence;
• They are able to pass on their own.

If an infant has a fever, nausea appears, an urgent need to consult a pediatrician. Often childhood illnesses have symptoms similar to colic.

Scientists still argue about colic. Children's doctor Komarovsky, well-known in Russia, has been studying them all his life, but he is unable to give a clear answer: what it is. The causes of the occurrence are not fully understood. Several assumptions fall into two groups.

Colic in a healthy child

Colic in newborns does not affect the development and health of children. They eat well, gain weight, but often cry. Why?

Immature digestive system

It's all to blame for the lack of beneficial bacteria and enzymes in the digestive tract. During the first 2-3 weeks of life, their supply in the child's body is depleted. The microflora is enriched as the necessary microorganisms enter with breast milk, and with a deficiency, gas formation, cramps and pain in the tummy begin. The chair will break.

Unsuitable food

Perhaps, with a shortage of breast milk or its absence, the formula for artificial feeding is incorrectly selected, or the symptom develops when switching to another formula. There is an individual intolerance to the components of the mixture and allergic reactions. Incorrect preparation: insufficient thickness or, conversely, too viscous consistency with lumps. Food has difficulty moving through the intestines, causing cramping.

Improper maternal nutrition

Nursing mothers are supposed to be picky about food, not to eat foods that provoke flatulence and allergic reactions. It is advisable to refuse in the first month:

• Any cabbage (white cabbage, cauliflower, Beijing, Brussels sprouts);
• Legumes (beans, lentils, peas, beans);
• Nuts;
• Fresh and dried grapes;
• Strawberries, raspberries;
• Fresh and canned vegetables (cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini);
• White bread, baked yeast dough;
• Coffee;
• Dairy products.

Gradually introducing the listed foods into the diet in small portions, monitor the child's reaction. If the tummy is swollen, loose stools, regurgitation, skin rash appear, and the baby starts crying, give them up altogether. When the baby is 4 months old, his digestive system fully adapts to new conditions. existence, colic will remain in the past, then it is allowed to eat previously prohibited products.

Mom's mood

Infants have a strong emotional bond with their mother. He feels Mom's mood. If the baby is breastfed, the anxiety is transmitted with milk. His nervous system is improving, like the gastrointestinal tract, gradually. On the nerves in the intestines, spasms are formed.

Improper feeding

The baby swallows air while eating:

• When breastfeeding, the baby does not properly grip the nipple. The air passes between the mouth and the chest, the child smacks his lips.
• In the wrong position during feeding. It is applied to the breast in an upright position, which is inconvenient for full-fledged grip of the nipple with the mouth.
• With artificial feeding, a bad nipple on the bottle, a large hole, they hold the bottle uncomfortably, at a large angle.

Overfeeding

If the baby is overfed, he will not have enough enzymes to digest food. The remains begin to ferment in the stomach, giving off gases. The baby starts to spit up.

If, after saturation, they were not allowed to regurgitate, the air goes into the intestines, forming spasms and severe pain. It is better to shorten the period between feedings, then the portions will decrease, the milk will be better absorbed.

Children's migraine

Scientists believe that the development of vision and hearing in children occurs in the first months of life. The central nervous system and the brain are under tremendous stress and undergo natural changes. Headaches, called childhood migraines, appear, which provoke spasms in the gastrointestinal tract.

Cry

A baby with colic often cries a lot, sobbing and gasping for air. Swallowing it, provokes new attacks. The circle is closed.

Lying on your back

The baby is in a supine position for a long time. Digestion in a horizontal position is slower. It is difficult for food to pass through the intestines, it stagnates, rots, provoking the formation of gases. Swallowed air travels through the intestines longer. The attacks of pain increase in time.

Colic of a sick child

Associated with diseases of the digestive system. For instance:

• Lactose intolerance;
• Allergy to formula or maternal food;
• Enterocolitis;
• Dysbacteriosis;
• Heartburn.

What to do with colic in newborns?

Although intestinal colic is a common occurrence for newborns, a normal parent will not be able to survive the constant crying, watching the torment of his crumbs. The phenomenon is supposed to be fought.

What to do to get rid of colic? How to treat in order to avoid the consequences, to prevent the development of a serious disease? How not to provoke a new painful attack?

What not to do

So that the child does not suffer from abdominal pain, cries less and develops well, they do not recommend:

• Breastfeed strictly by the hour, switch to artificial feeding. Breast milk contains melatonin. The hormone has a good effect on the child's sleep and helps fight colic. There is no substance in the mixtures, but they can contain ingredients that are intolerable to an infant.
• Mom to follow a diet. A nursing mother in the first months can exclude from the diet only foods that cause gas formation and allergic reactions. Vitamins and trace elements come with breast milk, so you need to eat a variety of foods, and not sit on the Kremlin's diets.
• Use medications for treatment without a doctor's recommendation.

Fight colic at home

To help a newborn with colic at home, you need to be patient and willing. Parents need to know how to prevent colic, how to relieve it, how to treat it.

Preventive techniques

If you want to make life easier for yourself and your newborn, make it a rule to perform a series of actions daily.

• To prevent a baby from swallowing air while breastfeeding, apply correctly to the breast and watch the nipple latch.
• When artificial feeding, make sure that the bottle is in the correct position, choose a teat that is comfortable in shape and of a suitable size. Modern mothers on the forums recommend using feeding bottles with an anti-colic valve that allows air to pass inside, and not into the stomach. Bottle Dr. Brown - milk drips out of the breast. Bottle Philips Avent - nipple in shape is close to the nipple of a woman's breast. It is easier for a baby to switch from one form of feeding to another.
• Lift your baby upright after each regurgitation feed. Excess air will come out. Wear it for 15 minutes in this position.
• Bend and unbend your knees, pressing them to your stomach. With exercise, the intestines work better.
• Feed before the baby is hungry. Dr. Komarovsky believes this will help prevent flatulence and colic. Small, not having time to get hungry, will suck more slowly, without trapping air.
• Let the baby lie on his tummy for a few minutes before eating.
• Don't upset mom.
• Walk more often in the fresh air, it calms and lulls the child.
• Create a cozy atmosphere without glare or loud noise.

Home remedies for colic relief

If the child began to cry and writhe in pain, remember about the popular remedies for fighting colic:

• Give your baby a tummy massage. Pressing lightly with your palm, stroke clockwise from the navel outward. Helps to calm the baby and facilitate the bowel movement.
• Apply warmth to the baby's belly to relieve cramps caused by overexcitement, prolonged crying, and a bad mood in mom. Means of assistance: a diaper warmed by an iron; warm heating pad; a special belt for colic "Happy tummy", squeezes and warms the navel area, facilitating the passage of gases. A heating pad is used in the form of a bag filled with caustic soda gel; a belt for newborns Baby Nursey from Pecorella. The heating pad is a bag of healthy herbs with a lavender scent.
• The peak of pain occurs every day at about the same time. Bathe your baby. Warm water will help to cope with another attack.
• Create close contact with your baby. Press it with your tummy to your stomach, wear it, soothe it, on the arms or in a sling.
• Create “white noise,” these are monotonous sounds such as a bubbling stream, a waterfall, a humming vacuum cleaner, or a hair dryer.
• Give an enema if you haven't had a bowel movement for a long time.
• For severe pain, a gas tube may help.

We treat colic with folk remedies

Parents often turn to traditional medicine to help a newborn. The use of decoctions from medicinal herbs must be approached with caution. For the first time, give a teaspoon to check the body's response to tolerance to a particular plant species. If there is no negative reaction, it is permissible to start treatment with carminative drugs. Herbs are used for common carminative drugs:

• Fennel;
• Dill seeds;
• Chamomile.

They are filled with boiling water, infused and used to combat flatulence and spasms.

Medications

If infant colic is severe, pediatricians use medication. Consider some of the funds:

1. Simethicone preparations, carminative. They allow gas bubbles in the intestines to drain away, helping to eliminate it. Espumisan - comes in the form of drops. Smecta - powder in sachets. Kuplaton - comes in the form of drops.
2. Probiotics. Beneficial bacteria are used to populate the microflora of a child as prescribed by a doctor, the duration of admission and the dose is determined individually. Acipol - capsules are used for diarrhea and dysbiosis. Hilak forte - comes in the form of drops. Helps with dysbiosis, colic, frequent regurgitation, loose stools.
3. Plant preparations. Plantex - tea granules (fights colic, bloating, nausea, improves digestion, bowel function). Anise - baby drops or herbal collection, help with gas formation.
4. Absorbents. To reduce gassing. Activated carbon - tablets, removes all the muck from the body. The dose is calculated based on body weight.
5. Homeopathic remedies. Viburkol - rectal suppositories. They are used from the moment the baby is born. It has an analgesic, antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory, anticonvulsant, sedative effect.

Not all medicines can be used

Parents are advised to remember that by trying to heal a child on their own, they can harm him. Many are trying to give children Nurofen as an anesthetic, which is extremely dangerous:

• The medicine can be used only from 6 months.
• If not eaten, it irritates the stomach.
• Internal bleeding may develop in diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.

Also, you can not use papaverine as an antispasmodic agent for newborns under 6 months of age.

One hundred percent medicines for colic in newborns no. Remember, this is temporary. Help your child get through an unpleasant period, ease his suffering and pain. Be patient. 3-4 months will fly by quickly. The kid will get stronger. The colic will go away. Sleepless nights will be a thing of the past.