How to understand and recognize that a newborn baby has colic

Colic is a very common and not the most pleasant phenomenon in the life of a newborn. Usually, parents are trying with all their might to alleviate the condition of the baby.

And how to understand that a child has colic? Experienced parents can usually identify this process without difficulty. But what about young new parents?

What is colic

The concept of "Colic" is literally translated from Greek as pain in the intestine. Colic is called pain in the intestines in somatically healthy babies.

Usually, such painful sensations are caused by the accumulation of gas in the intestines. They cause spasms of the smooth muscles of the intestine, which leads to bouts of pain.

Unpleasant sensations are episodic and can last up to 3 hours in a row.

The main causes of colic

In order to help the baby and eliminate colic, you need to roughly imagine for what reasons they arise. This can, at least to some extent, help prevent their occurrence.

The most common causes of colic are:

• insufficient maturity of the digestive system;
• dysbiosis;
• getting into the esophagus of acid secreted by the stomach (this process is also called gastroesophageal reflux);
• sensitivity of newborns to environmental factors;
• negative psychological attitude of a young mother during breastfeeding;
• non-observance of the rules of feeding (due to the wrong position of the body or head, the baby swallows air along with breast milk);
• the baby is lactose intolerant;
• migraine of newborns.

Knowing the reasons, you can quickly understand how to help and alleviate the child's condition.

But before rushing to help, it is necessary to determine that the baby really has colic. After all, the crying of a child can be caused by many other reasons.

Colic symptoms

Colic is quite easy to recognize, usually accompanied by the following symptoms:

• The baby goes into fits of crying - long, loud, literally heartbreaking.
• It is practically impossible to calm the baby while crying. The most acute attacks of painful colic occur in the first month of life.
• Another important sign is that the rest of the day the child looks healthy, calm and cheerful, consumes food with appetite.
• Colic often occurs at the same time, usually in the evening.
• The knees of newborns instinctively press against the tummy.
• Baby's tummy, swollen, tight and tight to the touch.
• The baby can spit up food, because during colic it intensely pushes, grunts and strains.
• The kid refuses the offered food.
• The newborn's face turns red.
• With each attack of fighting, the baby bends, knocks on the air with his arms and legs.

Methods for getting rid of colic

There is no generally accepted way to eliminate colic. The intensity and duration of colic is different for each baby, therefore, therapy can be individual.

For acute attacks of pain, pediatricians recommend following these tips:

• Perform a light massage of the baby's tummy 15 minutes after eating.
• Performing gymnastics: press the child's legs to the tummy, apply the "bicycle" exercise.
• If the attacks are very acute and additional methods do not help, you can resort to using a gas tube.

Drug therapy

If massage and other recommendations did not have the desired effect, you can turn to the help of pharmacy products to eliminate colic in a newborn.

Before using them, it is recommended to visit a pediatrician to choose the most optimal remedy.

The leaders in terms of effectiveness in getting rid of colic are:

• Probiotics: Lactobacteril, Linex, Acepol, Probifor, etc.
• Laxatives based on simethicone: Bobotic, Smecta, Espumisan, etc.
• Sedatives for babies: Phenibut, Pantogam, Anvifen. The mother of the baby is recommended to use valerian, chamomile or motherwort.
• If colic is provoked by dysbiosis, the child can be prescribed Probifor, Bifikol, Atzilakt, etc.
• Means to reduce gassing: Gaviscon, Milikon.
• Enzymes to improve the digestive tract: Creon, Lactazar.
• When the cause of colic is acid reflux, Nizatadine, Ranitidine, Famotidine are usually prescribed.

It is possible to eliminate the manifestations of colic with the help of folk remedies. So, decoctions of fennel, dill and anise are well suited for this purpose.

To establish the exact cause of colic, it is necessary to undergo a thorough examination with the baby. It is unacceptable to engage in self-diagnosis, as well as self-medication.

Correction of the diet of a nursing mother

Often the cause of acute colic in the intestines of newborns is the mother's unhealthy diet. If the baby suffers from tummy pains, the mother should reconsider her diet.

So, it is permissible to eat the following foods and dishes:

• cereals based on cereals;
• green tea;
• dried fruit compote (unsweetened);
• unrefined vegetable oils;
• cheese without spices;
• bran bread;
• lean meat;
• stewed, boiled or baked vegetables;
• biscuits and crackers;
• still mineral water;
• butter (in small quantities).

Mom should consume some foods with caution, carefully monitoring the baby's reaction. These include:

• bananas, apples, raw vegetables;
• pasta;
• baking and baking;
• cabbage;
• strong tea and coffee;
• legumes;
• eggs;
• raisin;
• garlic;
• ice cream, dairy products;
• grape.

The following list of products for use by a nursing mother is strictly prohibited:

• alcohol;
• canned food;
• margarine, mayonnaise;
• semi-finished products;
• smoked meats, pickles;
• condensed milk;
• chocolate.

General recommendations

To avoid and alleviate colic in a newborn as much as possible, you should adhere to several not too complicated recommendations:

1. You should not give the crumb to overeat. Colic is much more common in children who eat greedily.
2. Immediately before the feeding process, you should let the baby lie on his tummy.
3. After eating, you need to give the child the opportunity to regurgitate the air that he swallowed with food. For this, the baby needs to be held for a while in the position of the column (leaning vertically against the shoulder of an adult);
4. An adult can place his palm on the baby's tummy and make pressing movements as gently as possible. This can contribute to the discharge of the tormenting gas in the newborn.
5. As often as possible, you should carry your child in an upright position (on your hands, in a sling, a special backpack). Thus, conditions are created that vaguely resemble the mother's womb so familiar to the baby. It is possible that the baby will calm down being close to a loved one, and new unfamiliar views that open up will distract the child from pain. Also, in this position, a certain angle of pressure on the tummy is provided, which is also able to stop pain.
6. A nursing mother should be more attentive to her diet and exclude from it all foods that contribute to the formation of gas in newborns.
7. In some cases, it is worth contacting a breastfeeding specialist. It is possible that the colic was caused by improper attachment of the baby to the breast.
8. If the baby is breastfed, all instructions for preparing the formula must be carefully followed to prevent the baby from overeating.

You can use special anti-colic bottle nipples. If necessary, consult a pediatrician to find the optimal formula for feeding your baby.

When do you need a doctor's help?

Sometimes colic is accompanied by additional alarming symptoms. In no case should you ignore them, you must immediately invite a doctor to the newborn. These are the signs:

• the child will have a high fever;
• stool problems: unusual color, odor, or consistency;
• the baby cannot calm down for too long;
• colic accompanied by profuse vomiting;
• the baby is pale and lethargic, weakly reacts to what is happening around;
• after the cessation of an attack of colic, the baby still looks sick.
• parents have taken all possible measures to get rid of colic, but the pain still does not go away for a long time.

Colic is the physiological state of the newborn's body, which is quite often manifested in most babies.

Parents of children who have tummy pains should learn more about the nature of colic and how to treat it.

And most importantly, you should be patient and remember that colic will most likely disappear by 3 months, and possibly even earlier.

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