-IBIS-1.7.6-
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digestive system
colic
Nutrition
dietary guidelines
Feeding on demand can help stabilize an infant's blood sugar and relieve digestive distress. It is also important for parent's to learn their infants crying "vocabulary." Different style of crying may need different parental responses, other than feeding, such as a need to be held or to sleep.
(Taubman B. Pediatr 1984 Dec;74(6):998-1003.)
fresh juices:
dill tea
fennel tea
caraway tea
peppermint tea
chamomile tea
specific remedies:
colic with vomiting and diarrhea: take 100 g sweet potato vine, cut into small pieces, add salt and stir-fry until it begins to scorch. Add water and simmer until cooked. (Chao-liang, Qing-rong, Bao-zhen, p. 15)
avoid:
food allergens, especially cow's milk, including foods in the mother's diet for breat-feeding infants
(Clyne PS, Kulczycki A. Pediatr 1991;87:439-444; Evans RW, et al. Lancet 1981;49:1340-1342; Lothe L, et al. Pediatr 1982;70(1):7-10; Jakobsson I, Lindberg T. Pediatr 1983;71(2):268-271; Sampson HA. J Pediatr 1989;115:583-584; Lothe L, Lindberg T. Pediatr 1989;83(2):262-266; Hill DJ, et al. J Allergy Clin Immunol 1995;96:886-892.)
gas-producing foods: cabbage, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, broccoli, radishes, eggs, onions, green peppers
greasy and burned foods
meat, alcohol, dairy, hot sauces, spicy foods, fried foods, fatty foods, rich foods, salty foods, coffee, caffeine, sweet foods and sugar
supplements
Magnesium 300-600 mg per day.
footnotes
Clyne PS, Kulczycki A. Human breast milk contains bovine IgG. Relationship to infant colic? Pediatr 1991;87:439-444.
Evans RW, Fergusson DM, Allardyce RA, et al. Maternal diet and infantile colic in breast-fed infants. Lancet 1981;49:1340-1342.
Hill DJ, Hudson IL, Sheffield LJ, Shelton MJ, Menahem S, Hosking CS. A low allergen diet is a significant intervention in infantile colic: Results of a community-based study. J Allergy Clin Immunol 1995 Dec;96(6 Pt 1):886 -892.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: The effect of diet change in 38 bottle-fed and 77 breast-fed "colicky" infants, referred from community-based pediatric facilities was studied over a 1-week period in a double-blind (within each feeding mode), randomized, placebo-controlled trial. METHODS: Bottle-fed infants were assigned to either casein hydrolysate or cow's milk formula. All mothers of breast-fed infants were started on an artificial color-free, preservative-free, additive-free diet and also randomized to an active low allergen diet (milk-, egg-, wheat-, nut-free) or a control diet. RESULTS: The response to diet was assessed on day 1 and day 8 with the use of a previously validated infant distress chart on which parents recorded distress levels. If successful outcome was defined as a reduction in distress of 25% or more, after adjusting for age and feeding mode, infants on active diet had a significantly higher rate of improvement than those on the control diet (odds ratio, 2.32; 95% confidence interval, 1.07-5.0; p = 0.03). Analysis of the day 8 to day 1 distress ratio, again adjusted for age and feeding mode, showed that infants on the active diet had distress reduced by 39% (95% confidence interval, 26-50) compared with 16% (95% confidence interval, 0-30) for those on the control diet (p = 0.012). CONCLUSION: The results suggest a period of dietary modification with a low allergen diet and appropriate nutritional support should be considered in healthy infants with colic.
Jakobsson I, Lindberg T. Cows milk proteins cause infantile colic in breast-fed infants: A double-blind crossover study. Pediatr 1983;71(2):268-271.
Lothe L, Lindberg T, Jakobsson I. Cows milk formula as a cause of infantile colic: A double-blind study. Pediatr 1982;70(1):7-10.
Lothe L, Lindberg T. Cows milk whey protein elicits symptoms of infantile colic in colicky formula-fed infants: A double-blind crossover study. Pediatr 1989;83(2):262-266.
Sampson HA. Infantile colic and food allergy: Fact or fiction? J Pediatr 1989;115:583-584.
Taubman B. Clinical trial of the treatment of colic by modification of parent-infant interaction. Pediatr 1984 Dec;74(6):998-1003.
Abstract: A study evaluating the treatment of colic by modification of the parent-infant interaction was carried out in a private practice setting. The study population consisted of 30 normal colicky infants and 30 control infants matched for age in weeks, sex, and the presence of siblings. The two groups were similar with regard to sociodemographic and other variables with the exception that mothers of colicky infants were older (P less than .005). Quantitative measurements of crying were obtained using prospective diaries of infant behavior. Colicky infants were found to cry 2.6 +/- 1.1 h/d as compared with 1.0 +/- 0.5 h/d for control infants (P less than .001). The treatment of these infants was based on the assumption that colic results from inappropriate parental responses to the baby's crying and consisted of counseling the parent on more effective responses. This resulted in the infants' crying decreasing from 2.6 +/- 1.1 h/d to 0.8 +/- 0.3 h/d (P less than .001), no different from the average of the control group. It is concluded that a major cause of colic is the misinterpretation of infant cries leading to ineffective responses, and that this can be managed by counseling parents on how to respond to infant crying.
Taubman B. Parental counseling compared with elimination of cow's milk or soy milk protein for the treatment of infant colic syndrome: a randomized trial. Pediatrics. 1988 Jun;81(6):756-761.
Abstract: Treating the infant colic syndrome by counseling the parents concerning more effective responses to the infant crying is compared to the elimination of soy or cow's milk protein from the infant's diet in a randomized clinical trial. Because symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea are not part of the infant colic syndrome, infants with these gastrointestinal symptoms were excluded from the study. Dietary changes were accomplished by either feeding the infants a hydrolyzed casein formula or by requiring mothers to eliminate milk from their diets. In phase 1 of the study, the group receiving counseling (n = 10) had a decrease in crying from 3.21 +/- 1.10 h/d to 1.08 +/- 0.70 h/d (P = .001). The crying in the group that received dietary changes (n = 10) decreased from 3.19 +/- 0.69 h/d to 2.03 +/- 1.07 h/d (P = .01), a level still greater than twice normal. The decrease in those receiving counseling was faster and greater than that of those given dietary changes (P less than .02). In the second phase of the study, group 2 infants were reexposed to cow's milk or soy protein and the parents received counseling. In this phase, counseling again decreased crying significantly from 2.09 +/- 1.07 h/d to 1.19 +/- 0.60 h/d (P = .05). No infant in the study who improved with changes in his or her diet had a significant increase in crying, with reexposure to soy or cow's milk protein.