-IBIS-1.7.6-
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digestive system
Colic
Integrative Therapies
Home Care
Colic is a common problem in infants up to 3 months of age. Symptoms include periods of crying, fussiness, and apparent abdominal pain. This often occurs in the evening and can be due to excess gas in the infant's stomach. The exact cause is not known, but colic is thought to occur if the infant is sucking too long on the breast or the bottle, or if the hole in the rubber nipple is too small. The pain associated with colic may cause screaming attacks, which last a few minutes or longer. The baby may almost go to sleep and another attack begin. Usually, the legs are drawn up into the abdomen to obtain relief from passing gas.
If your baby cries constantly for more than 2 hours, and you are exhausted, have no one to help you so you can rest, and are fearful that you will hurt your infant, contact your healthcare provider immediately.
Other causes of abdominal pain in babies may be respiratory infections such as pneumonia and pleurisy. If this is the case, the baby's breathing will be affected, and there will be a cough or other symptoms.
REGARDING NUTRITION:
It is important to determine if your baby has a food allergy. Many times, the colic can be due to an allergy or a sensitivity to the formula, especially cow's milk or soy milk. Try switching to another formula if you are unable to nurse. Even breastfed babies can have colic if the mom drinks cow's milk. In this case, the mom can try to avoid the milk or other possible allergic food.
Developing your relationship with your child may help in reducing the frequency and severity of colic episodes. 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.
Keep a diet diary by recording the foods you eat to see if there is a relationship to your baby's colic.
HERBS USED FOR COLIC:
Make a tea of equal parts of the following herbs: Catnip, Peppermint, and Chamomile. Pour 2 cups of boiling water over 1 heaping tablespoon of the mixture. Steep 15 to 20 minutes and cool. If you are breast feeding, drink 1 cup at least 3 times per day. Give small teaspoon doses to your baby.
Caraway and Fennel seeds can be used as a tea or added to the mother's food.
HOMEOPATHY:
From the following homeopathic medicines, choose the one that best matches your baby's symp-toms. Dissolve 2 pellets in 2 teaspoons of water, and give your baby a few drops at a time.
Colocynthis 6C and Magnesia phosphorica 6C: Use for pain. Alternate these 2 remedies every 15 minutes for up to 2 hours.
Chamomile 12C: For a baby while it is irritable, fussy, and wants to be held constantly.
ADDITIONAL MEASURES INCLUDE:
1. Rhythmic, soothing activities, such as rocking in a rocking chair, help a baby relax. If you are unable to take the time to sit and rock, carry your baby around in a front pack or pouch so that your arms are free to do other things. You can also sit the infant in an automatic swing or in a car seat on top of a vibrating washer or dryer. Make sure the car seat is secure so that it does not vibrate off the edge. Do not leave the baby unattended. Taking your baby for a ride in a stroller is another idea.
2. Soft, monotonous, and continuous sounds calm some babies. Place a softly humming humidifier by the crib. You can also play peaceful music or, possibly, ocean and wind sounds.
3. It is not necessary to feed your baby whenever he or she cries; try holding your baby instead.
4. Place a warm water bottle covered with cotton toweling against the baby's stomach. This may help relieve some babies' discomfort. Check under the water bottle every few minutes to make sure your baby's skin is not too warm. If your baby's skin is turning red, remove the water bottle immediately.
Clinic
Footnotes
BarShalom R, Soileau J. (eds.) Natural Health Hotline. Beaverton, OR: Integrative Medical Arts, 1991-1999.
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.
Schilcher H. Phytotherapy in Paediatrics. Stuttgart: Medpharm Scientific Publishers, 1997, 80.
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.