Colic is a condition that causes pain in your infant’s gastrointestinal tract. Learn how to ease this condition and reduce the pain that your baby is experiencing. After all, no parent wants to know that their child is suffering when there is something that they can do to help. Knowing how to help a colicky baby should be on the agenda for every parent.

Colic is something that is extremely common. In fact, it will prove to be impossible for your baby to grow up without experiencing this condition at least once. You can try to prevent it as much as you can but, unfortunately, nothing is able to offer a complete guarantee.

How to Treat Colic in Babies?

Learn what causes your baby’s nonstop crying, and find out how you can tell whether it’s colic or sickness - plus how you can soothe their tears. Trust us when we say that it will prove to be easier than you initially thought. When it comes to colic baby reactions will always be your main symptom.

What is Colic?

First, let’s begin by examining what is colic? This is a term that we have all heard of and experienced, but being able to identify the condition will make a difference as to how you then treat your child. The problem is that colic symptoms are few and far between.

Colic, which may also be known as baby or infantile colic, is a condition that is accompanied by both crying as well as abdominal pain. Of course, your baby is unable to tell you about the pain but it is known that the two symptoms do go together. Some researchers indicate that colic may be an adverse reaction to a protein in milk resulting in bloating, trapped gas and general discomfort.

According to the NHS, you need to examine if your baby cries for more than three hours at a time and for three days across the period of a week. Also, there will be no immediately apparent visible reason for them crying.

They may clench their fists, go red in the face, bring their knees to their tummy or perhaps even arch their back. They will also be very difficult to soothe to the point where you feel as if it is impossible. Of course, your child may display very few of these colic symptoms.

In general, most children will stop suffering from this condition by the time they reach 6 months aside from the occasional bout that we can all have from time to time.

How to Help.

Clearly, hearing your baby cry for such an extended period of time is not nice for any parent. All you want to do is to rush in and help them in any way that you can, but it’s important to do things right.

What we recommend is trying a combination of these tips to see if your baby reacts positively to them and begins to feel more settled.

A Warm Bottle Placed on Tummy.

As they are suffering from abdominal pain, then placing a lukewarm bottle on their tummy can help to soothe that area. Of course, you cannot make it too hot and have a blanket protecting them. The warmth will make a difference and it may even begin to pacify them as well. Colic in babies is painful for them and this will make a difference.

Use a Bottle with a Smaller Hole.

A known cause for colic is the baby inhaling too much air as they eat. In order to combat this, you should use a bottle that has a smaller hole on the nipple. It will then be easier to control what they are taking in and also reduce the chances of them gulping their milk.

Probiotics.

Probiotics can help with your baby's good gut bacteria resulting in better overall belly health. Infant Probiotics can also help with thrush, constipation, acid reflux and gassiness. Mama's Select has introduced a Powdered Infant Probiotics containing 6 different strains of Probiotics that is fantastic for this -- and is easily mixable in about anything including breast milk, formula, etc.

Soothe with Motion.

Gentle motion is known to be extremely useful at helping to soothe a baby suffering from colic. One idea is to place them in a baby carrier of the type that is strapped to your chest. The gentle movement and the warmth that they feel from your body will make them feel safe and secure resulting in them becoming more relaxed.

Another option is to place them in a swing or stroller and gently sway them. Once again, you are looking at soft and slow motions as that is the best way to treat colic in babies.

Wind them After Feeding.

Everyone knows that you need to wind your baby after feeding them and this is something that does indeed work. You simply need to gently pat them on the back and this action can prevent the wind from reaching their gastrointestinal tract and starting to cause pain and bloating. Include some soft swaying motions after winding them to help make them feel more settled.

Distract with White Noise.

Using some white noise in the background can help to distract your baby from what is going on and how they are feeling. However, this should not be your main approach to helping them and should instead be viewed as something additional.

Rock Them Over Your Shoulder.

Slowly rocking your baby over your shoulder can help in a couple of ways. First, it will help soothe them while the heat from your body will also be of comfort. Your baby will sense this bonding moment with you leading to them feeling far more relaxed. Any tension, which is caused by them feeling pain, can then effectively be released. This, in turn, may very well help to soothe them and stop them from crying.

Other Ways to Help.

Research has shown that continuing to feed your baby as before is something that needs to be continued. Of course, you can try changing them between breast milk or formula milk as it is entirely possible that they are having some kind of reaction to one of them. Unfortunately, this is going to be trial and error with you paying close attention to their reaction.

Some parents do swear by anti-colic drops along with various herbal remedies. While they may work for some, you do still need to make sure that you wind your baby after feeding along with incorporating all of the other points.