Colic in newborns is a headache and sleepless nights of dads and moms. Colic is a physiological state of a small child, an adaptive reaction of a newborn to the environment. They begin from about the 2nd week of a baby's life, reach their peak intensity at 6-8 weeks and gradually disappear by 3-4 months. They occur in 75% of babies, moreover, 15–25% of them suffer from severe painful colic.

• Colic appears at the same time, in the evening or at night, rarely in the morning, the child suddenly begins to scream piercingly, while he closes his eyes or, conversely, opens them wide, his face turns red, the child clenches his hands into fists, can press his legs to his stomach .
• Due to the accumulated gases, the tummy may be round, swollen.
• The attack lasts about 3 hours and worries at least 3 times a week.
• During colic, the child may refuse to eat, his sleep is disturbed.
• In the morning and afternoon hours, the baby is alert, eats and sleeps well.
• Attention! Frequent loose stools, vomiting are symptoms of an intestinal disease. Be sure to call your doctor.

Cause of colic in newborns

1. The main cause of colic lies in the immaturity of the digestive tract of the newborn. The intestines still do not know how to move the contents well, as a result of which large gas bubbles accumulate, which burst the intestinal wall, this causes severe pain in the baby.
2. Increased gas formation due to.
3. Lack of the enzyme lactase, which is necessary for the breakdown of milk sugar.
4. Immature system of digestive enzymes.
5. Also, colic can manifest an allergic reaction to some product, more often to sugar.
6. Many parents complain that their children experience colic even with the strictest diet of the mother, scientists have noticed that sometimes colic can be mental in nature. This means that colic is a child's response to the capriciousness and nervousness of his mother.

Interesting to know! In 2012, at the Congress of Neurologists of America, scientists from the University of California (San Francisco) presented the findings of a study in which they proved that children whose mothers suffer from migraines are 2.5 times more likely to have colic.

Should I continue breastfeeding if my baby has colic?

Colic is not a reason to stop breastfeeding. Mother's milk is the most suitable food for a baby!

Dear mothers, I would like to note that colic is not a reason to stop breastfeeding. You may be able to choose a mixture that will really save you from the baby’s evening cries, but you must understand that colic is not a disease, this is a normal physiological state, and not a single mixture can fully support immunity, disease resistance, provide necessary amount of nutrients, vitamins and minerals. In addition, artificial children also suffer from colic.

Why is colic dangerous?

If a child had colic at an early age, this does not mean that at an older age he will be more prone to diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. This is a normal condition that the child safely outgrows and which does not bring any harm to health.

What to do with colic in a child?

From mom's side:

• Mom's diet. In breastfed babies, as a rule, colic occurs as a result of maternal malnutrition. To understand what exactly causes colic in your baby, you need to follow the following diet:

Remove all foods from the diet, except for: cereals on water with the addition of vegetable oil, herbal tea, boiled meat, fish, kefir (up to 0.6 liters per day) and plain yogurt without added sugar, berries, fruits. Eating like this for 2-3 days, you will notice that the baby will become calmer in the evenings.

On a note! In nursing mothers who drink at least 1/2 liter of kefir per day, babies are much less likely to suffer from colic.

From the 3rd day, we begin to introduce one new product per day. It is better to try cottage cheese or cheese first, because they are essential for the body of a nursing mother. Don't be surprised if these foods don't work for your baby: they have been proven to cause excessive gas in the intestines. We try in small quantities (10–20 g) and only in the morning hours, i.e. until 11 am: if this new product causes colic in the baby, then by 22:00–23:00 they will already pass, and the family will be able to sleep peacefully all night. If the baby has colic on the introduced product in the evening, then we remove it from our diet for a month.

On the 4th day, if everything was fine on the evening of the 3rd day, you can try the same product to be sure. And you can try something new. And so you continue until you introduce into your diet all the foods that you ate before giving birth.

Carefully! You should not introduce several products in one day, so you will not understand which one did not go to the child. And reassure yourself that after 4 months you will be able to eat any food.

• No cigarettes.
• No tantrums, no worries on the part of the mother, the child feels and reflects the mood of the mother. With milk, both the hormones of joy and the hormones of stress and anxiety are transmitted. Therefore, kisses on the cheeks, forehead and head! Feel sorry for him at this moment and give more love and affection. The baby should feel the warmth and care of the most beloved person.

The list of foods below is based on a survey of breastfeeding women and these foods may cause violent colic in the smallest quantities:

1. Apple. Even a thin slice, so some mothers began to eat a baked apple only from the 2nd month of a child's life.
2. Fresh vegetables and fruits. Mom should introduce vegetables into her diet in boiled, stewed or baked form.
3. Dried apricots. One thing is enough - and the child will harass screaming for several hours.
4. Cow's milk. Some mothers can easily afford a glass of milk a day, but there are times when milk should be excluded completely for 3 months.
5. Grapes, raisins, grape juice. Causes excessive gas formation.
6. Cabbage, legumes, it is also better not to eat them in the first months for the same reason.
7. Black and white bread, yeast dough. In return, buy bread, for a change, you can alternate different cereals, buckwheat bread is good for nursing, you can eat dry Maria cracker biscuits.
8. Fatty foods, sometimes the child is sensitive even to a piece of butter, which mom adds to porridge.
9. Sugar and anything containing it. Do not eat condensed milk either.
10. Products containing, i.e. black and green tea, coffee. In the first months after the maternity hospital, it is better to drink linden, thyme, blackcurrant leaves, mint and lemon balm. They are safe for the baby and will increase the volume of milk.

From the side of the child:

First step

• If the child is completely on artificial nutrition, then it is necessary to change the mixture and, possibly, more than one, you can try a mixture with the addition of bacteria, usually more expensive mixtures do not cause colic.
• Apply heat to the abdomen. It can be a dry diaper or a warm shower. Heat is known to relieve spasms. Fold the usual diaper in several layers and put it on the tummy, if it cools down, heat the second one with an iron - and so on until the baby feels better. Usually, after taking a warm shower, children calm down and fall asleep soundly.
• Massage the abdomen in a clockwise direction. Do with a warm hand for at least 10-15 minutes. You can make it with natural vegetable oil. You can buy specialized oil at a pharmacy or children's store.
• Leg exercise. The child is lying on his back, take his legs, bend them at the knees and press them in turn to the tummy, then both legs at the same time, this exercise will help the accumulated gases to move away, perhaps after it the child will poop, which will also bring him relief.
• Posture on the tummy. Lay the baby with his tummy on the inside of the forearm of your hand, lay the baby with his bare tummy on your bare stomach.
• Music. Sometimes she distracts the baby well, turn it on louder, take the child in your arms and dance to the rhythm of his favorite song.

Second step

Go to it if all of the above did not work.

• A decoction of chamomile, dill seeds (dill water), fennel. Produced by manufacturers such as Bebivita, Hipp, etc., they can be purchased at a pharmacy. A decoction can be given both when colic has begun, and for the purpose of their prevention in the afternoon after each feeding in a volume equal to 1/2–1 tsp.

Recipe for dill water:

1 tsp dill seeds or fennel fruits are poured with one glass of boiling water, infused for 30 minutes, after which the broth is filtered. Fresh decoction should be prepared every day. Give about 3 tsp per day.

• Probiotics. These drugs are allowed from birth. They populate the baby's intestines with normal flora and create favorable conditions for its growth, inhibit the growth of bacteria that cause the fermentation process. The most popular drugs are Lacidofil-WM, Liveo, you can also try Lactobacterin, Bifidumbacterin. It is necessary to drink a course of this drug for 3-4 weeks.
• Plantex and Bebinos. Plantex (Plantex) is an excellent carminative, antispasmodic, it reduces the frequency of colic attacks, reduces their pain intensity. The herbal preparation, created on the basis of fennel, is safe for babies, it is allowed to administer to children from the 15th day of life. It has a pleasant taste, usually children drink it with pleasure. A lot of positive feedback about him from moms. Bebinos is a complex preparation based on fennel with the addition of chamomile and coriander. A very effective remedy in eliminating painful flatulence and spasms.
• Espumizan, Babotik, Sub Simplex, Baby Calm. With very severe colic, ordinary physical exercises can calm the cry of the baby for a short time, and parents have to resort to the help of these drugs. They are based on simethicone, a substance that breaks large gas bubbles in the intestines, relieves colic pain in the next half hour after ingestion. These drugs are not absorbed from the intestines and are absolutely safe for use in children. Allowed from the 20-30th day of the child's life. Read the instructions carefully before use.
• With very strong and prolonged colic, American doctors consider it acceptable to give the child paracetamol. However, in order not to harm the baby's stomach and liver, I recommend using paracetamol suppositories and no more than 2 times a week.
• Gas tube. I think that it should be used extremely rarely and in special cases, since any foreign body can adversely affect the course of the natural process of the formation of the baby's digestive tract.

At the age of 6 months, the child does not know how to be capricious or do something for evil, if he screams, this is a request for help! Approach your baby with understanding, give him more affection and love, follow the tips listed above, communicate on the forums of young parents (after all, only parents are able to find the most unpredictable methods of treating their baby, which doctors could not guess), and your family will reign peace and love.

The program "School of Dr. Komarovsky" will tell about the causes of colic and how to get rid of them:

Colic in a one month old baby is common. Painful sensations in the tummy area cause discomfort in the baby, he makes convulsive movements with his limbs and screams loudly. How to understand that a child has colic, to distinguish tears of pain from hungry crying? The difficulty is that the baby cannot speak, and the mother panics.

Young mothers are very nervous at the slightest cry of their first child. It seems to them that the baby is suffering very much, since his face is wrinkling in pain. But is it always clicks?

The digestive system of a newborn is going through a stage of adaptation to a new diet and digestion of food, this does not always go smoothly. A small organism is sometimes rebuilt with pain and suffering.

Mom must develop patience, stop panicking and help the baby adapt to new living conditions. The baby may cry simply from uncomfortable sensations in the tummy. He may even scream angrily in indignation at the discomfort in his body. But it's not colic!

Crying in pain

How to understand that a newborn baby is tormented by colic?

Symptoms of colic are manifested in inconsolable crying. It is impossible to calm the baby with anything, he convulsively twists his legs and arches his back. The cry of a child becomes simply heartbreaking.

The baby clenches her fists, straining her whole body, and does not respond to comforting measures from her mother.

The symptoms of colic are also determined by the fact that:

• they last at least three hours a day;
• occur regularly every other day;
• occur in the first three weeks of a baby's life;
• the tummy of the newborn becomes "stone";
• occur in perfectly healthy newborns.

A mother should be able to recognize the symptoms and signs of real colic in a newborn and distinguish them from the usual crying of an angry baby. The fact that babies can be very angry is not news to moms. But if the baby presses the legs to the tummy while crying, this is already serious. So the baby is trying to communicate that he is not up to whims: he endures unbearable pain.

Rumbling in the intestines may indicate cramps in the tummy. The baby blushes, pouts and puffs. You can determine the pain by the sudden cry of a newborn, who before that looked healthy.

What else is the peculiarity of the manifestation of pain in the intestines? The kid ate well during the day and was playful. Suddenly, in the evening, the baby turns pale and starts screaming loudly. At this time, he can release gases and push. This condition appears almost immediately after feeding.

If the baby has food intolerance, his stools will become frequent and will have a greenish color. Sometimes intolerance to breast milk or formula manifests itself through constipation.

The reasons

We have identified the symptoms of colic in an infant. What are the causes of this unpleasant phenomenon, and what should be the treatment?

Remember - pain in the intestines of a baby is not considered a disease. This is a spasm of the intestinal muscles due to increased gas formation.

For the digestion of food in the gastrointestinal tract of an adult there is an organized microflora. It has not yet appeared in the baby: the digestive system begins to fail, peristalsis does not function in the correct rhythm. Hence the appearance of pain in the intestines.

The cause of increased gas formation can be:

• air entering the esophagus;
• unusual food for the baby;
• stool disorder;
• mother's milk quality.

The baby in the mother's womb was in greenhouse conditions, with everything ready and in the safest place. Now so many new and unusual things have fallen on his head that he can hardly cope with this “life revolution”.

If the baby hurriedly sucks breast milk or formula from a bottle, air begins to enter along with the food. An imperfect digestive system cannot cope with such a load, and the baby begins to suffer pain in the tummy. To make it easier for the baby, hold it in a column until a burp appears after each feeding.

Important! If you are feeding a newborn with a bottle, put it at a 45-degree angle: the air will be at the bottom and will not enter the baby's esophagus.

Another cause of pain may be overfeeding the child with food. A small esophagus and stomach are unable to digest and process large amounts of food. Feed your newborn more often in small portions.

A breastfed baby may suffer due to malnutrition of the mother. Consult what foods to give preference to, and which are better to exclude from the menu while breastfeeding.

Babies on artificial mixtures may suffer from gas formation due to an incorrectly selected product or due to a lack of liquid in the composition of the prepared mixture. The lack of water in the milk mixture causes constipation and accumulation of gases.

Important! To prevent tummy cramps, drink tea with dill, cumin, or fennel.

It is extremely important to create a comfortable psychological atmosphere in the house. Intestinal spasms in a child may appear against the background of an unhealthy tense situation in the family.

Signs of a serious illness

Cutting in the tummy due to the adaptation of the gastrointestinal tract to new conditions is considered the norm for infants. A more dangerous condition may be a manifestation of a serious illness that will require the treatment of a baby. How to determine the disease of the chest?

This condition can be dangerous:

• the child has vomit;
• cramps in the baby's tummy appear daily;
• the baby has a temperature;
• blood appeared in the baby's feces;
• the baby does not gain weight;
• pain first appeared after three to four months of life.

A child in a similar condition urgently needs to be shown to a pediatrician and prescribed treatment. Such symptoms can be with volvulus of the intestines or with biliary colic. What it could be, the doctor will find out.

Cramping in the intestines of an infant is a common occurrence. However, you can significantly alleviate the condition of the baby, if you follow your diet, do gymnastics with little ones. Simple exercises will help strengthen the muscular muscles of the tummy, which will significantly reduce the risk of cramps.

What to do with colic in a newborn? An urgent question that confronts most moms and dads. First of all, you need to calm down and create the most comfortable environment in the house in which the baby lives, who has colic in the stomach.

Yes, sometimes there is no time for a sense of humor during acute attacks and a piercing cry of a child. However, neither optimism, nor common sense, nor calm parents in this situation should be lost. Colic in the abdomen in newborns is a real test not only for babies, but also for parents. Sometimes you can use all conceivable and unimaginable means, but the child's pain syndrome disappears only after some time, and then, by itself.

What is colic

Colic (from the Greek κωλική - intestinal) is an acute paroxysmal pain that occurs suddenly and often recurs. There are renal, hepatic, intestinal colic. In adults, they are associated with various pathologies and diseases of the digestive tract. In infants, intestinal colic is called infantile, functional, that is, they disappear with age. Pediatricians in many countries of the world call infantile colic a clinical phenomenon. Symptoms of colic are well described, they occur in 70% of newborns, but their causes are poorly understood. Therapy for infant colic is aimed at alleviating the condition of the child, and not "cure" him.

Symptoms

What are the signs of intestinal colic in newborns?

• piercing scream. There is such a term - "colic crying." You can’t confuse it with any other cry: it is sharp, has a phase of amplification and fading. There is an opinion that it is this cry that has a strong effect on the psyche of the mother and instills in her anxiety and fear for the baby.
• Rule of three. It is as follows: the baby cries for about 3 hours during the day, on average 3 times a week, for 3 weeks in a row.
• Refusal of food. When the baby is uncomfortable, he is naughty, does not want to take the breast or refuses the bottle. It happens that a child from hunger eagerly begins to suck, but then throws and screams.
• Anxiety . This condition is a harbinger of an attack of colic: the baby tosses and turns, arches.
• Suddenness. The child feels great, and suddenly there is a sharp attack of crying, which cannot be appeased by the usual methods.
• Bloating. You can feel it by placing your hand on the baby's tummy.
• Tension in the body. The baby twists its legs, tightens them, clenches its fists.
• Departure while crying. This indicates bloating and discomfort in the intestines.

How else can colic be recognized? The baby generally feels well: he has no temperature, allergies,. The baby eats with appetite, lies on the tummy with pleasure, etc. However, these states are overshadowed by bouts of crying. Often this happens in the evening, after feeding.

When does colic start?

Colic begins in newborns on average in the second or third week of life. Prior to this, the baby is supported by mother's hormones, which he receives with milk. The baby's digestive system gradually adapts to a new type of food intake and digestion. This period will last up to approximately 3 months. It happens that colic in a child disappears in 1 month. Some babies never experience anything like this, and their happy parents know only by hearsay about the "deceit" of infant colic.

The reasons

It has not been possible to unequivocally answer the question - why colic occurs - for half a century now. Pediatricians and neonatologists call several versions indicating the causes of colic.

• Immaturity of the central nervous system. The work of the intestine, like all organs and systems of the body, depends on the nervous regulation. In a baby, it is just being formed.
• Enzyme deficiency. A lack of lactase leads to poor absorption of the main carbohydrate in women's milk - lactose. Fermentation processes begin in the intestines, which leads to bloating.
• Dysbiosis of the intestinal microflora. Quantitative and qualitative settlement of the intestines with beneficial bacteria occurs gradually. In the first months of life, the baby experiences a lack of them, which can provoke spasms.
• Increased gas formation. Excess gases in the intestines lead to stretching of its walls. As a result, a reaction occurs in the form of a spasm, which causes discomfort and pain.
• during pregnancy and lactation. Nicotine negatively affects intestinal motility, disrupts the absorption of nutrients.
• Psychosomatic reaction. It is believed that colic can occur under the influence of psychological factors. Even at such an early age! The baby can react to the emotional situation in the family or the condition of the mother.

A particular child may have individual causes of colic. Some children are affected by the mother's diet, others by her mood, others by the mother's, and so on.

How is the diagnosis made?

If there is severe anxiety and doubt that it is colic, it is better to contact a pediatrician. As a rule, the doctor makes a diagnosis by excluding other diseases, asking a series of simple questions.

• Attacks occur before, after, during meals?
• What is the interval between crying?
• What time of day is the most likely to have an attack?
• What helps relieve colic?
• Is there diarrhea, fever, convulsions?

It must be remembered that bouts of crying are accompanied by other serious diseases. Also, the child may suffer from heat, cold, hunger and therefore shows anxiety.

Preventive actions

In medicine, such measures are also called preventive, that is, warning. It is better to prevent an attack of colic than to eliminate pain. How to avoid colic in newborns?

• Do not overfeed. The stomach of a newborn is small. , fractional portions, but do not overfeed. A large volume of milk or formula requires an appropriate amount of enzymes. The pancreas of an infant does not yet produce enough of them, which leads to difficulties in digesting food. Even 10 grams of excess milk in the stomach can lead to bloating.
• Do not overheat. The temperature regime affects the metabolism of the baby. The baby must not be overheated. It is recommended to lay it naked on the back or tummy several times a day. should not exceed 22°C, should be 50-70%.
• . If the baby does not tightly grasp the nipple and most of the areola, a lot of air will enter the stomach when sucking. You also need to know that with greedy and fast sucking, much more air gets in, so you should not allow moments when the baby is very hungry.
• Choose the right bottle and nipple. A number of manufacturers offer special anti-colic bottles with valves that prevent air from entering when sucking. There are a lot of positive reviews about this product. Moms say that they were “saved” by these miracle bottles. You also need to choose the right shape and size of the nipple. The hole should not be too large, otherwise the mixture will flow out quickly, the baby may choke and swallow a lot of air.
• Choose the right formula for feeding. It happens that a child has a reaction to protein. Be sure to consult your pediatrician when choosing a mixture. Your baby may need a diet enriched with probiotics. You also need to know that frequent changes in nutrition complicate the process of digestion of the baby. The transition to a new mixture should be carried out gradually, within one to two weeks.
• . This recommendation is given by neonatologists in the hospital. From the first days of life, it is necessary to spread the crumbs on the tummy. This pose is important for strengthening the back and neck muscles. In addition, in this position, gases escape more easily, spasms are relieved.
• . After feeding, you need to hold the baby in an upright position for 10 minutes. The baby should burp the air that he swallowed while sucking. It is especially important to keep bottle-fed babies in a “column”.
• Do gymnastics. Charging should be carried out before feeding, in comfortable temperature conditions. There are no special, intricate exercises. The “bicycle” contributes well to the removal of gases: when the child’s legs are alternately bent and unbent and pressed against the stomach. You can also try this exercise: while lying on your back, try to connect the baby’s left knee with the right elbow and vice versa. Then bend the baby's legs at the knees, press to the tummy, hold for half a minute. This position promotes painless discharge of gases. It is recommended to do it in combination with abdominal massage. After this exercise, you need to stroke the legs to relax the muscles after bending.
• Wear in the pose "panther on a branch". The baby is laid out with his tummy on the arm of an adult bent at the elbow. In this position, a spontaneous massage of the abdomen occurs. It is best to entrust this event to a strong and reliable dad.
• Apply heat to the abdomen. You can use a heating pad or heated iron. Pediatricians recommend that mothers use their own hands as a “heater”. They can be held on the tummy in different positions: vertically, horizontally, on the oblique muscles on the side. The warmth and caress of mother's hands have miraculous power - from their touch, colic in newborns disappears.
• A nursing mother needs to monitor her diet and the condition of her own intestines.. Gas-producing foods can provoke an excessive accumulation of gases in the intestines of the baby. Therefore, it is worth excluding such products: cabbage, legumes, eggplant, radishes, mushrooms, onions, garlic, pears, grapes, raisins, black bread, muffins, carbonated drinks, whole cow's milk. Each child may have an individual intolerance to any product. Therefore, it is useful for a mother to keep a diary, where you can track the baby's reactions to the introduction of new dishes in the diet. It is also important to know: if the mother has problems with the intestines (constipation, dysbacteriosis, flatulence), they can affect the baby's digestive system.
• Ensure physical activity and proper care. The baby must necessarily “walk”, lying on his back or stomach. Swimming in a large bathtub and warm water will help relieve intestinal cramps. Extracts of motherwort, mint, lemon balm, and pine needles can be added to the water. After such soothing baths, children usually sleep well, bouts of colic stop naturally.
• Wear in a sling. Many babies settle down quickly in a sling. First, my mom is there. Secondly, it's warm. Thirdly, the baby takes a pose that is familiar to him from the prenatal period. Legs bent and pressed against the stomach create additional comfort, facilitate the passage of gases.
• Distract . Oddly enough, but at this age, the baby is able to switch to background noises: the operation of a washing machine, hair dryer, vacuum cleaner. Every family in this area has little house secrets and pedagogical tricks. It happens that the baby calms down, music, "anti-colic" dances with mom.
• Seek help from a pediatric osteopath. Osteopathy is one of the branches of manual medicine. The specialist presses on certain points on the body, which leads to relaxation of spasmodic areas. Of course, only professionals can trust such a fragile creature as a newborn.

Massage for colic

What is important to consider? The baby is sensitive to touch, so they should be soft, gentle, slow. Hands should be warm and dry. During the moments of attacks, massage is not done, because it can lead to an aggravation! It should be performed 4-5 times a day before each feeding for 5 minutes.

1. First you need to warm up the tummy. To do this, you can attach a heated diaper. Or fold your palms into a “house” and hold on your stomach for several minutes.
2. After that, without removing your hands, you need to make soft pressure along the contour of the palms around the tummy. In this case, it is necessary to minimally influence the right hypochondrium, where the liver is located.
3. A little deeper, you can press on the left hypochondrium, where the pancreas and spleen are located.
4. The large intestine is massaged counterclockwise, that is, from right to left.
5. After soft pressure, gentle strokes are performed clockwise around the navel.
6. Then you can perform massage movements called "water mill" - alternately stroke the tummy with your left and right palms from top to bottom.
7. You can also massage the oblique abdominal muscles.
8. It is good to use additional types of massage movements: counter, when one hand moves down the tummy in the direction of the large intestine, and the other simultaneously up; stroking in a p-shaped direction, from bottom to top, to the right and from top to bottom.

The psychological factor is rarely taken into account. A mother experiencing prolonged colic with her baby often needs psychological help, moral support and physical rest. And given the possibility of postpartum depression, the young mother may be on the verge of a nervous breakdown. In no case should a woman feel guilty. You need to accept the truth: you are already a good enough mother only because you are the one and only.

How to help with acute attacks

Medications can help relieve colic. They should be used as directed by a doctor.

• Herbal preparations. They include herbs:, cumin, coriander and others. You can buy ready-made medicines in granules that quickly dissolve in liquid. Or you can make your own decoction.
• Enzymes. Enzyme preparations contribute to the rapid absorption and breakdown of food. However, they should not be abused, because the baby's pancreas will be "lazy" and stop producing the necessary enzymes on its own.
• Probiotics. They can be used when there is a pronounced dysbiosis, the child often has diarrhea or constipation. If the baby is on artificial nutrition, the doctor may advise switching to mixtures enriched with probiotics.
• Carminative and antispasmodic drugs. This includes medicines with the main active ingredient - simethicone. It eliminates gas formation and spasms in the intestines, acts safely and quickly, a few minutes after application. However, you need to know that this is not a treatment for the cause of colic, but only the removal of pain.
• Mechanical means. In extreme cases, you can put the baby gas tube. If there is constipation, then you can apply. In many cases, these activities quickly alleviate the condition of the child.

Learn more about the action and use of drugs for colic.

What to do with colic in infants? If possible, prevent their occurrence by resorting to preventive measures. If attacks happen and repeat regularly, you need to be patient and make the condition of the crumbs as easy as possible. You can relieve acute pain syndrome with the help of various medications.

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Often parents do not know how to help their baby with sudden bouts of colic that periodically occur during or after feeding. How to alleviate the condition of the crumbs tells the EMC pediatrician, candidate of medical sciences, Maria Shilko.

What is colic in babies?

Colic is an intestinal spasm, usually caused by a violation of its motor function and increased gas formation. To characterize this condition in babies, pediatricians use the "rule of three": colic lasts a total of about 3 hours a day, occurs at the 3rd week of life and lasts about 3 months. Parents should understand that colic in infants is not a disease, this condition is temporary, passing by the age of four months.

The exact cause of infantile colic has not yet been established. Experts associate the phenomena of digestive discomfort in newborns with immaturity and reduced activity of enzymes that help digest and assimilate food.

How do you know if a baby has colic?

The baby cries and screams a lot, moves his legs restlessly, pulls them up to his stomach, during an attack the baby's face turns red, the stomach may be swollen due to increased gas formation. Crying occurs most often in the evening, but can be observed at any time of the day. Between seizures, the child is calm.

How to help the baby?

If the mother is breastfeeding:

Limit milk and dairy products in your diet. It is enough not to use them for 8-10 days for the mother to notice an improvement in the child's condition.

Try to avoid foods that cause flatulence and increase fermentation in the intestines: beans, peas, cabbage, radish, grapes.

Do not abuse drinks containing caffeine (tea, coffee, Coca-Cola).

Make sure you attach the baby to the breast correctly. Make sure that the baby captures the entire areola of the nipple and does not swallow air.

Let the baby completely empty one breast. If a mother changes breasts too often during feeding, then the baby receives a lot of "forward" milk, which is low in fat and rich in milk sugar - lactose. Relatively low-fat milk quickly leaves the baby's stomach and a large amount of lactose, entering the intestines, causes increased gas formation, bloating and abdominal pain.

If the child is bottle-fed:

Seek advice from a pediatrician. He can choose a mixture that is easier to digest and does not cause discomfort after feeding.

Use special bottles and anti-colic nipples that allow you to adjust the flow rate of the milk mixture, the baby will not “choke” and swallow air.

Try to feed your baby in a calm environment.

When diluting milk mixtures, follow the dosage exactly.

After feeding, be sure to hold the crumbs in an upright position so that “excess air” comes out.

If the baby starts to scream, take him in your arms, press him to your tummy, stroke his back. From the changed position and increasing intra-abdominal pressure, the baby will release gases, and the pain will be released.

Massage the abdomen clockwise with light pressure, heat (a freshly ironed diaper on the stomach), a vent tube will help relieve colic.

A walk in a stroller in the fresh air, quiet pleasant music will have a calming effect.

Prevention of colic in a newborn

For the prevention of colic, special children's teas are traditionally used, containing medicinal herbs (fennel, chamomile), a plant-based preparation "Plantex", which have a beneficial effect on the gastrointestinal tract, improve digestion, and prevent gas accumulation.

It is important for parents to remember that functional intestinal colic is not a disease and occurs in 20% of healthy children. However, it is possible to talk about intestinal colic only if in all other respects the baby is healthy, develops correctly and gains weight well.

Check with your pediatrician. The doctor will examine the child, determine the exact cause of the baby's anxiety and give the necessary recommendations.

Colic in babies is such a common phenomenon that all young parents fearfully expect a period of onset of screams and frustration in newborns. As a rule, the first symptoms of colic in infants begin at 2-3 weeks after birth and last up to 3-4 months. Colic occurs in almost all children, regardless of health, birth conditions and even nationality, for example, among the Chinese, the period of colic in newborns is called “one hundred days of crying”, which roughly characterizes the average duration of this unpleasant phenomenon. Why do colic occur and how do babies manifest, what to do with colic to help the child?

Features of the digestive system of babies

The digestive organs of the child, like his whole body, after birth begin to get acquainted with new living conditions. The circulatory system and muscle tissues adapt to the new gravity, the vestibular apparatus and the perceptual system learn to recognize the position of the child, the respiratory organs get used to the breathing process itself, because before the birth, air did not enter the lungs of the fetus. And the digestive tract begins to get acquainted with food.

Despite the fact that nature provides the most optimal of all possible foods for a child - breast milk, and the stomach and intestines need to get used to it. Movements, contractions of internal organs, balance in the production of digestive enzymes, even breathing patterns - all this affects the state of the process of digestion of food and causes colic in infants. How does this happen?
Colic is called several manifestations of discomfort at once: spasms in the intestines, pain due to increased gas formation, difficulty with defecation. These normal, physiological phenomena occur in the body of every person, but babies are especially sensitive to them. What are the causes of colic?

Why does colic occur in the tummy?

The symptoms and signs of colic in babies are varied, but they all indicate that something is happening in the small tummy that the baby does not like. Moreover, the average time of onset of colic coincides with the period when maternal hormones obtained during fetal development and childbirth cease to act in the body of children. They have a relaxing, relaxing effect, and their removal from the body, as a rule, coincides with the beginning of the "hundred days of crying." Moreover, it is often accompanied by skin rashes, the so-called "three-week rash", acne of hormonal origin, similar to teenage skin problems.
Colic can manifest itself as follows:

• the baby is worried for no reason;
• legs are often bent at the knees and pulled up to the stomach;
• screams sharply and piercingly during feeding or cries in the evenings, although the rest of the time is quite healthy and calm;
• possible difficulties with the chair;
• increased gas formation and flatulence.

The nervous system of babies is imperfect: it is still learning to recognize which impulses are important, and which signals from the internal organs should not be responded to. The movement of the food mass through the intestines can be perceived as discomfort and cause discontent in the child. This is the first reason for crying from colic.

The second reason, which is often associated with the mother's diet, is increased gas formation. Numerous studies have shown that the formation of gases in the intestines of a child is not at all a consequence of non-compliance with special diets by a nursing mother. Everything that enters the mother's stomach goes through the process of splitting into basic elements, and in this form it does not matter at all whether the mother ate allowed drying and boiled beef, or enjoyed cabbage, sushi and buns. In the composition of milk with an unbalanced diet, there may be more or less proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals, but there will be no more or less cabbage. That is why formula-fed babies also have colic. Although no "forbidden" products are included in the mixture.

So, maternal nutrition does not affect the digestion of a healthy child. Why do colic occur?
The main reason for increased gas formation in babies is learning the breathing process. During eating, crying, overexcitation, the child swallows air. If further it enters the intestines, then the distension of the walls delivers the same discomfort, which is expressed in sharp crying during feeding and in the evenings, when the child gets tired and the volume of air accumulates.

When does maternal nutrition cause colic?

The diet of a nursing mother, as well as an improperly selected mixture, can cause intestinal colic in newborns and infants if the child has allergic reactions to food / mixture components, or food intolerance.
In such a situation, colic, as a rule, the symptoms are not limited. Skin rashes, loose stools or frequent constipation, frequent regurgitation with an increased volume of excreted masses, up to vomiting, laryngeal edema and shortness of breath can be noted to the signs.
What to do if colic in a newborn manifests itself in this way? Go to the doctor to determine the cause of the allergy or food intolerance, and adjust the diet. Most often, allergens are cow's milk proteins, soy, wheat, chicken eggs and their products. Eliminating allergens from the mother's or baby's diet (when formula-fed) helps to improve the well-being of the baby.

What to do with colic in the baby?

Receptions to help the baby can be divided into two groups: preventive, which help prevent the causes of flatulence, and "emergency", working if colic has already begun.
Preventive measures include:

• Checking baby's nipple latch. Although nature provides for babies, babies also need to learn this process. Proper breastfeeding protects babies from swallowing air while feeding. With artificial feeding, it is necessary to carefully choose the most appropriate size and shape of the nipple per bottle;
• carrying a child in a “column”, “soldier” is a great way to help the air masses swallowed in the process of eating or crying to go out and not get into the intestines. Even if the baby does not have the habit of spitting up after eating, wearing a few minutes on the shoulder will not hurt, but rather, it will help to avoid an evening session of sorrowful crying.

And before the onset of colic, and in the process, you can use the following simple methods to help children:

• the “bicycle” exercise, familiar to all experienced parents, in which the child’s legs are alternately bent at the knees and pressed against the tummy. This helps the food mass move evenly through the intestines;
• tummy massage is a method that babies gratefully accept (as well as mothers in the postpartum period, since their digestive organs also need attention after a change in the volume of the abdomen). With gentle pressure, slowly move clockwise around the umbilical fossa;
• warmth on the stomach, a warm diaper, a warm soothing bath will help relieve spasms that occur due to overexcitation of the nervous system.

In some cases, the pediatrician may recommend carminative preparations (fennel teas, dill infusions) or simethicone preparations (Sub-Simplex, etc.). They reduce the amount of gases in the intestines and help to get rid of them more easily, but they do not remove the cause of increased gas formation - swallowing air, which means they do not contribute to teaching the baby to eat and breathe properly. And the period of colic can be delayed.