How Babies Get Colic

As almost every parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle, and friend of new parents knows, babies can get fussy. Crying and upset, especially in the evening, are a normal part of the baby's development during the first months of life. Unexplained "crying fits" that persist for more than 3 hours per day, for more than 3 days per week, and for at least 3 weeks, are a considered a separate clinical condition called colic.

During colicky episodes, baby may draw his or her legs up to the abdomen and become red in the face. The tummy may be bloated and the baby may have gas. Colic looks painful, but colicky babies are usually healthy babies. Their parents and caregivers, however, become worn out.

The causes of colic are not well known. It is not caused by hunger, pain, or too much gas. It may be due to air swallowed when baby sucks fingers or toes or the bottle, or it could be due to overfeeding either cow's milk or breast milk. Colic is sometimes linked to an allergy to cow's milk. Some recent research suggests colic may be due to reflux esophagitis, acid backing up from the stomach to the throat.

Are there any meals that heal colic in infants? The simplest approach to treating colic is to offer your baby more frequent feedings. Feed baby when he or she cries rather than on a fixed schedule. Babies' bodies do not have the same mechanisms to regulate energy as adults, so a baby's cry may be caused by low blood sugar.

The most dramatically effective nutritional approach-when it works, and it often does-to treating colic nutritionally involves what you don't offer your infant, not what you do. Doctors at Miami Children's Hospital have found that colic is closely associated with feeding juices that have a high fructose-to-glucose ratio, such as apple juice and pear nectar.

Fructose is not as easily absorbed from food as glucose, and it may accumulate in the intestine. Apple juice is also high in sorbitol, an indigestible natural sweetener that can cause bloating, gas, and diarrhea. Using hydrogen breath testing, the Miami researchers concluded that babies cannot absorb carbohydrates from apple or pear juice. They found that eliminating the juices eliminated diarrhea and colic in virtually all cases.

What if you haven't been feeding Baby apple juice or pear nectar? Cow's milk can cause colicky symptoms, but colicky reactions to cow's milk are signs of an allergy. Generally, even children who are allergic to cow's milk can tolerate half a cup to a cup of milk before they develop symptoms. If cow's milk is the problem, baby will probably develop diarrhea and/or a rash in addition to symptoms of colic.

Sugar water, low-lactose milk, and soymilk help relieve colic in some babies but not in others. The smell of soymilk may be a problem for some infants. Most babies prefer the smell of cow's milk or whey. A recent study in the Netherlands found that a whey-based formula reduced crying by an average of an hour a day. Since whey-based formulas such as Nestl矇-Carnation Excellent start smell better and cost less, they are a useful treatment for colic. It is only necessary to give formula for one feeding a day. Other feedings can be breast milk or cow's milk. Results usually take about a week. Babies who tend to spit up may do better on amino acid based formulas such as Neocate.