The baby, at dusk, begins to cry. Nothing calms him. Scream, writhe. What happens? It hurts. The situation is constant. Parents get desperate, scared at the beginning thinking that something serious is happening and then the impossibility of calming their child. But the child is healthy and feeds normally. There is no identifiable cause. But there is something obvious, the little one suffers. And this happens night after night. This situation is what we know as infant colic but actually What are they?
Infant colic usually appears in the third week of the baby's life and usually lasts up to about three months. Not all children suffer from them and there is nothing in the medical picture that seems to predispose them to it. They have children fed to the breast and also those who take a bottle. Nor does it prevent them from raising in arms or a quiet birth.
He infant colic It is a picture of unknown cause, characterized by excessive crying and no apparent reason, which presents an otherwise perfectly healthy baby every day. At sunset the child begins to cry and shrinks the little legs, showing signs of abdominal pain on many occasions.
Fortunately, not all children who cry every afternoon suffer from infant colic. It is common for babies to be more nervous in the afternoon and parents more tired. That a baby cries is normal. Let's not forget it. It is his way of expressing any discomfort or tension. Your crying, even if we consider that it is changed and fed and that you have no reason to complain, should be treated to avoid stress and its negative consequences.
If our child calms in the arms and wants to fall asleep there is no reason not to do so. Calm returns and the child relaxes in the arms, although he wakes up if we try to leave him in the crib. If you cry in your arms and what you ask is to walk or see interesting things, it is best to carry it on the back and do what we have to do. It's boring to be in the crib, mom and the world are much more interesting. In these cases, all I needed is physical contact. Relaxing ourselves too and enjoying the moment is pleasant.
There are pictures that are mistakenly identified with infant colic. Sometimes there are reflux problems and should be ruled out as soon as possible. Regurgitation is not always cumbersome, but if it is continuous even if it is mild it can cause burning in the esophagus and serious discomfort that explains the crying of pain.
There are also other possible digestive problems that trigger pain and gas. I mean the fairly common protein intolerance of cow's milk. Eliminating them from your diet is possible. If you take a bottle, there are adequate preparations that should be recommended by the pediatrician. It must be the doctor who recommends one type of milk or another. Let's not forget it.
In the case of drinking breast milk, the problem of cow's milk intolerance can also occur, especially if it has been given a bottle in the first few days. In these cases, the mother can withdraw from her diet all products that contain cow's milk protein, including buns, bread and sausages in which it is included even in small proportions.
Other food intolerances should not be ignored in infants who breastfeed and eliminating them from the maternal diet may be effective. It is the case of gluten. If the mother suspects that some of this may happen, it is convenient to go to the pediatrician and support groups, who will give her guidelines to do this test.
In all these cases, in reality, these children would not suffer from a real colic, but a process that is confused with him.
Once these causes that have a similar symptomatology are ruled out, we would remain with the authentic infant colic. In reality, not having found a clear cause and not having a satisfactory explanation, we must conclude that what is called infant colic is a tailor's drawer where different possible problems are included that the baby can only manifest with inconsolable crying.
Some theories suggest that the child needs to vent the tensions caused by discovering the world. Others point to an emotional process of rebirth.
However, symptoms usually include windiness, abdominal pain and tension in the belly. It is possible, as many consider, that the digestive system is not in those children perfectly formed, and that the adaptation is, for some newborns, more complicated than others.
Anyway to parents colic causes them enormous concern. Your child is healthy but they feel their suffering. And the crying of an inconsolable baby awakens in us a heartbreaking instinct, on the one hand they want to stop hurting and on the other, they want the crying to stop. Identifying ourselves with a child's pain hurts. Sometimes the tension of the parents increases and they end up with broken nerves and even angry with the baby and the whole world. The situation of the parents, especially the mother, is very delicate in these cases. It has been identified that it can increase the chances of the first-time mother developing postpartum depression.
In any case there are formulas, although they are not masterful, that can improve the general condition of the child who suffers infant colic and alleviate the logical anguish of their parents. In the next topic we will analyze them.
