COLIC HOLD SKETCH ICON HOW TO

All babies have wind and many aren’t particularly bothered by it, but if it is making him uncomfortable an upright position can help move gas bubbles that are causing him pain.Ī useful phrase is “contact, carry, walk and talk”: research has shown that these steps, used in a sequence as needed, can significantly reduce crying in many babies. Especially for babies with reflux, being held upright is much more comfortable than lying down. If that doesn’t work, then just holding him and carrying him may help. Offering the breast calms many a crying infant, especially if his mother has been trying to limit feeds because of sore nipples or to try to space nursing. Many fussy babies are more settled if they are kept close to their mother and can nurse whenever they need to. Barr asked some mothers to carry their babies for at least three hours a day and these mothers reported that their babies cried only half as long as babies who were not carried for the extra three hours. Babies may be fed three or four times an hour for a minute or two at each feeding.ĭr. The !Kung carry their babies with them constantly and feed them whenever they cry. Barr compared the results of a study on the !Kung of South Africa with the typical ways in which American and European infants are handled and fed. It suggested that some crying is normal, but it may be prolonged by modern practices such as longer intervals between feedings. One study by Ronald Barr, a paediatrician at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, looked at infant crying patterns. Most babies are not bothered by any foods their mother eats, but if a baby comes from a family with allergies and seems fussy, it can help to keep a food diary just to see if any particular food triggers discomfort. Some cultures whose diet includes spicy foods have a special, milder diet for nursing mothers for the first month or so. Mothers with a fussy baby often wonder if something in their diet is to blame. This article talks about identifying reflux and offers ideas to help. A baby who has reflux often spits up milk and cries more when he is lying down or is in a car seat. Reflux can also be caused by oversupply and both are more often a problem when a baby is given large feeds with long gaps in between.

Reflux and colic are closely related and are often confused.

COLIC HOLD SKETCH ICON HOW TO

This article explains the causes of oversupply and gives a lot of suggestions on how to improve things. Her poo may be green and frothy, rather than yellow, and she seems windy and unhappy. The baby cries and wants to nurse,but seems angry and arches away. She may pull off the breast spluttering and a mother may see a forceful milk flow. The baby may be gaining weight well,but seems fussy at the breast.

You can find more information in this article: Tongue-tie can also cause difficulties with latching and positioning and can be distressing for both mother and baby. This article gives a lot of suggestions on how to encourage a deeper latch and finding a position which may be more comfortable. The birth process can sometimes leave babies with tension in their jaw and neck, which makes it hard for them to open their mouth wide enough. A shallow latch can lead to babies taking in a lot of air which then causes discomfort. Sometimes a baby is still feeling discomfort from the birth process.Ĭolic-type symptoms can appear if a baby is having problems latching onto the breast. It’s not unusual for a baby to cluster feed in the evening both for comfort and to increase milk production, and crying which is labelled as “colic” may simply mean that the baby needs to nurse again.įor other babies, the discomfort can be traced to overabundant supply of milk, overactive letdown, reflux or occasionally allergies. Some babies are more sensitive than others and need more comforting. Sometimes the cause of colic is never uncovered and may be related to the baby’s own personality or temperament.

It’s easy to start to wonder if breastfeeding is to blame, particularly if others suggest it might be. It can be extremely distressing for a mother to listen to her baby crying without knowing what is wrong or what to do to comfort her child. It often starts in the early weeks and usually stops by about four months. The crying generally happens in the afternoon or evenings. This is a “catchall” description for when a baby cries incessantly for around three hours a day and cannot be comforted. When a baby cries for a long time without any obvious cause parents are often told their infant has colic.

Colic hold sketch icon