Baby Colic and Causes!
Long sessions of Morning sickness, pain, care, the restlessness, routine, restrictions (not to mention the labor pain as chosen by/for some) and what not does a mother undergoes before she can finally get to see her baby. It is the most emotional phase of every woman’s life, specially the first few months or say the entire first year after the baby is born, because this is the phase that witnesses the transformation of a girl or a woman into a ‘Mother’. There is a whole lot of things that you’ve got to undergo. Changing nappies or preparing the baby food, regular massage, breast feeding, managing the schedule the do’s and don’ts and what not. But all these things are not that painful or demoralizing as is to see and hear the baby cry. The situation is particularly hurting and intolerable when this crying goes on and on and on. The situation can be referred as ‘Baby colic’ which refers to the persistent baby crying.
Dealing with such situation can make one feel helpless and inept. Parents express a lot of guilt and shame, as if not being able to tame Colic and consider this as their failure as a parent.
Over the decades, researchers have offered various hypotheses for Colic including the exposure to cigarette smoke, insufficient melatonin production (until 12 weeks of age, the time colic usually ends), circadian rhythms, and stress of the mother in the third trimester.
Some have said that babies cry because they sense their mother’s anxiety but this is highly unlikely. They simply don’t have the ability to distinguish a mother’s anxiety from depression, frustration, etc. In fact, even though parental anxiety is markedly reduced with successive children, it has been shown that a couple’s later children are as likely to be colicky as their first. For thousands of years, the number one belief of worried parents, grandparents and doctors has been that colicky crying was a sign of abdominal pain (e.g. intestinal spasm, overfeeding, trapped gas). In fact, even the word Colic is derived from the ancient Greek word for intestine (sharing the same root as the word “colon”). However it is very well known and proved that colic is NOT caused by stomach upsets.
It is certainly known that amongst all colicky babies, there are factors that may worsen the Colic symptoms:
– overfeeding in a futile attempt to lessen the crying;
– feeding certain foods, especially those with high sugar content, for example, undiluted juices may increase the amount of gas in the intestine and worsen the situation;
– the presence of excessive anger, anxiety, fear, or excitement in the household; or
– probably a multitude of other factors as yet unknown.
Some reports have associated colic to changes in the bacterial balance in a baby’s intestine. They suggest treating the crying with daily doses of probiotics, or “good bacteria” (such as Lactobacillus acidophilus or Lactobacillus reuteri).
Surprisingly 50 % of fussy babies improved on medicines but so did 50% of fussy babies given the placebo (a false medication, which actually has no drug or medicament and which jus induces some psychological effect of having been treated by some medicine). It is therefore more advisable and wise to consult a specialist before dealing with baby Colic and choosing the best method to follow for the treatment depending on your baby’s trouble.
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