How to recognize colic in a newborn: symptoms, signs, treatment options

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Colic in babies is not a pathology or a disease, almost every parent faces them. Although colic is the norm for babies, they still cause a lot of trouble: pain in the baby, his anxiety, constant crying, mode failure (as a result). In this article, you will learn everything about colic in a newborn: symptoms, how to understand, recognize, causes, how to help. We will look at both medications and alternatives to help ease your baby's condition.

Symptoms

How to recognize colic in a newborn? The first and most understandable symptom for everyone is the baby's prolonged crying - it can last for several hours. In this case, the child will strongly compress his fists, his legs will stretch with his knees to the tummy, snuggle up. You can touch the tummy if it is hard and swollen, this will indicate the accumulation of gases, which causes colic in the newborn.

How to understand and recognize that the baby feels discomfort precisely because of the colic that torments him? There are exact symptoms that point to this:

• a grimace appears on the baby's face, which shows that he is in pain;
• cams strongly compressed;
• frequent passing flatus;
• baby's legs are tense, pulled up to the tummy;
• regurgitation;
• prolonged crying, in which the baby arches the back (even without crying, arching the back means abdominal discomfort);
• tummy bubbling;
• tummy tight.

Colic can appear at any time, but most often babies suffer in the evening and at night. The kid screams for a long time, not calming down even after a hearty meal. Often babies refuse to eat at all during colic, or breastfeed/bottle while whimpering, interrupting the sucking time after time, turning away.

Exhausted by the condition of the baby, parents often wonder when the newborn's colic will pass and he will stop suffering. Usually, the symptoms of this condition of the child are noted before the age of three months, in rare cases (10-15% of newborns), colic can occur up to 4-5 months.

When is it urgent to see a doctor?

Severe colic occurs and hospitalization may be required at this time. If the baby refuses to eat (has not eaten for more than 4-6 hours), he cries all this timerolling, then this is an occasion to call the pediatrician.

How to recognize colic in a newborn everyone should know - both mom and dad, grandparents - everyone who stays with a child even for a short time! And urgent hospitalization is required if the symptoms of colic prescribed above are accompanied by one or more of the following conditions:

• fever;
• bloody impurities in feces or vomit.

Cause of colic

We told how to recognize colic in a newborn, and how it hurts. All parents worry that they did something wrong, thereby causing a similar state of the child. We hasten to reassure: almost all babies have colic and the nature of their origin is not yet completely clear. The only thing that people understood is that the baby's digestive system only adapts to the intake and digestion of food, and from time to time failures can occur in it. Babies - whether they like it or not - swallow air along with milk or a mixture, which irritates the walls of the stomach and intestines.

In babies up to 2 months, colic can last up to 4 hours, in older ones less - up to 2 hours. There are factors that can affect the occurrence of colic (in which the child swallows a lot of air) and their duration. If these causes are eliminated, then the pain in the baby will pass faster. We suggest that we continue to talk about those very reasons and find out how to deal with them.

Incorrect feeding technique

If duringWhen feeding, the baby does not grasp the nipple correctly (or the bottle nozzle does not fit the size and material of the bottle nozzle on artificial feeding), then when swallowing food, he will also swallow a large amount of air. You will notice that the baby does not finish eating his norm from the bottle or the breast is almost empty after feeding - this is the first sign that the baby swallowed air and stuffed his tummy with it. This amount of air can cause colic and prolong its duration.

After feeding, the baby must be helped to burp. Even if the feeding technique is good, the baby will still swallow some air. If it is not allowed to exit while it is in the esophagus or stomach, it will move on in a big lump and cause colic or worsen it.

Don't give your baby a pacifier! The baby also swallows air at this time.

Baby lies a lot

Of course, babies spend most of their time in a horizontal position, as they still cannot sit, let alone stand. And this position is one of the causes of colic in newborns.

The air moves much more slowly from the esophagus to the intestines, and then to the exit, it accumulates, since the next one has already caught up with the previous one. In the upright position, the air moves much faster, so it is recommended that babies with colic (and to prevent them) wear more in the “soldier” position.

Baby cries a lot

The reasons why a baby cries often can be the mostdifferent. For example, you first accustomed the child to hands, and now you are trying to wean him. Of course, the baby wants to be held and he does not understand why they do not take him, so he starts to cry all the time. When crying, the baby swallows a lot of air, which causes colic.

With colic, the baby feels pain and cries for a long time. At this time, he supplies even more air to his digestive system, thereby aggravating the situation.

Overfed baby

If a baby ate more food than it can digest, or a heavier food got into his stomach, which he still can hardly digest (early feeding, too much of a new food at the first feeding), then the process of digestion slows down. All food that is in the stomach or intestinal tract for a longer time begins to ferment, releasing gases, and for this reason colic occurs.

We learned how to recognize colic in a newborn and why it can occur and intensify. Next, we propose to consider options for helping the baby, in which the pain will subside, and then finally pass.

Do I need to see a doctor?

If even you clearly hear bubbling sounds in the baby's tummy, all other symptoms indicate colic, then still contact your pediatrician first. The doctor will examine the baby to rule out other possible causes of his constant crying (and they can be very different) that require specific treatment (diathesis, otitis media, and so on).

What can helpmom?

Any pediatrician will say that colic is not a disease, and there is no point in treating them! Yes, it hurts the child, yes, it's hard for the parents, but it's all temporary! Parental patience and care really help with colic. Consider methods that will help prevent colic (reduce the frequency of occurrence), relieve them faster.

1. Every day, or even more than once, give your child a stomach massage. It can be light stroking, patting, circular movements in a clockwise direction.
2. Try to take the baby in your arms more often, carry him in an upright position, this will all accelerate the passage of gases.
3. Be sure to help the baby burp after feeding.
4. Carry your baby in a sling. This is not just an excellent prevention of hip dysplasia that is common today, but also the movement of the child's body (and hence the intestines) - gases move away faster.
5. Mom's warmth will quickly relieve the pain! Put the child in an upright position with your tummy to your chest, walk with the baby until he calms down (and this will happen quickly!). You can walk more, let the baby sleep.
6. Check with your pediatrician about breastfeeding techniques. The doctor will tell you what to do to reduce the amount of swallowing of air during feeding.
7. If the baby is artificial, then purchase a special nipple nozzle for a bottle in a pharmacy or baby store, which has a special tube to minimize the percentage of air passing into the baby's mouth.
8. Usevent tube.

Next, we suggest considering the best remedies for colic in a newborn. Let's get acquainted with both folk and traditional medicine.

Herbs for colic

Traditional medicine is safe for babies, so it is widely used to treat various diseases. There are many herbs that can help you deal with colic quickly:

1. Chamomile. Dried flowers in the amount of 15 grams pour boiling water - 400 ml. Put on the stove, bring to a boil. After an hour, strain the decoction through cheesecloth to eliminate the smallest particles of the plant. To eliminate colic (as well as to prevent them), give the baby a decoction three times a day, a teaspoon.
2. From colic for newborns, dill water has been used for many centuries and this recipe is still popular. Take a teaspoon of seeds, pour a glass of boiling water, cook for 20 minutes. Strain, give two teaspoons (10 ml) three times a day. Dill water for colic in newborns is really a wonderful remedy, there are many positive reviews about it on the net.
3. Fennel. On the basis of these fruits, medicines for children's colic are also prepared. The tool is very effective, many parents advise it on the Internet in their reviews. Colic in a newborn is well relieved by a folk remedy: 10 grams of crushed fruits are poured with a glass of boiling water, allowed to brew for an hour, then filtered. Babies are given 10 ml of infusion three times a day - before feeding.
4. Herbal tea. Mix equal amounts of cumin seeds, anise, mint andvalerian root. Pour 20 grams of the collection with a glass of boiling water, strain after half an hour. You need to give a teaspoon three times a day.

Medications

1. "Plantex" - one sachet per day. This remedy will help if the cause of colic is low physical activity (the child lies a lot, he is not carried much on his hands and in a special backpack). As part of the drug fennel, dill, anise, cumin, peppermint. In addition, the composition contains lactose, so the drug is not applicable for children with intolerance. Drug to prevent colic, does not eliminate their attacks!
2. If intensive gas formation is to blame for colic (mother's diet, a lot of swallowed air when feeding and crying, overeating), the following drugs will help: "Bobotik", "Espumizan L", "Sab Simplex". All these are drops from colic for newborns, created on the basis of activated dimethicone (simethicone), which destroys the gas bubbles themselves, removes them quickly in a natural way. All drugs in this group are not applicable for prevention, they are given only to relieve seizures. Simethicone medicines are safe for lactose intolerant children.

Drugs are prescribed for informational purposes only! Only a doctor prescribes medication.

Diet for Mom

If the baby is breastfed, then colic may occur due to the mother's improper diet. You should refuse all products that the doctor has forbidden (milk, fried, spicy,fatty, sweets, and so on).

Colic in newborns, according to young mothers, becomes less frequent if you normalize your diet!