Intestinal colic in newborns. Causes and Treatments

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

Intestinal colic in newborn babies are quite common. They are one of the most common causes of loud crying in the absence of other annoying and uncomfortable factors - hunger, heat or cold, wet diapers or absence from the mother's field of vision.

In this article we will look at colic in newborns, their causes and the main ways to alleviate the condition of the child. The term "colic" does not mean any specific disease, but a set of specific symptoms, such as bloating, spasms, fermentation, increased gas formation, pain. When do newborns start colic? As a rule, more than 70% of all babies experience intestinal discomfort almost from the first weeks of life. By the age of four months, colic usually disappears, as it is believedthat the gastrointestinal tract adapts to food intake.

Colic in newborns. Causes of painful symptoms

Until now, modern medical science has not established a specific cause of colic in newborns. As hypotheses for the origin of abdominal pain, several provisions are put forward:

• Immaturity of the child's digestive system or insufficient enzymes to break down food.
• When bottle-fed, sucking formula from a bottle with an irregularly shaped nipple may cause air to be swallowed.
• Lactose intolerance and allergy to formula.
• Violation of the intestinal microflora.
• Anxious or depressed emotional state of the mother during breastfeeding.
• Overheating.
• Overfeeding the baby.

Colic in newborns, the causes of which depend on various factors or their combination, each child may manifest itself in different ways: the baby may be too restless, some babies cry sharply and piercingly, especially in the evenings and before going to bed at night sleep. The child may not sleep well, constantly waking up, screaming plaintively, and after passing gases or defecation, calm down for a while. In this case, the baby's stomach may look inflated. Despite all these symptoms that disturb the baby and his parents, intestinal colic is not a disease, but is considered a transient condition. After observing the regimen and features of feeding, temperature conditions inapartment and your emotional state, you can independently identify the specific cause of anxiety and abdominal pain in your child.

Colic in newborns: causes and ways to alleviate the baby's condition

How can you help a bitterly crying and in pain child? First of all, you must normalize his diet. It is worth remembering that the ideal food for a newborn is your breast milk, which has not yet been invented a full-fledged alternative. Feeding should be carried out at the request of the child, but do not overfeed. By giving the baby a breast for every slightest squeak, you can thereby oversaturate him. If the baby recently sucked his mother’s breast well and ate, and a little later he cries again, first try to calm him down and distract him with something interesting. Remember that a hungry baby cries in a special way - demanding and impatient. If the child is bottle-fed, then it is necessary to purchase highly adapted mixtures that contain bifidobacteria. The choice of formula for your child should be made under the guidance of a pediatrician. You also need to choose the right feeding bottle - its nipple should be of a special shape and with a small hole. Keep your baby's stool regular.

Prolonged retention of stool can cause abdominal pain. A newborn can defecate from 7-8 times a day and up to 1 time in twodays. Do not overheat the child in any case. The air in the children's room should be cool (+20 °C) and humid. Do not wrap your child in multiple layers of clothing. Overheating is terrible because intestinal juices, due to lack of fluid, become thicker and, as a result, do not digest food well.

Methods for preventing intestinal colic

If your baby suffers from spasmodic bouts of abdominal pain, try to give him a light massage of the tummy (clockwise), as well as simple exercises (bending the legs at the knees, followed by pressing to the tummy). These manipulations contribute to the departure of accumulated gases and overcoming pain. You should also put the baby on the tummy more often. What to give a newborn with colic? Often, for prophylactic purposes, drugs that reduce gas formation are used, for example, Simethicone, Bobotik, or Plantex. Use the gas tube with extreme caution and only as a last resort, when you are sure that the child is really tormented by gases.