How to help a baby with colic: ways to save a child from pain

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

Acute pain syndrome, which occurs due to underdevelopment of the digestive system, provokes a spasm. The baby begins a piercing paroxysmal cry. The child cannot calm down. So that intestinal disorders do not exhaust the baby and his parents, you need to know how to help the baby with colic. The advice of the doctor, as well as the coordinated and competent actions of mom and dad will help alleviate his condition. If the baby screams and bends the legs to the tummy, then in this way he tries to explain what is bothering him. We must be patient and get through this difficult period together, which lasts up to four months.

Causes of colic in newborns

To know how to help a baby with colic and gas, find out the reasons leading to these processes. Intestinal spasm, provoked by increased gas formation, causes colic. At the same time, the baby screams, blushes, arches or begins to raise the legs to the tummy. To date, it has not been possible to establish the exact cause of colic. The most likely factors leading to this condition include:

• Wheninsufficiently formed intestinal microflora, the baby is tormented by colic. This is due to the predominance of pathogens and the lack of beneficial microorganisms. As a result, food is digested poorly, which is especially noticeable in formula-fed babies. Constipation occurs or gas begins to be produced intensively.
• Lactose deficiency. Breast milk, like formula milk, is broken down by enzymes. When the pancreas does not produce enough lactose, colic occurs because the sugar in milk is not processed well.
• Incorrect attachment to the breast. The baby swallows air, which provokes colic and spitting up. If the baby is kept at the breast for a small amount of time (about twenty minutes), then he does not have time to receive back milk. And in the front there are more carbohydrates that cause the fermentation process.
• Wrong diet for a nursing mother. The use of a large amount of flour, sweet, legumes, as well as cow's milk (natural), fresh vegetables and fruits.
• Wrong mixture. This is true for bottle-fed babies.
• Psychological and physical stimuli - hunger, feeling unwell, wet diaper, etc.

When colic starts, how long does it last

According to the experience of practicing pediatricians, this problem begins to bother the baby from the third week after birth. The duration of colic is from 30 minutes to several hours. They usually torment the baby until they reach three to four months. Colic starts afterfeeding in the evening or at night. The little one cannot cope with this problem on his own, he needs the help of his parents. The digestive system begins to fully work by three to four months, so colic ceases to exhaust the child. If parents observe such a phenomenon after four months, then it is necessary to visit a doctor in order to identify the cause and select therapy.

Symptoms

How to help a baby with colic? First you need to understand for sure that this is colic, and not another reason that worries him. Symptoms of this problem are:

• Crying in the evening - intense, prolonged. It is almost impossible to calm the child, as there is a strong pain syndrome. Usually this condition is typical for monthly crumbs.
• Belly tight, tense, bloated.
• Legs raised or tucked up to stomach.
• Regurgitation - can be triggered by colic, as the baby groans and pushes hard. As a result, food comes out.
• Face turns deep red.
• Colic and constipation occur in newborns at the same time.
• No food.

If the baby does not calm down in the arms of his parents, then he has colic. He stops crying only after passing flatus or defecation, but after eating he bursts into tears again. This condition is typical for the first three months of life. Even the so-called “rule of three” has been deduced: by the third week of life, colic begins, lasts three hours and is observed for threemonths.

Diet of a nursing mother

If a baby has colic at 1 month, how to help? A mother who is breastfeeding her child should definitely monitor her diet. Properly selected foods will help to cope with colic. It is recommended to exclude completely:

• Marinades.
• Alcoholic and carbonated drinks.
• Margarine.
• Condensed milk.
• Canned food.
• Smoked meats.
• Chocolate.

Limited quantities allowed:

• Fruits - apples, bananas.
• Pasta.
• Dairy products.
• Tea and coffee drinks.
• Chicken.
• Cabbage.
• Raisins.
• Yeast bread.

Can be consumed without restriction:

• Various cereals.
• Still water.
• Green tea.
• Bran bread.
• Biscuits.
• Steamed, boiled, baked carrots, pumpkin, zucchini, onions, beets.
• Hard cheese.
• Oils: butter about 15 grams, olive, sunflower, corn.
• Dried fruit compote.

Drug Therapy

In some cases, they resort to drug treatment for colic in a newborn. How to help the baby with the help of medicines? A pediatrician may recommend:

• Sedatives - Pantogam, Anvifen, Phenibut.
• Probiotics - Acipol, Bifidumbacterin Forte, Lactobacterin, Probifor, Linex.
• Laxatives - Espumizan, Smecta, Sub Simplex.

And mothers are advised to take a course of treatment using the herb chamomile, valerian or motherwort, which has a calming effect.

If a baby's colic is caused by dysbacteriosis, then the following drugs are shown to him: "Bifikol", "Acilact", "Florin Forte", "Probifor". If the cause of the problem is acid reflux, Maalox, Ranitidine, Famotidine, Cimetidine are recommended.

How to help a baby with colic? To reduce gas formation, pediatricians recommend taking Gaviscon and Milikon, and to improve bowel function - Pancreatin, Lactazar. It is important to remember that it is possible to give medicines to a baby only as prescribed by the attending doctor and after an examination, as a result of which the pathologies that provoke colic will be revealed. In all other cases, you should be patient, as this is a temporary phenomenon.

Folk remedies

How to help a baby with colic using folk recipes? Despite many positive reviews about the benefits of such methods of getting rid of colic, it is not recommended to use them without consulting a specialist. Herbalists for getting rid of colic suggest:

• Water made from dill or anise seeds.
• Fennel tincture.

It seems that folk remedies are harmless, but it is quite difficult to assess the effect of plant materials on the baby's body.

Prevention measures

Very often mothers ask the doctor howhelp a baby with colic at 2 weeks, a month and beyond? It turns out that not all children have colic. A huge role in their occurrence is played by preventive measures. Among them are:

• Choosing a comfortable position for feeding.
• Exclusion of annoying factors (loud music, noise, bright lights) that interfere with the baby.
• Nursing mother is advised to avoid stress, both emotional and physical, and also to exclude products that provoke gas formation.
• Picking the right bottle to avoid swallowing air.
• After feeding, you need to hold the baby in an upright position. This position will help him burp the air that has entered his stomach while eating.
• Before each feeding, put the baby on the tummy - this will help improve bowel function.
• Timely detect and treat gastroesophageal reflux, dysbacteriosis, infant migraine and lactose intolerance.

All of the above measures will help reduce pain and ease the baby's condition.

Non-drug methods

How to help a baby with colic? Doctors recommend doing the following:

• On the tummy, put a diaper warmed with an iron and folded several times or a warm linen bag with flaxseed.
• Clockwise with light movements to massage the tummy.
• Make a warm bath, the baby will relax in it and the condition will improve.
• Hold upright, pressingto your body.
• Install a vent tube.
• Shake the baby, humming lightly to soothe her.

Komarovsky's advice

If a newborn has colic, how to help the baby? Komarovsky explains that the problem lies in the physiology of the newborn. Especially often colic makes itself felt in the evening hours. Doctor advises:

• Try not to overfeed or overheat your baby.
• Stay outdoors more often.
• Constantly ventilate the room in which the newborn is.
• Massage the tummy, which helps to distract the baby from painful and unpleasant sensations.
• Change your diet gradually.
• Check that the child eats the required amount of food. Excess food provokes a constant work of the digestive system, which contributes to childhood obesity and frequent colic.

flatulence in infants

Flatulence is bloating and increased gas formation, which leads to the formation of colic. In babies, increased gas formation occurs for the following reasons:

• Imperfect digestive system.
• Poor digestibility of food.

The above reasons are not pathologies, they are temporary. How to help a baby with colic and bloating? Initially, you should try to do without medicines, using effective and proven methods over the years:

• Laying the crumbs on the stomach before or an hour after feeding.
• Put a warm heating pad ordiaper on the tummy. As a result, the spasm passes, and the pain weakens or disappears.
• Massage the belly with your hand clockwise.
• Buy dill water at a pharmacy and give the baby water. It helps to relieve spasm and cope with gas.
• Use the vent tube. How to do this, the pediatrician should tell.

When the above methods do not bring the desired result, the children's doctor recommends medication. They are sold in pharmacies without a prescription, but they should not be purchased without consulting a specialist to rid the baby of colic and gas. How to help using drugs so as not to harm the baby? It is important to remember that medication is indicated in exceptional cases. We must not forget that this is not a disease, but a temporary situation associated with a physiological problem. The most commonly used drugs are:

• "Bobotik".
• Espumizan.
• "Drotaverine".

In addition, a nursing mother is advised to review her diet and diet, excluding products that provoke gas formation.

How to help your baby with colic and constipation

A newborn quite often has problems with the work of both the intestines and the entire digestive system. In addition to colic and bloating, constipation occurs in infants. Lack of stool or difficulty with bowel movements due to malabsorption and digestion of food is constipation. The baby has the following clinical picture:

• Belly swollen andsolid.
• Baby is naughty and cries when trying to void.
• Refusing food.
• Pulls the legs to the stomach.
• Feces of a dense consistency.

Basically, constipation occurs with mixed and artificial feeding. In some cases, it indicates signs of a serious pathology. All methods that eliminate this problem must be agreed with the doctor. As with colic, constipation is recommended:

• Put a warm diaper over your belly.
• Give dill water.
• Laxatives.
• Belly massage.
• A warm bath.
• Laying out on the tummy.

Conclusion

Colic, which the baby experiences due to the accumulation of gases in the intestines, occurs in about 70 percent of infants. We have given a lot of recommendations from experts on how to help the baby. Colic in a newborn is most often found with artificial feeding, but they do not bypass the children who are breastfed by their mothers. When the baby's digestive system gets better, the colic will stop completely. This usually happens three to four months after the baby is born.