Easing Colic Pain in Babies

• Little Regent Nursery
• Babies

Easing Colic Pain in Babies

Few things are harder in the first months than a baby who cries inconsolably at the same time every evening, drawing their knees up, going red, and refusing every attempt to help. Colic is usually described as crying for more than three hours a day, more than three days a week, in a baby who is otherwise feeding and growing well.

The most important thing to know is that it is not caused by anything you have done, and it does not last. Most babies settle by three or four months, often quite suddenly.

In the meantime, small things genuinely help. Nothing below is a cure (there isn’t one), but each can take the edge off a difficult hour.

Try steady, repetitive motion

Gentle rocking, a slow walk around the room, or a ride in the pushchair all give a baby the rhythmic input they knew before birth. Keep the movement smooth and unhurried, fast jiggling tends to add to the overstimulation rather than reduce it, and a baby should never be shaken.

Hold your baby along your forearm

Lying face down along your arm with your hand supporting the chest and chin, sometimes called the tiger-in-the-tree hold, adds light pressure to the tummy and suits many colicky babies. Others prefer being upright against your shoulder. Try both and follow whichever your baby prefers today.

Wind carefully and often

Pause partway through a feed as well as at the end, hold your baby upright for a while afterwards, and check the feeding position so less air is swallowed. If you are bottle feeding, make sure the teat stays full of milk and that the flow rate suits your baby’s age.

Turn everything down

By evening a newborn has had a long day of new sensations. Dim the lights, lower voices, switch off the television and reduce the passing back and forth between adults. Steady low sound, a fan, a shushing voice, a washing machine, is often more soothing than silence.

Try warmth and touch

A warm bath, skin-to-skin contact, or slow clockwise tummy strokes when your baby is calm rather than mid-scream can all help. Introduce one change at a time so you can tell what is actually working.

Look after yourself too

Relentless crying is genuinely hard to listen to. If you feel your patience going, put your baby down safely in the cot, step away for a few minutes and breathe. Ask someone to take a shift. A calm adult soothes a baby far better than an exhausted one.

When to speak to a doctor

Always seek medical advice if there is fever, vomiting, blood in the nappy, poor feeding, weight loss, a change in the sound of the cry, or if you are simply worried. Never start elimination diets, gripe waters or supplements without your doctor’s guidance.

Our infant rooms are deliberately calm places, with a full-time registered nurse on site, an on-call doctor, and daily records of feeding, sleeping and nappy changes shared with parents. Little Regent Nursery welcomes babies from two months, and our Key Person system means one familiar adult learns your baby’s cues. If you would like to see how we care for our youngest children, contact us to arrange a visit.