In summary, finding the best sleeping positions and techniques for your colic baby can make a significant difference in their comfort and sleep quality. Keeping your baby's head elevated, encouraging left-side sleeping, and incorporating tummy time can help soothe colic symptoms.
Though it can be tempting to place your baby on their stomach or side while sleeping in the crib, remember the only true safe sleeping position is flat on the back with no loose covers, pillows, or toys around. It's also always a good idea to talk to your baby's pediatrician regarding their colic symptoms.
On their back. Place your baby on their back and move their legs like they're cycling. The greatest sleeping posture for a gassy baby is also on the back (and the best and safest sleeping position for all infants until their first birthday).
The most commonly accepted definition of colic, which originated in 1954,4 describes using the “rule of three”: crying for more than three hours per day, for more than three days per week, and for more than three weeks in an infant that is well-fed and otherwise healthy.
What time of day is colic the worst? Typically, colicky babies cry most frequently from 6 pm to midnight (a period of time often referred to as “witching hour”). Parents often describe these cries as louder, more high-pitched, and more urgent than normal wails.
One in five babies cry enough that people call them colicky. Colic usually starts when babies are about 3 weeks old. It gets worse when they are between 4 and 6 weeks old. Most of the time, colicky babies get better after they are 6 weeks old, and are completely fine by the time they are 12 weeks old.
One reason colicky babies can fuss more at night, he explains, is that serotonin levels peak in the evening. This imbalance, the theory goes, naturally resolves when babies start making melatonin, which relaxes intestinal muscles.
Because your baby has more serotonin at night, their intestinal muscles may be contracting and causing your baby pain or discomfort. Regardless of the cause, dealing with colicky babies at bedtime can be a nightmare - that's where the Zen Swaddle can come in.
Let your baby cry—for a little while. If walking, rocking, singing, massaging, and the like don't seem to make a difference, put the baby in the crib for 10 to 15 minutes and see if he or she quiets alone. Sometimes a baby needs a little time alone—and you may need it, too.
A healthy baby may have colic if he or she cries or is fussy for several hours a day, for no obvious reason. Colicky babies often cry from 6 p.m. to midnight. Colicky crying is louder, more high-pitched, and more urgent sounding than regular crying. Colicky babies can be very hard to calm down.
These bouts of crying may last for three hours or more and occur mostly in the afternoons and evenings. The baby seems to be suffering from abdominal pain. Colic affects around one in three babies. Usually, cuddling or trying to soothe the baby's cries does not work.
Possible Causes of Colic
Hunger. Overfeeding. Baby cannot tolerate certain foods or certain proteins in breast milk or formula. Sensitivity to certain stimuli.
The children with reported colic were significantly more likely (22%) to sleep less than recommended for their age (6 months to 5 years) and significantly more likely (14%) to have more frequent night awakenings than usual for their age (6 months to 5 years).
Colic usually starts when a baby is a few weeks old and stops when they're around 4 to 6 months of age. If your otherwise healthy baby cries inconsolably for 3 or more hours a day, at least 3 days per week (and it's been happening for 3 weeks or more), it could be caused by colic.
How long does colic last? Thankfully, there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Colic tends to peak around 6 weeks, and then improves significantly between 3 and 4 months. By 4 months of age, 80 to 90 percent of infants are over colic.
Colic can stop gradually or suddenly, or flare up and down until it eventually disappears. Symptoms will usually pass within a few weeks (or months, in some cases)!
What Causes Colic? Doctors aren't sure what causes colic. It may be due to digestion problems or a sensitivity to something in the baby's formula or that a nursing mom is eating. Or it might be from a baby trying to get used to the sights and sounds of being out in the world.
Infacol works by helping the small trapped gas bubbles join into bigger bubbles, which your baby can easily bring up as wind – helping to relieve their pain and discomfort. Clinically proven Infacol is the UK's No. 1 selling treatment for wind, infant colic and griping pain.
It typically starts within the first 6 weeks and goes away within 4 months, although it may last up to 6 months. It is marked by extended periods of crying for no obvious reason. Babies suffering from colic are typically gassy, fussy, and have trouble getting to sleep.
Can be used from 0+ birth onwards. - Proven to provide effective relief for baby for over 30 years. Infacol colic relief drops work by helping the small trapped gas bubbles join into bigger bubbles, which your baby can easily bring up as wind - helping to relieve their pain and discomfort.
But when your infant has painful gas, especially if it's frequent, it can cause your baby to cry or become fussy—until it's passed; unlike colic, which causes crying and fussiness that lasts for hours across days and weeks. Gas can have distinctive symptoms, too, such as a swollen-looking belly.
With a baby that vomits or spits up a lot, it's relatively easy to understand that the baby may have reflux, where as a baby that might just have excessive bouts of crying but is rarely sick and still gains weight would often be deemed to just have 'colic'.