What is infant colic?
Infant colic is a picture that is characterized by episodes of energetic and inconsolable crying of about 3 hours a day, almost every day. The exact cause of this picture is not yet known, but the hypothesis that is gaining strength is that it is due to a spasm of the smooth muscles of the intestine, caused by the deregulation of the nerve impulses generated by the baby in the passage of food through the intestine.
When do colic occur?
They usually appear in the first trimester of life, being more frequent between the second and fourth week of the baby’s life. Curiously, there is a higher incidence of this picture in babies who were born through an induced birth, either vaginally or by caesarean section. Perhaps it can be related to the stress that the baby feels at the time of delivery, when it is not yet “ready to be born”.
How do you detect this box?
The symptoms presented by the baby are very characteristic, so it is easy to determine if he is suffering from colic or not. If your baby cries intensely, for several hours a day, and at the time of the cry he tenses and stretches his back strongly, closing his fists tightly, we are dealing with a case of colic. On the other hand, if your baby, instead of stretching his back, contracts his abdomen in trunk flexion, it is more likely that they are gassy, without this assuming that he is suffering from what we call colic.
What can you do at home to help your child?
It is advisable for parents to place the baby in their arms upside down, holding it with their hand and forearm resting on the baby’s chest. This position helps the expulsion of gases and usually calms the baby. It is also highly advisable that they carry out a light massage clockwise on the baby’s abdomen, using a cream or oil. And as far as possible, try that the baby does not ingest too much air during feedings.
What is the most effective solution?
Medically, there are few solutions to help your baby during the weeks of colic. In cases of infantile colic, what is proving to be more effective are the pediatric osteopathy treatments we perform on the baby. We stimulate the baby’s organism to self-regulate, improving the interaction of the nervous system with the intestine, improving circulation, eliminating visceral tension and very noticeably alleviating the pain the baby suffers. Although it is a picture that seems to be necessary for the maturation of the baby, especially in those who have been born with induced labor, with osteopathic treatments we achieve that the process is much faster and with much less pain, relieving not only the baby, also to the parents who during these days see their rest very disturbed.
As we always say, the best prevention so that these pictures do not appear is to have treated the mother during pregnancy, so that the birth takes place in the most natural and effective way possible.