Colic

Baby colic symptoms

• ​Screaming and crying (usually start in the late afternoon and evening)
• Distended stomach
• A lot of flatulence and burping
• More spit-up
• Poor, restless and disturbed sleep.
• More irritable and uncomfortable

What is 3 month colic in babies?

​Colic usually begins when the baby is around 2 weeks old and peaks around the 6th week of life. It subsides by 90% after 3-4 months, also called 3-month colic. It has largely stopped in all babies by around 5 months.

​It is the doctor who assesses whether the baby has colic based on the symptoms and any other tests, and the doctor usually finds all examinations and tests completely normal. Under normal circumstances with the typical symptoms of colic, the doctor does not directly do anything more about the problems.

Why do babies cry?

​​Crying is a baby’s way of communicating and expressing themselves, and therefore it is normal to cry in everyday life. Crying can mean both big and small things, and it can also be due to basic needs such as food, diaper changes, tiredness, etc. In other cases, crying can mean overstimulation, pain or tension.

How much is it normal for a baby to cry/scream?

It is considered normal for a normal and healthy baby to cry on average about 2 hours a day.

It is also normal for crying to occur most often in the afternoon and evening, and in some cases this may be due to the baby having to process the day’s impressions.

Inconsolable/hysterical baby crying

​When the crying is not due to tiredness, hunger, overstimulation or a clean diaper, and there is violent crying, it may be due to pain or tension in the baby. Therefore, it is important to take the crying seriously and find the cause, and here an osteopathic examination and treatment may be a good option.

Baby crying in the afternoon

​​Usually, infants complain most in the afternoon and early evening due to colic. In the afternoon, in addition to the usual things like hunger, diaper changes, it can also be because the child is overstimulated or stressed after a whole day, and perhaps overtired.

​If the baby suffers from colic, sleep may generally be slightly reduced from the rest of the day. The difference between normal crying for need and crying in pain is that the crying can often become more shrill and that it does not stop.

What causes baby colic?

A baby’s crying can be very upsetting for parents, but it is important to remember that there is a reason for the crying.

Some of the most well-known causes of colic are the following:

• ​Hunger
• Fatigue/overtiredness/lack of sleep
• Overstimulated
• Pain
• Difficulty passing stool
• Difficulty farting and burping
• ​Reaction to mother’s diet (breastfeeding)

Is baby colic hereditary?

​There is no evidence that colic is hereditary. There is currently no research that shows that colic is caused by one thing, but rather that it is multifactorial and has different causes.​

What can be done about baby colic?

​As new parents, crying can be hard, but crying is the baby’s way of telling the parents that something is wrong. You can always start by following the doctor’s and health visitor’s good advice, such as burping the baby properly, checking that the breastfeeding position is correct or making sure that the baby gets the fat milk from the breast, which comes last.

How to relieve baby crying?

​Since there is not just one cause of colic, there is no effective treatment that works for everyone, but there is a lot of good advice and you can get help to reduce the symptoms.

• Let the baby burp during meals
• Let the child eat until it is full.
• Don’t switch breasts too quickly, as the fat milk comes last.
• Check that the breastfeeding position is correct.
• You may want to try to eliminate cow’s milk from the baby’s and mother’s diet for a few days by breastfeeding only or using infant formula that does not contain cow’s milk.
• In some children, sugar water has a quick effect
• The sounds of a washing machine, a car driving, and a baby rocker can be calming to some children.
• Some people believe that decongestants can be helpful. These can be purchased over the counter at pharmacies.
• Alternative treatment

Osteopathy and colic

​Birth is a tough start for the baby, and there is a lot of pressure on the baby through the birth canal, and it is therefore not unusual for this to result in tension on the baby’s body afterwards. If the birth has been a little extra tough with, for example, a suction cup, it can cause even more tension.

The pressure and thus tension on the neck and skull can cause problems with our 10th cranial nerve, the vagus nerve. This nerve is our digestive nerve that runs through the jugular foramen, which is a collection of two skull surfaces, and they form a line/small hole for the passage of, among other things, nerves.

​In addition, two other nerves also come from the same area; n. glossopharyngeus and n. accessory. N. glossopharyngeus supplies part of the tongue, palate and pharynx. N. accessory supplies the trapezius muscle (known as the bull’s neck) and the sternocleidomastoid muscle (the large neck muscle).

​This means that birth can cause the three nerves to cause muscle tension around the throat and neck, tension in the pharynx, palate and digestive problems. Therefore, the crying behind colic can be caused by tension and pain in the baby that may stem from birth.

Osteopathy will examine this particular potential problem and at the same time the rest of the body to form an overview of symptoms, their connections and help with the right advice in each case, in addition to referring to other professionals if there are signs of other factors that may be involved, such as otitis media or a short tongue tie.

Treatment of baby colic

Osteopathy is a manual form of treatment where the whole body is seen as a whole, and therefore the whole body and its systems are examined thoroughly. An examination consists of a conversation with the parents about their experiences and views of the baby, and then a thorough examination of the whole body is done. The examination provides an overview of the baby’s body and any tensions.

​Work is done exclusively with the hands, and osteopathy will explain the connections between the baby’s symptoms. Often the cause behind the symptoms lies elsewhere, and this is due to the body’s infinite connections with, for example, the nervous system as previously mentioned, including the vagus nerve.

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Treatment of the baby’s problems can therefore start somewhere other than the location of the symptoms, but still with the aim of relieving or eliminating the symptoms.

​Prevention of baby colic

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The exact cause of baby colic is not known, and therefore it is impossible to 100% prevent it.

If tension is suspected as the cause of colic, it can be of great help to both parents and the baby to have an osteopathic examination. Osteopathy can be used both if a direct problem is experienced with the child, or as a general check-up of the baby.

A thorough check-up can provide parents with an overview, peace of mind and understanding, as it can provide answers to their gut feeling about the baby’s physical well-being. If you catch any tensions in good time, it can help and prevent potential crying and screaming episodes.

Osteopathy has good experiences and knowledge with this form of treatment for babies with colic.

Exercises and good advice for baby colic

​It can be difficult to give direct exercises if the cause of colic is not known. Through the examination and treatment, you often learn more about the baby’s problems and tensions, so specific exercises can be given to take home that are suitable for the individual baby and its problems.

The individual exercises are shown after treatment, where parents are guided through simple home exercises.

Here are some of the relevant ones:

• Cycling with your legs (good for stomach problems)
• Lightly massage the abdomen in circles in a clockwise direction.
• Make sure to burp the baby well (or let the baby burp along the way)
• Check that the breastfeeding position is correct.
• Light massage (with or without oil) or pressure massage of the whole body
• Consider having the baby checked by an osteopath (this can provide quick clarification for the parents)