Is Your Baby Suffering From Colic?

All babies cry. But if you know that the reason behind a particular episode is colic, you can help your baby and yourself through it. by Suja Natarajan 

- Suja Natarajan

Baby and crying go hand in hand. But when a baby cries inconsolably for no reason, doctors call it colic. However, colic is not a disease or a diagnosis but a harmless condition, which causes significant distress to infants. Known as a mystery condition, it surfaces during the first few weeks of birth and resolves on its own. Nearly 40 per cent of all infants have colic, whether breastfed or formula-fed*. “Infant colic starts in the first month, within a couple of weeks after birth. It can go on until the age of 3 or 4 months, when it tends to abate and disappear on its own,” says Mumbai-based Dr. PV Vaidyanathan, Consulting Paediatrician and author of Doctor, Why Is My Baby Crying? Learn what makes your baby cry nonstop and ways to soothe her.

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The symptoms of colic include intense crying episodes with curled-up legs and clenched face or fists. The condition surfaces when the baby is 2 to 3 weeks old. “A colicky baby cries repeatedly for 3 to 4 minutes, with a gap when he is peaceful, and then starts again,” Dr. Vaidyanathan explains. “When he attempts to expel the trapped wind in the intestine, he draws up his thighs towards his abdomen,” says Child Advisor Dr. Sarath Gopalan, Senior Paediatric stroenterologist, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital and Saket City Hospital, Delhi. Episodes of colic have chances of peaking at around 6 weeks and reduce between 3 to 6 months.

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