Infant colic is a terrible dream of newly-made parents. More precisely, something that completely deprives the whole family of sleep and gives a lot of suffering and trouble. The kid screams, tightens his legs, sleeps poorly and does not eat very well. Mom and Dad, just yesterday so happy when they were discharged from the hospital, fall into a stupor and start looking for answers to questions how to help the child (and at the same time themselves).
Pediatrician Yevgeny Komarovsky, an authoritative among millions of mothers, devoted a lot of time to this topic - he talked about colic in his TV programs, wrote in books and articles. We tried to collect in one article as much information as possible about this big problem of little people and their parents.
What it is
Colic in newborns is a fairly common problem. And despite the abundance of materials written on this topic, parents, no matter how they prepare for the birth of a child, no matter what they read about caring for an infant, they always feel defenseless and confused before colic. And it doesn't matter if they raise the first child, the second or the fourth. Colic in this regard is completely merciless - "mowing" parents with very different experience.
The exact cause of such an unpleasant state in a child is not known for certain to science.
Most often it is believed that the increased gas production in the intestines, which is still undergoing changes after the beginning of an independent life in this world, is to blame for everything.
Some doctors talk about unformed microflora, others argue that this is how the child's body adapts to the environment. Most likely, all are right a little.
When colic begins, parents are not up to looking for the true reasons. They would get rid of the symptoms, but they are quite bright and confusing them with something else is rather problematic: the child starts screaming, presses his legs to his tummy, and the pain is paroxysmal. When palpating, bloating is observed, after the discharge of gas, the baby becomes clearly better, the pain releases for a while, the baby relaxes and stops crying until the next attack.
Most often, colic begins 1-2 weeks after birth and lasts up to 3 months, and sometimes longer. Boys, according to statistics, suffer from them more often than girls, and their problem is protracted (sometimes colic continues to recur sporadically at 4 months). In total, the problem is more or less characteristic of 7 out of 10 children.
Among the factors that contribute to the appearance of pain are improper feeding techniques (both by breast and from a bottle), overfeeding, a mixture that is not suitable for this baby, as well as a violation of the feeding rules of a nursing mother, and, in addition, possible bad habits - smoking or drinking alcohol while breastfeeding.
Traditionally, pediatricians prescribe simethicone-based drugs to relieve colic - Espumisan, Bobotik, etc., dill water, fennel tea for newborns, a heating pad or a diaper warmed up by an iron, and spread on the tummy. The famous doctor Komarovsky has a slightly different view of infant colic.
Doctor Komarovsky will tell you about the causes of colic in a newborn in the next video.
Doctor Komarovsky about colic
Evgeny Komarovsky urges parents who are extremely tired of their child's intestinal colic to understand the main thing: colic is completely normal and temporary. In the intestines of the baby, a lot of important processes take place, the purpose of which is to prepare the child for life in this world, with its bacteria, viruses, antigenic proteins and other threats.
Previously, the baby received food through the placenta.
After birth, the way of eating has changed radically, he needs to get used to it, and the intestine responds with spasms to stretching and a new way of feeding its little owner. As soon as the adaptation process is completed, colic will disappear without a trace.
However, Komarovsky emphasizes, this is also just one of the theories, since the true cause of the phenomenon is unknown to medicine.
Even inexperienced parents can recognize colic quite simply, because the crying of a child with them cannot be explained by anything - the baby is full, dry, healthy. And while he screams, sometimes for several hours a day. Komarovsky emphasizes that, as a rule, crying with colic often begins in the afternoon and closer to the night.
Feeding a baby who suffers from abdominal pain can be difficult. Great patience is required from parents - the toddler turns inside out, throws the breast or nipple, squeezes and bends in an arc. He quickly gets tired, while he remains half-starved, and he has no strength to continue to suck. It is at this moment that the child is very sensitive to the mood of the parents. Their powerlessness and confusion, and even anger and resentment, even if they suppress it, is very well perceived by the baby, and he begins to be capricious with renewed vigor. Remember that the emotional bond between mom and baby is still very, very strong.
The realization that colic is not so much a child's problem as a big trouble for his parents will help to calm down and pull yourself together. It was they who elevated the usual physiological process into the category of a terrible painful illness, they are worried, afraid, nervous.
Treatment
There is no need to treat infant intestinal colic, says Yevgeny Komarovsky. Since medicine has not found a reasonable explanation for their appearance, then there is nothing to treat.
But the pharmaceutical industry and pharmacists have found a way to make money on parents who want to alleviate the child's condition at any cost. They are offered a lot of drugs, herbal and synthetic, supposedly for colic, special feeding bottles with a nipple, which supposedly does not allow air to be swallowed while feeding.
There are also tons of adapted milk formulas with a tempting "Anticolica" inscription on the box. They, according to manufacturers, do not cause colic at all and "extinguish" them in the bud.
All this expensive pleasure is nothing more than a publicity stunt, says Komarovsky. There is no cure for colic! This physiological state goes away on its own when the time comes., but parents who cannot do nothing at all with pain in a baby are absolutely sure that one of the many tried remedies helped them.
By and large, there is nothing harmful in a variety of drops and syrups for removing gas, Komarovsky emphasizes. That is, the parents give the baby harmless medicines, but the benefits of simethicone (all synthetic drugs for such cases consist of it) are rather doubtful. Even with a significant overdose, these drugs from increased gas production do not have a negative effect on the child's body. Therefore, the doctor is calm about such means, if the parents want to do something to feel that they have not abandoned the baby in trouble, let them give such drops.
It is much worse if active mothers and fathers begin to fight colic in more dangerous ways - to shove gas pipes into the child, give him enemas, carry him around for examinations and demand from the pediatrician the appointment of painkillers (yes, such parents also exist in nature!) ...
The gas outlet tube, which local pediatricians often advise to buy at the pharmacy, is rather rude and, according to Dr. Komarovsky, the inept actions of mums and dads who have never injected it before can lead to the child having mechanical intestinal trauma. It is quite easy to pierce it with such a tube. And pediatric surgeons know this best of all, to whom infants with such intestinal injuries are taken to hospitals almost every day.
About feeding
You should also not try to cope with the problem of giving a screaming baby breast or bottles of formula. He already got gaziki, most likely from overeating, there is no need to aggravate the situation, in the hope that this will calm the baby. Such a mistake, according to Komarovsky, is made by every second mother, and regardless of her parenting experience. In the minds of mothers, grandmother's instructions are very firmly embedded - yelling, which means he is hungry. This is a mistake and must not be allowed.
Correct actions in this situation should be based on increasing the intervals between feedings, let the child drink more water, let him twice as often massage the abdomen, but feeding him at the first cry is a harmful practice for both the mother and the child himself.
About mom's nutrition
A lot has been said and written about the nutrition of a nursing mother, which in some way can affect the presence or absence of colic in an infant. And often the pediatrician puzzled asks the mother of a screaming child with colic, and what, in fact, she herself takes for food. This is completely superfluous information for the doctor, says Komarovsky, since the mother's nutrition and her diet do not in any way affect whether the crumbs and stomach ache from gas.
Evgeny Olegovich asks young mothers to stop bullying themselves, experimenting with diets that other parents on the Internet offer in abundance. Newly made mothers should eat with pleasure, be calm and joyful, then the child will yell much less.
About motion sickness
Many mothers say that motion sickness helps the child with severe pain in the tummy. But there are also children who cannot be pacified by carrying them in their arms. Evgeny Komarovsky recommends to stop rocking the baby and carry him back and forth around the apartment if motion sickness does not help Stop should be on time... And after stopping to sit down and think about this ...
Evgeny Olegovich claims that with real colic, no motion sickness will take effect. If a child yells at any attempt to put him in the crib, despite the fact that he has been worn and rocked for several hours in a row, then this is not colic. This little man shows his big character in such a way, tries to establish "his power" and here it is urgent to correct the behavior and reactions of the parents in the name of saving the future character of the child. Of course, there are other reasons for this behavior, including illness, so if in doubt, it is better to invite a doctor and consult in person.
About laying out on the tummy
Very often, doctors and authoritative medical publications advise parents to lay the baby on the tummy more often, as this strengthens the abdominal muscles and helps to reduce the intensity of pain. Yevgeny Komarovsky advises to take such recommendations with the utmost seriousness for the very reason that it is one thing to lie on your stomach for five minutes under the supervision of a mom or dad, and quite another to put a child on his stomach to sleep.
Modern medicine has a different view of children's sleep in this position, and Komarovsky fully shares it. Sleeping on your stomach is hazardous to your health. The risks are great - sudden infant death syndrome, which, as doctors have proven, often happens to children who sleep with their booty up.
Tips
Be patient and try to "rally" the ranks. Colic is a problem for both moms and dads, a common problem. Therefore, all decisions on how to alleviate the state of the crumbs, what to give him, and whether it is necessary to give something at all, should be made by both parents in solidarity. Komarovsky says that colic in his rich medical practice very often became the reason for divorce. After all, an unkempt mother who carries a child screaming from colic in her arms for 24 hours is not the best company for a father who has returned from work and wants to eat and drink and home comfort.
Every family where the appearance of a toddler is planned, or he was recently born, needs to master the technique of tummy massage. This helps to alleviate the condition of the child, such procedures can be done in the intervals between feedings for 5-10 minutes. Place the baby on the back and use your fingertips clockwise to massage the belly around the navel. This will help to divert excess gas. The massage is simple and available at home on your own.
If the causes of spasmodic pain in the intestines of a child are not fully understood by scientists and doctors, then practicing doctors have long noticed two main factors that can increase the intensity of pain in colic and the frequency of attacks. The first is overheating and the second is overfeeding. A child who is wrapped and protected from any draft, and at the same time is stuffed with milk or a mixture through force, is more likely to start to suffer from colic than a child whose parents are more adequate in organizing the life of their child.
The correct organization of the child's day is the best way to fight colic and at the same time the best way to prevent it. Dr. Komarovsky is sure that a baby who does not overeat often walks in the fresh air, in whose room the parents not only do wet cleaning every day, but also humidify and ventilate the air, make sure that it is not hot, and much less often suffers from colic.
The best remedy for colic, according to Evgeny Komarovsky, is time and a normal adequate attitude of parents to this temporary phenomenon. Only patience and love for each other of all family members can help to endure these difficult several months.
