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From: flowers@ucla-cs.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.kids
Subject: Re: Colic
Message-ID: <6363@ucla-cs.ARPA>
Date: Thu, 18-Jul-85 18:06:39 EDT
Article-I.D.: ucla-cs.6363
Posted: Thu Jul 18 18:06:39 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 23-Jul-85 05:19:25 EDT
References: <1306@cbosgd.UUCP>
Reply-To: flowers@ucla-cs.UUCP (Margot Flowers)
Organization: UCLA Computer Science Department
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In article <1306@cbosgd.UUCP> mark@cbosgd.UUCP (Mark Horton) writes:
>Well, folks, our son Adam was born 3 weeks ago, and he has colic.
>I'd heard stories from others about long nights spent with colicky
>babies, but experiencing it firsthand is another story entirely.

I strongly recommend the book "Crying Babies, Sleepless Nights", by (I
think) Sandy Jones (it is a well distributed paperback).  It pulls
together a lot of research (digested for the populace) on baby
temperment and soothing techniques.  I have found it very useful both in
general for helping understand baby temperment (read it before the baby
is born since you won't have time afterward) as well as for suggestions
of specific techniques.

Around her third or fourth week, my daughter started spending her days
mostly sleeping or screaming, with little in between.  Several of the
techniques in the book alleviated this -- one thing it discusses is the
fact that infants can pay attention to only so many things at once, so
in difficult cases you can combine several soothing techniques at once
when single ones don't work.  For example, talk to the baby, have her in
a snugli, and stand up swinging back and forth the whole time to give
her motion.

This helped for a while but didn't last.  Returning to the book I read
that two thirds of all babies with colic improve if the nursing mother
cuts out cows milk from her diet.  I did, and in about a day, my calm
alert interested happy baby was back.  I don't know if her colic would
have ended then anyway, but the few times I have indulged in cheese have
been when she seems to have difficult days afterwards.  And checking
with my pediatrician later he said "Oh yes, milk is a well-known
irritant".  And here I'd been carefully getting all my calcium by
drinking more milk than I ever had before (now I get it from Tums).
There are other common food allergies the kid could have that it
discusses also.

It also spends time on specific intestinal malfunctions.  Supposedly
their little intestines can cramp in an uncoordinated manner rather than
in a syncrhonized manner.  It is fairly hard to determine exactly what
is going on when infants seem to have stomach problems, but certain
medicines known to alleviate irritable bowels and cramping are effective
in them so they assume that is the problem.  In such cases they suggest
going to specialists in pediatric gastroenterology (a listing is included
in the appendix).

Much of the discussion on infant temperment is interesting.  How some
babies need rocking and jiggling to help block out the world, and others
find it annoying and instead need calm.  In some cases colic seems to
result from too much stimulation during the day that builds up and
explodes in the evening.  Much of this I knew from taking care of young
relatives, but having it all presented in a cogent whole, referring to
results of studies, is quite helpful when you are suddenly faced with
your own little baby.

Some specifics that I remember from the book:

>I've heard it's worse when you breast feed (we are.)

Supposedly both breast and bottle fed can get it.

>Length of colic: everyone says it won't last longer than 3 months.
>That sounds like forever right now.  What is the distribution?  Is
>it linear between 0 and 3 months?  Between 2.5 months and 3 months?
>How likely is it to go beyond 3?

Most cases end in a few months but there are cases that can go on
for almost a year.

>One thing we've found is that by starting him on hot cereal at
>2.5 weeks, he'll eat lots of cereal at 10 PM, then nurse, and
>then sleep until 3 AM or so.

Supposedly it is a myth that solids make babies sleep better (caused by
the fact that the baby is also getting older and better able to sleep
longer when the parents start trying solids).  There might be some other
explanation, e.g., food allergy to something in the milk, would produce
a more satisfied sleeping baby.  Or maybe it is true.

Many people and pediatricians today advocate breast-milk ONLY until 6
months.  When I asked about it, I was told that the intestinal membrane
is not fully mature until about then, and before then larger food
molecules can pass through that wouldn't make it after six months,
causing allergies (that continue after infancy since the body has been
sensitized, producing a more allergic child).  [Other reasons discussed
in the book are that breast milk causes the mucus membranes of the
intestines to mature better, and there are some tentative correlations
between adult gut diseases and formula feeding.] So you might want to
consider breast milk only -- if your pediatrician is not supportive, try
contacting your local La Leche League.

I didn't mean to go on so long, but the book is full of interesting
and helpful facts that apply to this kind of distressing and trying
situation.  Good luck.  Let us know of what happens.