Overview of natural treatment options for colic in babies

Is your crying child giving you sleepless nights? Or are you worried that your child is suffering from a serious illness? But if your baby cries for no reason and he looks healthy otherwise, then there is nothing to worry about. Your baby may be showing the irritable and fussy mood due to colicky pain.

Colic pain is very common in infants and babies. The symptoms of colic pain begin to appear within 2 weeks after birth and resolve on their own in the next 3-4 months. The cause for colic pain in babies is still unknown but there are many things that trigger colic pain in infants.

These factors include food allergies, milk protein allergy, gas trouble, lactose intolerance and vaccinations. Colicky can be extremely frustrating or tiring for both babies and parents.

Almost every baby suffers from colicky pain because the digestive system of new born in not developed properly. So, it becomes difficult for the baby to digest even the milk proteins.

Unfortunately, there is no treatment for colic pain in babies but there certain natural ways and remedies that can help soothe the symptoms of indigestion and colicky in babies:

• Follow a schedule. Many mothers think that babies cry only when they are hungry. So they feed their babies every time they cry. But this attitude is not right for your baby because over feeding the child can aggravate the indigestion problems, making the colicky pain worse. You can avoid this from happening by following a proper feeding schedule. Do not try to over feed your child. Feed your baby at fixed time after every 2- 2 ½ hours.
• Let your baby burp. After feeding your baby, hold him in upright position with your hand supporting the baby’s head. Let him/her burp. This will reduce the frequency of colicky in babies by releasing the gas from baby’s digestive tract.
• Change your diet. All those mothers who are breastfeeding their babies, they need to look for what they eat. Whatever the mother eats, it certainly has some affect on baby as well. Breastfeeding mother should avoid the consumption of some foods to lessen the chances of colicky pain in babies. Eating following foods can make your baby uncomfortable: - Dairy products - Spicy foods - Cabbage - Beans - Onions - Caffeine
• Give massage to your baby. Your baby can’t speak. He can’t tell that how much pain he is in. The only way he can express his problem is through crying. But as a mother, you can do a lot of things to get your baby out of irritating pain. Another good thing you must try to relieve the colicky pain of your baby is massage his belly. Simply lay down your baby on his back on some soft surface, like a pillow. Then gently rub or massage the baby’s belly with few drops of oil. Massaging the baby’s belly stimulates the movements of digestive system that helps in releasing the extra air trapped within baby’s intestine. The baby will ultimately feel more relaxed and comfortable after passing out extra gas.
• Babies like motion. Many mothers may have experienced that babies stop crying at the moment when they pick them up and start walking. Babies love motion because they find it quite soothing. This may sound crazy but you can put your baby in the car’s back infant seat and can go on a ride. Your baby will defiantly enjoy the ride and you will notice a positive change in your baby’s irritable and fussy mood. But if it is not convenient for you to take the baby on ride, there are many other ways to soothe your child. Put your baby in a baby coat and vibrate it or grab your baby close to you and sit on a rocking chair. Both the warmth of your body and vibratory movement of chair will soothe the baby.
• Babies enjoy the music. Well it seems quite unrealistic to believe that babies too love music. Believe it or not, this is true because many babies respond to music and sounds. Sometimes the background noise or sound can be very comforting for your angry and irritable baby. Simply put on a vacuum cleaner or dryer machine. You will be amazed to see that your baby stops crying within a while after listening to the sound. This is because when the baby hears some noise or sound, his attention is diverted from pain towards that sound.
• Don’t let your baby suck air. This precaution is usually given to mother who feed their babies with milk bottles. The holes in the nipples of bottles may allow the baby to suck air. Sucking or swallowing the air complicates colicky pain further. So, it is better to use bottles having nipples with small hole, just to prevent the swallowing of excess air.
• Soothe the baby. Some babies do not like the loud, irritating sound and bright lights in the room. You can soothe your baby by wrapping him in a warm blanket and lying down with him in a dark and quiet room.
• Use of gripe water: Gripe water is the best and most famous homeopathic remedy known as far. Even some doctors also recommend giving gripe water to babies for the remedy of colic in babies. Gripe water contains natural herbs like fennel, chamomile, ginger, peppermint, aloe, lemon balm and caraway. Gripe water contains no chemical additives and is quite safe for the infants. The pure herbs in gripe water help in balancing the upset digestive system, relieving the intestinal spasms and in encouraging smooth digestion.
• Switch to the formula milk: You might be giving trouble to your baby by feeding him with cow’s milk. There are proteins and lactose in cow’s milk that are difficult from a baby to digest. Sometimes the milk proteins can evoke allergic reactions, leading to severe colicky pain and gas trouble in infants. Therefore, doctors recommend lactose free formula milk which contains easily digestible soy or hydrosylate proteins. Switching to formula milk helps a lot in reliving the symptoms of colicky pain.