How to deal with colic in babies.

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What is colic?

That all babies cry is a reality anywhere in the world. Generally, between three weeks and the three months of age is when they cry the most and, frequently, especially during the afternoons or nights.

The duration of a baby’s weeping depends on his/her temperament and the circumstances or cause of his/her cry ,but the experts call it " colic" when it lasts three or more hours a day, for three to four days a week, for a period of four or more weeks.

For the parents, colic can be a source of frustration and stress, especially because it is not clear, what the cause or cure might be (only the duration is known.

The best explanation apparently, is that the baby absorbs the experiences his/her new world and its day to day activities and arrives at a point in which his/her immature nervous system is overloaded. And due to the fact that the baby uses every nerve of his/her immature body during all this processes of assimilation, they tend to cry and feel pains, especially in the stomach, which is one part that works non-stop.

Luckily, as the baby grows and his/her nervous system matures, he/she will be able to develop more abilities to separate his/her mind from some things and be able to stay calm. However, until that moment, the family life can be difficult. What be done meanwhile?

How to calm a baby with colic

Here are some verified tactics that will help calm the baby:

- Movement: swing, rock, take your baby out for a walk, and make him/her dance in the arms of mother or papa. Apparently, the movement practically eliminates the restlessness. You can experiments with different types of movement, since all babies are different

- Sound: music (not heavy metal), songs, originating smooth noises of a fan or another mechanical device (vacuum cleaner) or white noise. can also help soothe babies.

- Touch: research has shown that carrying babies in a frontal knapsack or baby-carrier during the first hours of the day (when the baby is not crying), really will reduce to the duration of the night cry, but not to be done frequently.

Once the baby begins to cry, you can massage him/her smoothly at the back, caress his stomach exerting a slight pressure and wrap him/her in a blanket to help him stay calm.

What happens if it is not colic?

In many occasions, some components in the mother’s diet during the period of breast-feeding, might be altered or might change. It can help a lot if the mother diminishes her intake of caffeine or cabbages, spices or scented vegetables. See if these alleviate the problem. If the baby is bottle fed, you might change it, but don`t change his/her formula, without consulting the pediatrician. In addition, you should also be alert for any sign that the baby might be ill or has an injury; naturally, these also can make babies cry.