Effective ways to relieve colic

It is sometimes disheartening to hear distressed mothers describe their babies’ colic.

Often, mothers come to me and say, “My baby doesn’t want to eat, it seems like something hurts, and I don’t know what I can do to help!”

What is colic?

Colic presents as a constantly irritable baby. It typically starts during the first two or three weeks after birth and continues until three months of age, sometimes for longer. Unfortunately, colic affects up to one-third of newborns.

What causes colic?

Although there is no known specific reason that causes colic, there are many speculative explanations for its causes; these include gas, constipation, lactose intolerance, or food allergies. Another potential cause of colic may be the result of a structural weakness in the baby’s stomach or diaphragm area.

Treatment within conventional medicine often includes medication therapy or simply waiting for the baby to outgrow the condition. From a chiropractic perspective, many of the symptoms of colic may be caused by nerve dysfunction, resulting in poor communication between the brain and the digestive organs.

Does your newborn baby have difficulty latching, especially when nursing more on one side than the other? Does it seem uncomfortable while nursing? One way for the mother to assess if her newborn has any nerve irritation is to compare how the baby latches on each side, comparing one breast to the other. Often, the baby will latch well on one breast but not the other, or the newborn may frequently “unlatch” while nursing from a particular breast. These babies seem to be genuinely uncomfortable.

Chiropractic adjustments for the correction of vertebral subluxations (nerve dysfunctions) have long been recognized as an excellent therapeutic tool for infant colic. In fact, chiropractic has been shown to have a success rate of 94% in cases of colic.

IDEAS that help RELIEVE PAIN

Have a chiropractor who is confident working with children examine your baby.

How well your baby’s spine and nervous system are functioning will play an integral role in your child’s overall health condition. If you intuitively feel that something is wrong with your baby, have a chiropractor check them. Healthy babies – free from nerve interference – are happier babies.

Carrying position and stomach massage:

The best way to explain this position is through demonstration; however, I will try to keep the description simple…

If you carry your child along your forearm in this position, you can extend their abdominal area, which may provide relief to your baby while you massage their stomach. Extend or stretch your right forearm (crossing it in front of your body) and then place your baby’s face down on this forearm, with their head near the outer part of your elbow. Place your right hand over the lower abdomen or the groin or diaper area. Your baby’s legs will hang on either side of your right hand. In this position, you should be able to hold the baby completely over your right arm.

Now with your left hand, which is free, gently place your fingers near the middle of the upper area of your baby’s stomach, just below their lowest rib. Very gently, start rubbing with your fingers directing the movement downwards towards your baby’s belly button.

The intention of this massage is to help relax the stomach. You may find it helpful to imagine that with the gentle movements of your fingers, you are trying to elongate a small, compact ball of playdough and turn it into a flat shape like a crepe.

If you are breastfeeding, seek advice on the correct technique:

If you are breastfeeding, proper advice from a lactation specialist can make a significant difference.

Give your baby time to burp

Newborns will take time to learn how to nurse, burp, and properly digest food. Therefore, it is important, amidst the frenzy of daily life, to allow our newborns the extra time they may need to burp.

To help them burp: sit your baby on your lap, place your hand on their chest, and lift them slightly; this alleviates pressure on their abdomen and helps them burp (see the illustration on page 301 of Well-Adjusted Babies).

How often should you help a newborn with colic to burp? If you are bottle-feeding, try to burp them after every 30 ml feed. If you are breastfeeding, try to get them to burp whenever they unlatch from the breast.

Cut out all those problematic foods.

If you are breastfeeding and your newborn has colic, it is imperative that you avoid irritating foods for at least a time. This includes wine, champagne, carbonated drinks, coffee, tea, and other caffeinated beverages. Chocolate, acidic fruits like oranges and berries, as well as very spicy foods. Also lentils, split peas (ham and pea soup), and secondary proteins like beans.

Leave out cow’s milk!

There is a lot of literature discussing the high incidence today of allergies related to cow’s milk, such as milk protein allergies and lactose intolerance. In fact, statistics indicate that many of us may unknowingly have a sensitivity to it to some degree. This is a concern for both breastfed babies and those relying on formulas and preparations. Please see Chapter 12 for more information and suggestions about the most recommended formulas, and about the elimination diet for breastfeeding babies. In this chapter on breastfeeding, I discuss how many simple or refined carbohydrates contain dairy products, and how we must also be cautious with them.

Herbal preparations for colic

There is a variety of herbal preparations for colic available, and any of them may be of great benefit. I have heard positive experiences with the “Lardners Herbal Blend,” which can be found through some pharmacies or at www.colicsolutions.com.

I hope that implementing these suggestions can provide your newborn with effective relief from colic, so that these first months of bonding can transform into a beautiful and peaceful time for both of you.

Chiropractic research and colic.

Two very important research studies on “Chiropractic and Infant Colic” have shown that spinal adjustments can have a positive effect on colic.

In the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, a research study was conducted in 1989. In this study, 73 chiropractors adjusted the spines of 316 babies with cases of colic ranging from moderate to severe. These babies cried an average of 5.2 hours a day. Mothers were given a diary to record their children’s symptoms, the intensity and duration of colic-related crying, and the level of comfort or discomfort of the baby.

Over the course of two weeks (typically in three visits), 94% of the children treated with spinal adjustments showed a success rate compared to the other group of babies. One-quarter of them showed improvement after the first adjustment. The other group of babies, who were medicated with Dimethicone drops, improved only by 38%.

Again in 1999, some researchers compared the new results they obtained with those of this first trial, and the results of both studies were virtually identical.

Dr. Jennifer welladjusted.es