Ask a Doctor
Carl R. Backes, DO
Kiddie West Pediatric Center
4766 West Broad Street
Columbus, OH 43228
(614) 851-7337

Q. What is colic and how can I help my baby?

A. Primary care physicians face one of their most difficult challenges when helping families with a colicky baby.

Colic is a behavioral syndrome of paroxysmal abdominal pain and severe crying lasting more than three hours a day, for more than three days a week, during the first three months after birth. The attack begins suddenly with a loud almost continuous cry, a flushed face and an often tense and distended abdomen. The legs are tightly flexed, the hands clinched and the feet are cold. The episodes can continue to infant exhaustion.

The etiology is unknown, but the attacks may be exacerbated with hunger, swallowed air, overfeeding, a milk allergy and psychosocial factors. A physical examination must be done to eliminate other treatable causes of abdominal pain.

Treatments include upright positioning, a warm heating pad, passage of fecal material or flatulence, avoiding overfeeding, identifying a milk allergy, a change in a nursing mother’s diet, improved feeding techniques and even sedation.

Always a concern is a risk of parent frustration over a baby that cannot be soothed and the tragedy of shaken baby syndrome. We as primary care physicians must be supportive and sympathetic and remind parents that colic starts and ends within the first three months of life.