According to the Mayo Clinic, colic is “frequent, prolonged, and intense crying or fussiness in a healthy infant. Pediatric nurse practitioner and PhD Maryanne Tranter shares that it appears in babies under 5 months with no known cause, and often occurs in the evening or toward the end of the day, which can set you up for difficulty getting your baby down for the night. If your baby
has colic, it can be very frustrating to try to soothe them because they appear to be fussy for no clear reason.
While colic peaks at 6 weeks, Dr. Gaby Zepeda suggests that we learn about colic at this age because up to 20 percent of babies suffer from it, and it can start as early as 2 to 4 weeks.
To be clear, all babies start to use crying as a form of communication at the end of their first month—this is expected, as you learned in the Development section. When we talk about a baby who has colic, we are referring to a baby who cries significantly more than other babies and has no obvious illness or other cause for crying.
Treatable Causes of Colic
While some people might say you just have to “ride out” colic, the experts I’ve worked with find that it sometimes has specific treatable causes. Dr. Maryanne shares that, like a fever, colic is a symptom, caused by something else going on with your child. She has found that colic can actually be the symptom of three different conditions:
- Tongue and lip ties: A tongue and/or lip tie (where the tissue between the tongue and floor of the mouth or the lip and gum is short or tight) affects latching and as a result baby can take a lot of air into their system while feeding, causing an uncomfortable
stomach. Their difficulty feeding can also leave them frustrated and hungry. - Reflux (particularly silent reflux): The discomfort associated with reflux, or when a baby’s stomach muscle pushes the breastmilk or formula they drink back up, is major cause of crying that is often misdiagnosed as colic. You can tell when your baby is suffering from reflux because they’ll arch their back rigidly in pain.
- Food allergies or intolerances: Soy and cow’s milk are the most common because of an inability to break down larger proteins.
If you feel like your baby is particularly upset and crying excessively, you’ll want to check with your pediatrician to make sure that none of these conditions are present, and if they are, address them. Your doctor may also look at other reasons for your baby’s crying and discomfort.
What Can You Do about Colic?
Holistic pediatrician Elisa Song, author of Healthy Kids, Happy Kids reminds us that not all fussiness is abnormal and needs to be treated. The “colicky” period typically starts around 2 weeks of age and peaks at around six to 8 weeks of age, just as babies’ brains are starting to mature, better equipping them to manage sensory overload. They’re starting to smile and coo and engage with the world in a calmer, happier way. Your fussy baby may just need you to hold them, sit with them calmly, and know
that they’ll be okay.
However, when she sees a baby with colic in her practice, Dr. Song first takes a closer look at potential root causes. One potential root cause that she explores is food sensitivities. Particularly fussy babies may be reacting to something in the breastmilk or formula they’re drinking. For formula-fed babies, a trial on a partially hydrolyzed or hypoallergenic formula may be beneficial.
For breastfed babies, eliminating the most inflammatory foods from Mom’s diet (dairy, gluten, soy, eggs, and corn) can do wonders to calm a colicky baby. She suggests that breastfeeding moms focus not on what they’re missing, but on all the amazing foods they can eat, and nourish their body and their baby with delicious fruits and vegetables, wild and grass-fed meats and
seafood, nuts and seeds, and gluten-free grains.
Dr. Song shares that holistic therapies can also be an amazing tool to help calm fussy babies. One study found that giving babies a combination of chamomile, ginger, lemon balm, and fennel significantly relieved colic symptoms. Some of these ingredients are found in Gripe Water, which many parents find helpful for their fussy babies. Giving a baby specially formulated infant
probiotics that contain Lactobacillus reuteri has also been found to reduce colicky symptoms. Combination homeopathy medicines like Boiron’s Colic Relief may provide quick, gentle relief as needed.
Pediatric Acupuncture for Babies
As a pediatric acupuncturist, Robin Ray Green treats many common newborn conditions such as failure to thrive, reflux, colic, poor sleep, and teething pain. Gentle and effective non-needle techniques such as laser acupuncture used on the baby’s meridian points can provide powerful help with soothing and sleep challenges. For more details on pediatric acupuncture, please see
RobinRayGreen.com.
Acupressure for Colic
Dr. Song has a special trick she teaches her parents with colicky babies. While nursing or bottle feeding, you can gently put pressure on and massage the CB12 acupuncture point, which is found at the midway point between the bottom of the sternum and the belly button (where the ribcage meets in the middle of your baby’s chest). You can even use a drop of gentle essential oil like lavender or chamomile on the skin there; both scents are calming, and lavender in particular is known to relieve discomfort and physical pain.
The Case of Baby Jayden
When I started working with six-week-old Jayden, his parents hadn’t slept in days. It felt to them as if he cried all of the time! They admitted that they had been comparing Jayden to their neighbor’s baby, who seemed delightful in the evening (and supposedly already slept for a five hour stretch at the beginning of the night). It’s hard to avoid comparisons, but I gently suggested to Jayden’s parents that, in this case, it would make us all even more frustrated. They agreed!
Because Jayden seemed to need constant soothing, the family had no clear structure to their day. I understood how they’d gotten to that place, but I knew that a structure could help. We started by regulating Jayden’s wake-up time so that his morning could start with a predictable routine. They were then able to add in a few more predictable routines throughout his day.
I then suggested they experiment with a few different soothing techniques—but only in the morning, when he was likely to be less fussy, so that they could get an accurate read on what worked to soothe him. They could then have these soothing tools in their pocket to try in the afternoon and evening when Jayden, like most colicky babies, got even fussier. They also followed my “3 PM Rule”, which means that they reduced all stimulation every day after 3 PM.
Pretty quickly, they learned that Jayden liked white noise and a pacifier (thank goodness!). And
eventually, the predictability of routines throughout the day also kept him calmer and easier to
soothe. He wasn’t quite as ramped up by the afternoon and evening.
My 3 PM Rule
Within the 3 PM to 7 PM time period, I suggest:
●Turning off the TV.
● Dimming the lights.
● Soothing your baby with rocking and sucking.
● Bringing your baby into a separate calming room—either temporarily, or for the full
period, if needed.
● Having a gentle “coming home” routine for other members of the family.
While Jayden’s colic symptoms didn’t disappear completely, these changes to the day helped to soothe both Jayden and his parents. He was less dysregulated at the end of the day and easier to soothe to sleep in the evening. Within a month, his fussiness was a distant memory, and Jayden’s parents were happy to report that he was even ready for some gentle sleep shaping.
A lot of families that go through colic come out feeling a bit traumatized. This is totally understandable; it’s a stressful time for both the parents and the child. No matter how endless it may seem, colic—thankfully—disappears eventually. I always encourage my families to do whatever works to soothe their babies through it.
Excerpt from The Sleep Lady’s Gentle Newborn Sleep Guide by Kim West,
