Your baby screams, body stiff and arms flailing, You feel helpless as you pace the same path back and forth anxiously. How can you get her to calm down? How can her little vocal cords still work after almost four hours of screaming? Will you ever get any rest tonight? If this sounds familiar to you, then you and your child might have lived through colic, a largely inexplicable reaction to various triggers for your infant's sensitive digestive system. If you are a nursing mother, there are some dietary modifications that can alleviate the situation.
Colic Defined
Colic is not a clinical term and instead refers to an often unexplainable condition that causes an infant to cry inconsolably for over three hours. Many reasons have been given for what causes colic, with gas and allergies leading the way. According to the Bridget Swinney, registered dietitian and author of the book "Baby Bites," many experts attribute colic to adjusting to life outside the womb. Stress during pregnancy has also been blamed for an increased risk of colic, as well as the gas gulped by babies when they cry excessively.
Allergen Free
If your child is not sick but continues to cry incessantly, he might have colic. One of the first recommendations is to remove allergens from your diet because that has been shown to reduce crying jags. Remove foods such as wheat, soy, eggs, nuts, dairy and fish from your diet. Replenish your protein with high quality lean proteins and take a calcium supplement.
Caffeine and Fibrous Foods
Although only a small amount of caffeine is transmitted through breast milk, some babies are sensitive to even that small amount. Foods that cause gas such as cabbage and broccoli are also possibly culprits in irritating your infant's belly. To decrease the symptoms, reduce or eliminate caffeine and gassy foods from your diet.
Probiotics
The addition of probiotics to the diet has been proved to be helpful in reducing the symptoms of colic. The beneficial bacteria provided by probiotics gives you and your baby added protection against harmful flora. Yogurts, yogurt drinks and lactobacillus acidophilus supplements are good sources of probiotics.
Warnings
Sometimes, your infant will respond to the adjustments you make in your breast feeding and sometimes, she will not. Since colic actually describes a host of symptoms, it is very important for you to make sure your child is not seriously ill before attributing her discomfort to colic. Hernias, stomach viruses and other infections can also cause symptoms of extreme distress in your baby and should be diagnosed by a doctor.
References
- American Academy of Pediatrics:Colic
- Pediatric Nutrion Handbook: Policy of the American Academy of Pediatrics. 2009
- "Baby Bites," Swinney, B; Meadowbrook Press; 2007
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