Nothing is more satisfying than seeing your new-born baby sleeping peacefully. Baby has been fed; diaper changed followed by a relaxing bath. That should be enough for a peaceful night’s rest, right? What if that is not the case? What if your baby starts crying at the same time every day for more than 3 hours a day? What if my baby cries or fusses for hours at a time? Why is this happening?
Your baby might have colic. If you notice some of the following symptoms in your baby, he/she might have colic:
- Clenching of the fists.
- Bending of arms and legs toward the belly.
- Have a bloated tummy.
- Have a red, flushed face when they cry.
- Pass gas while he/she sheds tears, often because they swallowed air.
- Tighten of stomach muscles.
- Crying for no obvious reason (for example, they aren’t hungry or need a diaper change).
- Crying around the same time(s) each day. Colicky babies often get fussy toward the end of the day. But it can happen at any time.
- Crying like they’re in pain.
- Turning bright red when crying.
What is Colic in babies?
Colic is when a healthy baby cries or fusses frequently for prolonged periods of time. If your baby regularly cries for more than 3 hours a day, colic might be the cause. These crying spells are likely to start between the second and fourth week and may occur at any time of day or night, often between 6 pm and midnight. About one-fifth of all baby’s experience colic.
Nothing is more stressful to a new mother than no apparent reason for the crying of her baby. Unlike with regular infant crying, attempts to stop colic-induced crying sessions by feeding, burping, rocking, or changing the diaper aren’t successful.
How is colic in babies diagnosed?
There is no apparent cause of colic in babies. The cause of colic is still unknown to doctors although some believe that colic is caused by a growing digestive system with muscles that often spasm; gas – baby might be swallowing to much air or might be caused by a still- developing nervous system.
A paediatrician may conduct a physical exam to determine whether anything may be causing the baby’s distress, such as an intestinal obstruction. If the baby is found to be otherwise healthy, they will be diagnosed with colic.
What can I do to ease the crying?
Every mom would do just about anything to soothe baby’s crying. Being a new mom is tiring and if the crying continues for long periods of time, even more so. It is normal to feel this way. You are not alone, there’s help out there.
- Swaddle your baby – saddling can ease the crying. To the baby it feels like being back in the whom.
- Switch the position of which you are holding you baby when crying – Most of us tend to rock baby in our arms face up when they are crying. When it comes to comforting the baby, you might need to take a different approach. While holding your baby, urn the baby on his/her stomach with his/her face resting on your arm. This might assist with any discomfort in the stomach.
- Use a pacifier – Babies normally have a strong sucking instinct. Using a pacifier might be on your “Never to use list” but sucking provides a method of calming on the baby – Studies has also shown that the use of a pacifier might prevent SIDS – Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
- Laying the baby across your lap and gently rubbing his/her back might bring some comfort.
- Warm water is known to relax our muscles. Soaking baby in a warm bath might assist with the relaxation of the contracted muscles.
- Try to massage baby’s body in order to relax muscles. There are some amazing techniques available, enabling us to massage our baby and relieve the pain or discomfort.
What to do if all these techniques don’t work for my baby?
Every mom out there will tell you that no 2 babies are the same. Some are fussy, some cry a little more while some babies struggle with colic. Therefor, not every technique written up as a “home remedy” might help for every baby. Finding the correct way or method to help your baby might be as simple as a visit to the Chiropractor. Yes, Chiropractic care can help ease the colic in babies.
Why choose a Chiropractor for Colic?
Colic, Fussy Babies and Digestion.
As you can imagine, the birth process can be quite traumatic for babies. As your baby emerges into the world, the neck and back vertebrae may go out of alignment. These misalignments could affect your baby’s digestion, causing discomfort due to ineffective digestion, leading to colic. A Chiropractic care practitioner/doctor, especially one specialized in paediatric care, has extensive knowledge of all the factors that can cause colic symptoms and the treatments that will be most effective in improving those symptoms for each individual patient.
Many studies have been done with regards to the care of treatment of a baby with colic. Chiropractic care has given some of the best results, with 94% of colicky babies showing improvement with chiropractic adjustments. Chiropractic care is a gentle, conservative, and highly successful option for treating infants with colic.
Infant chiropractic care has been shown to reduce babies’ symptoms. It may be that this “syndrome” is simply the result of a developmental struggle, and the proper adjustments help restore balance to baby’s immature nervous system.
Dr Jacques Bezuidenhout specialises in colic in babies. Dr Jacques Bezuidenhout is a Chiropractor situated in Centurion with years of experience and an immaculate reputation. When it comes to Chiropractic care, there is no one better than Dr Jacques Bezuidenhout.
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