I recently attended a seminar in London on the essentials for caring for and treating babies and children. Babies and children often have complaints that are unique to their age and stage of development. A wonderful group from all over Europe came together for the weekend to learn from the experience and expertise of Dr. James Thompson DC.
Following on from this weekend I gained many new skills in caring for babies and children. Dr. Thompson shared his knowledge on caring for babies when they are suffering with, for example, colic. What exactly is colic? Colic presents as a persistently cross and disagreeable baby, usually beginning during the first two to three weeks following birth and continuing up to three months of age, sometimes for longer. Unfortunately, colic affects up to a third of newborn babies whether or not they are breastfed or formula fed.
There is no one reason for colic and no one answer. Colic could be considered an umbrella term for an unhappy baby with one of the following causing the discomfort.
- gas (or wind),
- constipation,
- lactose intolerance,
- food allergies,
- structural weakness within the infant’s stomach/diaphragm area,
- nerve dysfunction – with many midwives, nurses and obstetricians and paediatricians referring parents to take their newborns to chiropractors/osteopaths/osteomyologists.
While addressing each of the above potential causes to your baby’s discomfort, a simple piece of advice for parents is to increase the amount of time the baby spends out of the pram/carseat/carrier. It is important to allow your baby freedom to move and use their arms and legs. The closed-up position of many baby seats allows for little movement and most importantly (regarding colic) compresses their stomach area, which may affect digestive movements and trapped gas/wind.