Crying at dusk every day turns out to be "colic"

I received a phone call this morning from a friend who just gave birth to a baby. Her voice was depressed and helpless. My baby, who has just been 2 days old, will cry for 1 or 2 hours at 6 pm every day, and no matter how to appease him, he will be afraid every afternoon. It's really heartbreaking to cry in the afternoon, and sometimes he cries at night, which makes it useless for the whole family to hold him in turn. When I went to the hospital, the doctor said that colic would heal itself after 6 months, and there was no good medicine.

what is colic?

Although it's called "colic", there is nothing special about the baby suffering from colic. Strictly speaking, it is not a disease name, but a kind of "syndrome". It is caused by many uncoordinated factors, which often occurs in newborns within three months, but about 1% of the newborns will have an onset period of more than 4 to 5 months. After the newborn grows up, with the gradual maturity of neurophysiological development, the situation of colic will naturally improve gradually.

Characteristics of colic

Newborns can't talk, and they only use crying as their main body language for physical discomfort. Compared with other crying, the crying of newborns caused by "colic" will have some additional characteristics. What are the characteristics of colic? Let's take a look at it next.

The common symptom of colic is sudden screaming, sometimes crying at the top of one's lungs, or even blushing until the neck is thick. Some newborns also have the phenomenon of shaking their heads, arching straight all over and shortness of breath. At the same time, the abdomen tends to be a little bloated, the palms will clench their fists, the feet will even bend, and the ends of the limbs will often appear cold.

In real life, if a healthy child cries, screams or is excited for no reason, and cries uncomfortably for three weeks or more every day for more than three hours, which lasts much longer than normal, it can be considered as neonatal colic.

And these performances can last for ten minutes to several hours. No matter how to shake, hug and coax, they are often not very useful until the child is exhausted. It will improve slightly after defecation or farting.

small methods to relieve colic

although the medical community has studied colic in infants for more than 5 years, the exact cause and long-term consequences of colic are still unclear, and there is no effective treatment. There are some ways to relieve the baby's colic, but all of them are effective in some cases. At present, there is no method that can never tire of trying.

1. Use a pacifier

You can use a pacifier for your child between feedings (there is a famous saying in pediatrics that "the hole that makes disharmonious sound must be blocked").

2. Make the baby comfortable and warm

When the baby cries, you can wrap the baby warmly and comfortably with a bath towel, you can put him in a cradle or a stroller and shake him, and you can use a front-back baby backpack to carry the baby across your knees.

3. Massage the back with the help of massage

. Applying volatile substances such as mint on the baby's stomach can promote bowel venting, or relieve constipation, which is sometimes effective.

4. Keep the room quiet

Excited babies will be calmer in a quiet environment, so keep the room quiet, try to avoid being disturbed by guests, speak softly and take care of the baby. Sometimes, move slowly.

5. Don't shake the baby

Another problem to keep in mind is that it is very dangerous to stop crying by shaking the child. When there is nothing to do, despair and anger will make some parents shake their babies hard and want them to stop crying. But the result is often serious permanent brain damage and even death.

6. airplane hug

I heard that airplane hug can relieve colic, that is, hold the baby's stomach with your arms and let the baby hold it for a while with his back up.

In addition, before the diagnosis of neonatal colic, it is necessary to rule out whether there are any obvious pathological reasons for his crying, such as other pathological diseases of gastrointestinal tract, such as gastroesophageal reflux, pyloric obstruction, Hirschsprung's disease and so on. If it is determined that there are no pathological factors, then parents need to be patient with their babies and spend three months in a "painful period".

Expert's opinion

How to deal with baby colic? Let's see what the pediatrician has to say.

Cui Yutao (famous pediatrician, director of pediatrics department of Beijing United Family Hospital)

The cause of colic is related to the immature development of gastrointestinal tract, and intolerance to milk is one of the main reasons. Lying on the stomach can relieve abdominal pain, and simethicone and probiotics can also partially relieve abdominal pain. It will have a better effect for infants fed with formula powder to switch to partial hydrolysis formula.

Bao Xiulan (famous pediatrician, chief physician of Peking Union Medical College Hospital)

Infantile colic is a problem in infant development, so there is no need to worry about it. Try to keep the baby in a comfortable position and help the child defecate smoothly. You can take some drugs to improve gastrointestinal peristalsis. As mommy loves. You can also use a hot water bag wrapped in cloth to place the baby's abdomen to relieve intestinal spasm. If the baby has severe abdominal distension, use Xiaoer Kaiser Dew to relieve constipation and exhaust, and closely observe the baby. If you have fever, pale face, repeated vomiting, bloody stool, etc., you should go to the hospital immediately, and you should not delay the diagnosis and treatment time.