Infantile colic is very common and causes one in every six families with a baby to consult a health professional about the crying, distress and abdominal pain. About 9 per cent of babies cry for at least three hours a day, three days a week for at least three weeks. In a typical case of colic, the condition starts in the first few weeks of life and stops by the age of four months.

Causes

The causes of colic are uncertain.

Treatment

Some babies are naturally active, and these can often be calmed down by being firmly wrapped (swaddled) in a small sheet.

Rocking the baby over a shoulder may help, as can raising the bed end of the cot.  Many different medicines have been used to try to stop colic. A favourite is simethicone (dimeticone), which is widely used, but trials suggest that it doesn’t really help.

Replacing cow’s milk formulas with whey hydrolysate, however, has been shown to be helpful. One well-arranged trial showed that this reduced crying by an average of an hour a day.

Powerful crying is not harmful to the baby, however severely it may distress parents. Infantile colic usually ceases by the age of three or four months.