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The Baby's Colic

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 13, 1916

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 93, No. 3.

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The Baby's Colic

A BABY who is in pain cannot tell in words the nature or the seat of his distress. But although the child cannot speak, the noise he utters and the signs he makes show the kind of pain he suffers, and its situation.
Babies are especially prone to colic during the first three or four months of their existence; the pain is almost always the result of intestinal indigestion. The colicky baby cries, but so does the hungry baby, or the baby who is pricked by a pin. The colicky baby, however, usually screams intermittently; in the intervals between the spasms, he not only ceases to cry, but may even begin to laugh and crow.
During the paroxysm his screams are shrill; he draws down the corners of his mouth—often so far as to make lines run from the nose round the angles of the mouth; he draws up his legs in an effort to relax the abdominal walls, which are, however, too much distended and too tense to be relieved in that way.
The trouble is almost always due to improper food, and is especially common in bottle-fed babies. Feeding the baby with cereals, giving him cow's milk insufficiently diluted, or feeding him too much and too often, are the most common mistakes of mothers.
But colic is not infrequent even in infants who are nursed. In such cases, the cause is either overfeeding, or the ill health or poor digestion of the mother. Indeed, in the case of breast-fed babies with colic, the mother is usually the one who requires treatment. The physician must study her food, the state of her digestion, and her habits of life, and correct whatever is wrong with them.
In the case of bottle-fed infants, he must look into the preparation of the food, and he will usually stop all cereals and baby foods for a time, and confine the youngster to suitable modified cow's milk. You can relieve the baby's pain by applying hot cloths to his abdomen, or by giving him an injection of warm water that contains a little salt. Do not give the baby soothing sirups, ginger, or any other concoction containing drugs or spirits.—Selected.