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Addressing Colic from an Infant Sleep Perspective
By Darcie French BSW

When my daughter was colicky, I was obsessed with her crying. She was my third child, so I knew her crying wasn’t “normal”, at least compared to my first two babies who only seemed to cry when they needed something. The fact that “they” (medical professionals, public health, etc) didn’t know what was causing the crying and suggested I simply wait it out didn’t sit well with me. I had to find ways to help my baby during her screaming episodes; I couldn’t just “let it pass”.

Dr. Harvey Karp’s book, “The Happiest Baby on the Block” provided us with some excellent ways to calm our baby and help her sleep. These techniques:

• Swaddling (snug wrapping to keep the arms still)
• White noise (like the radio on static)
• Gentle jiggling motion (as opposed to slow rocking)
• Sucking (pacifier or fingers)

…. all worked to a degree, but I still didn’t know why my baby cried so much, had a difficult time sleeping, and in general just couldn’t seem to relax. It was very difficult for me emotionally; I thought if I at least understood what was causing her crying, then I might be able to prevent it, at least to a degree. At the very least, I needed to feel proactive in addressing her colic.

Question

What causes colic?

While historical thought used to be that colic might be caused by an immature nervous system, our thought is that it is more likely caused by a “hyper” mature system. Along with sleeping less, another high correlated occurrence (in colicky infants whose parents have found this board) is a high level of alertness- it’s almost as if colicky babies are too aware of their surroundings, and they can quickly succumb to becoming over-stimulated.

There isn’t a plentitude of research on colic (mainly because it is not a proven health concern for the baby, so not much money is not spent on research), though there are some studies that suggest certain causes of colic, or at least triggers for the initial outbursts of crying.

Based on researching the phenomenon of infant colic, along with collating our own experiences with colic and the experiences of others, we believe that while there may be specific, yet variable triggers for the crying (i.e. bowel spasms, immature or hyper mature nervous system, gas, lactose intolerance, reflux etc), those triggers are hugely compounded by the presence of sleep deprivation. Colicky babies, on average, sleep significantly less than non-colicky babies; therefore, whatever the trigger for the crying and initial loss of sleep, they are much more vulnerable to becoming chronically overtired.

Though we may not be able to “diagnose” the cause of the crying, we can learn how to encourage healthy sleep patterns in colicky babies which will at least help diminish some of the crying that is related to sleep deprivation. If you start thinking about helping your baby sleep now, when it comes time for active sleep teaching (ie, discontinuing all existing parenting to sleep measures) down the road (by about four months, sometimes longer for post-colic babes), you will already have a good foundation in place.

Confused

How to Tell if Baby is Just Fussy, or Has Colic

A fussy baby is different from a colicky baby. A baby with colic who starts to cry hard becomes generally inconsolable- except by parenting baby to sleep. A key difference between a colicky baby and a fussy baby is a colicky baby usually cannot be provoked from a state of discontent back to aware contentedness by simple measures that usually suffice for a fussy baby. Generally, the only thing that stops a colicky baby’s incessant crying for any length of time is sleep, and when we look at the effects of the hormone cortisol on infant’s systems, it makes sense. An over-stimulated, hyperaware baby may have trouble processing the cortisol, and/or falling asleep because of it. Baby can then quickly get over-tired, starting the seemingly endless loop of crying instead of sleeping.

When we look at colic from a medical perspective, there are generally no solutions other than to wait it out. Thankfully, that’s not the case if we look at colic from a sleep perspective. There are things you can do to help your baby sleep better and thus diminish some of the crying.

Very Happy

What You Can Do To Help

• If certain stimulants are too much for baby, avoid them while baby is colicky.
• Choose a dark, quiet place for baby’s sleep times and always employ parenting to sleep measures in that area at all sleep times
• Begin a very brief yet consistent pre-sleep routine that is implemented the second baby appears to be tired
• Swaddle your baby first before all other parenting-to-sleep measures- this will help baby relax and to stay asleep longer
• Try not to encourage “feeding-to-sleep”; use a pacifier if baby needs to suckle longer, do not become a human pacifier
• Begin implementing an earlier bedtime
• Put your baby down in a safe place and walk away to collect yourself if the crying becomes too much
• Arrange a “nap nanny”: a trusted person who can watch baby for short, frequent periods of time, so you can get some sleep

Crying or Very sad

Coping with the Crying

The most important thing you need to do though is to get some support for yourself. Colic can be very depressing, isolating and feel difficult to cope with. When I was struggling with colic, I wanted my friends and family to understand how hard it was- but it seemed like nobody really could understand, unless they too had had a baby with colic.

We understand what it's like to have a colicky (or fussy!) baby. Please consider purchasing the ebook, Empathic Sleep Teaching, 0-18M & joining the EST Private Support Community for more in-depth information and support.

There’s no need to go through this alone; we can help.

Sincerely,

Darcie French, BSW

Watch this video clip to see a toddler wake up from her nap happy and refreshed. If your little one consistently wakes up cranky, he's likely not getting enough sleep.

All rights reserved Darcie French 2003-2007.
Disclaimer: This is not medical advice. Please seek advice from your health professional for medical concerns.

Marcus has been enjoying the benefits of EST since he was only a few months old, he now has a little sister who does too Very Happy

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Baby Planet- a onestop shop for all you and your baby's pregnancy and postnatal needs www.babyplanet.ca

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Little Smarties- an awesome online store for educational games and toys! www.littlesmarties.com

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