10 ways to relieve baby colic

Has the baby just been breastfed, is well wrapped up, with a dry diaper and, even so, cries in a high pitched tone warning that something is not right? At this point, you have good reason to be suspicious of a colic crisis🇧🇷 “When nothing in the routine justifies so much discomfort, this is almost certainly the problem. Abdominal pain is common up to the fourth month, as the newborn’s digestive system is still immature”, explains pediatrician Sandra Frota Ávilla Gianelo. Attacks usually happen in the late afternoon and make the baby’s abdomen contract. To avoid despair, the best strategy is to prepare yourself with an arsenal of anti-colic techniques and take turns with the father in this care. Check out some methods recommended by experts:

1. Massage the baby’s tummy
When noticing the child’s discomfort, caress the baby’s tummy with circular movements in a clockwise direction. “With cupped hands, slide one at a time across the baby’s belly, starting from the base of the ribs towards the pubis. The touch should exert a gentle pressure”, teaches physiotherapist Barbara KT Nevves, from São Paulo. It is also effective to exercise the puppy. “Lay the baby down and slowly bend his knees so that his thighs are lightly pressing against his belly. Then, extend your legs again and start again, as if he were pedaling. Movement can be done several times a day, not just at the time of pain.

2. Take a hot shower
Prepare an immersion bath by regulating the water temperature between 36ºC and 37ºC. Make sure the room is silent and, if possible, play soft music. Dim the light and talk to your child or sing to him.” The perception of a calm atmosphere around reassures the baby, and the water at body temperature provides a sensation very close to what the child experienced in the womb. It is an experience that makes her relax and, with that, the colic subsides”, teaches Sandra.

3. Make a compress
Iron a diaper and place it still warm on the child’s belly or use a thermal bag with warm water. Heat favors vasodilation, facilitates blood flow and relaxes muscles, reducing abdominal discomfort. “Take care to test the temperature of the fabric or bag so as not to burn the baby’s delicate skin”, guides pediatrician Jayme Murahovschi, from São Paulo.

4. Try skin-to-skin contact
When lying face down on the father’s or mother’s chest, the baby can more easily expel the gases that bother him and aggravate the colic. “If you can, slightly heat the room so that the little one does not feel cold. He takes off his shirt and his clothes, leaving him with only his diaper. The skin-to-skin contact is comforting, while the smell and voice of the mother or father transmit calm and security”, teaches pediatrician and neonatologist Ruy Pupo Filho, from Santos (SP).

5. Wrap the little one in swaddling
“By enveloping the baby’s body as if it were a small package, the swaddling provides a feeling of warmth and security and reduces the child’s irritability and restlessness”, advises pediatrician Patrícia P. de Mello, from São Paulo. Another simple expedient is to distract the baby with a walk around the house, holding him face down, with his tummy resting on your hands – this contact warms the abdomen and brings the comfort of touch.

6. Offer the breast
Most babies calm down when they receive breast milk. “The oral stimulation resulting from the sucking movement is a source of satisfaction that helps alleviate colic”, says Patrícia. It is just not convenient to offer the breast if the child has just breastfed or if he repeatedly refuses the breast.

7. Prevent gas
The amount of air that the baby swallows at each feeding can cause gas and worsen the colic. Therefore, it is essential to make the child burp to expel the air swallowed during breastfeeding. For little ones who don’t breastfeed, there are bottles specially designed to prevent colic.

8. Control your eating
There is no conclusive research on the relationship between the mother’s diet and the baby’s colic. However, you may want to cut back on some foods and see if that makes a difference. “Industrialized products contain dyes, preservatives and stabilizers, which sometimes make it difficult for the child to digest”, says nutritionist Lara Natacci, from São Paulo.

9. Leave the scene and calm down
The cramps and your typical crying can last for hours. While trying to put an end to the suffering of the little one, the mother often gets tense and doesn’t even realize it. A vicious circle then begins: the baby, supersensitive, perceives the mother’s impatience, becomes insecure and reacts by feeling more pain. She continues with the care and, without success, starts to panic. Before losing control of the situation, it is better to ask for help and leave the scene. At that moment, as Sandra teaches, the father can be a holy medicine, taking over until you recover. After a bath, a good meal, a few moments of silence and composure, it will be easier to take care of your child again.

10. As a last resort, medicate
With so many advances in medicine, is there no remedy for such suffering? Yes, parents can count on children’s painkillers and antiflatulence drugs, but only those prescribed by the pediatrician and, mainly, only at the time of colic. “These drugs have no preventive effect. And it is good to remember that every medication has contraindications”, warns Sandra.