Extreme crying……..colic. Those words strike fear in every parent. Why are mothers in western culture so afraid of this common problem, and why do babies in other cultures seldom, if ever experience it?

Definition of Colic:
An infant between 2 weeks and 4 months of age with bouts of crying that occur 3 times a week for greater than 3 hours a day and lasting 3 weeks.

Symptoms of Colic:

• Excessive crying and the appearance of being in pain.
• Crying may be sudden and last for greater than 15 minutes.
• Difficulty consoling infant.
• Poor sleeper.
• Acts like they are starving, will then suck vigorously for a few seconds, only to spit the nipple out and scream.
• Passes a lot of gas.

Colic is hard to pin-point and difficult to treat with western medicine. I know how difficult colic in an infant can be. I am not a medical doctor and I cannot cure colic. I am a mother of two and have dealt with a majority of the issues I cover in my parenting articles. I don’t know if your baby has what is termed “colic”. But I know you are concerned about your baby and I want to give you some ideas of how to deal with colic, parent to parent.

How do other cultures avoid colic?
Conjure up a picture of indigenous, primitive, native, hunter-gatherer societies. Do you see native peoples living in huts, tepees, or igloos, clad in loin-cloths, beads, animal furs? Naked children running around? Women grinding wheat, carrying water, weaving, beading, nursing, working, laughing?

Imagine the men hunting, crouched low, noiseless, making their way through the forest, jungle, across the plain or ice. Intent upon providing the next meal for their families. I am not trying to be stereotypical, this is what I see and it is a peaceful, beautiful picture to me.

What do you hear? Chatter in a different language, children laughing, feet stomping, singing, shouts of glee over the successful hunt. Do you hear crying? Do you hear unmanageable crying? I don’t think you do. Why not? I think it is because you know, from eons of history running through your veins that it wasn’t happening. Look again at your scene. There are babies in the scene and they are being worn by their mothers, sisters, grandmothers, aunties and the like in all sorts of infant carriers; baby slings, wraps, pouches, cradle boards. Some are awake, some are asleep.

They are living and observing contently and alertly the world in which they will soon play an integral part. The people are wearing their babies and responding to them because that is what their instincts tell them to do. They feel, just like you do, that ache in their chest when a baby cries. And they haven’t been conditioned by their society to ignore it. They aren’t being told such nonsense as:

• Make your baby understand who is boss
• Your baby is manipulating you if you go to her every time she cries
• If your baby is fed and dry there is nothing she really needs
• If you respond to your baby, you will spoil him or her
• Babies need to be independent
• Babies don’t feel pain or better yet, their pain doesn’t matter because they won’t remember it. WOW…..

Human touch is vital to development and contentment. Have you ever fallen in love? What did it feel like when your lover touched you, just your hand, or held you tight and close? It felt like everything was right in the world. Like you never wanted it to end. Hence the phrase “freeze a moment in time.”

The environment of the womb was perfect. Your baby was constantly hearing you, smelling you and all of her needs were provided for instantly. Newborns have no sense of time or hope for that matter. They live in a constant state of now. When you are holding your baby all is right in the world for her. When she is alone, wrapped in a blanket in a plastic shell she has no concept of you returning.

Wearing your baby can prevent unmanageable crying. When your baby is that close to your body, and you are so in tune with her she has no need to cry.

As I said before, colic is hard to diagnose, but there are a lot of things you can do to help your baby if she is experiencing symptoms.

1. Wear your baby in a baby sling, motion seems to help and it’s a lot easier than driving around in the car all night.
2. Allow your baby to eat or just suckle at the breast on demand.
3. If you are breastfeeding look at your diet, are you eating something that might be bothering your baby’s tummy?
4. If you are bottle feeding, might your baby have a problem with the formula?
5. Rub baby’s tummy or back.
6. Take a bath together; warm water can calm you and baby.

All in all - know that your baby wants to be with you. Embrace the awesome position you hold in his life. Get yourself a baby sling or another carrier (baby slings are my favorite). They are comfortable, versatile, beautiful and most times affordable.

You have the most awesome job on earth, the rearing of the next generation. Help create peace in the world. Start in your home!

by Emmy Bill
About the Author: Emmy lives in Eau Claire, Wisconsin with her husband and two children, soon to be three! She is the owner and author of Babywearing Central, a website exploring babywearing around the world as well as classic parenting issues and babywearing as a tool for peaceful, healthy living. You can find her website at www.babywearingcentral.com.

Sheryl’s comment:
Sheryl’s definition of colic: A diagnosis given by doctors who have no clue what is wrong with or how to help your infant who is in agonizing pain.

Incidentally, I don’t have much use for doctors. That said, my daughter had relentless colic when she was born. I am a firm, diehard believer in babywearing but in my case anyway, wearing my daughter in a sling only made her shrieks worse for some reason. There were only two things that helped. She calmed down and often stopped screaming (temporarily) if I played Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons Greatest Hits. (I played it a lot while I was pregnant).

The other thing that stopped colic in its tracks was an elimination diet. It turns out that dairy was the culprit and her screaming stopped the day after I stopped drinking milk. If you have a colicky baby and you are breastfeeding, then please try an elimination diet. If you are using formula then by all means experiment with other types (but stay away from soy based formulas at all costs). That said, I am sure babywearing soothed her but it did not take away her pain. Once her pain was alleviated, we became the happiest babywearing twosome around and we still are over two years later!

Buy the Book: Colic Solved
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Breastmilk provides all the nutrients a baby needs for healthy development. The following is some advice on eating a varied and balanced diet to help keep you and your baby healthy when you’re breastfeeding.

Many breastfeeding mothers worry about what food they should be eating. The answer is simple; your diet should be varied.Everyone knows about the importance of eating fresh fruit and vegetables; this is more so for a breastfeeding mother. A nursing mother should aim to eat 5 portions each day. In addition to eating five portions, a mother should vary the fruit and vegetables she eats to maximize the nutritional variety she gets on a daily basis.

Starchy foods are important as they will help give you energy. Being a mother of a young child can be exhausting, so you need all the energy you can get. Starchy foods include bread, pasta, rice, potatoes and legumes.

After childbirth many women experience bowel problems and can find constipation particularly painful. Fiber can help ease or eliminate both of the conditions. Fiber can be found in wholegrain bread, pasta, rice, legumes, fruit and vegetables.

Protein is essential for the baby’s muscle development. Sources of protein include lean meat, chicken and fish - you should try for at least two servings of fish a week, including one of oily fish. Eggs and legumes (such as beans and lentils) are another good source of protein.

Calcium is vital in maintaining healthy bones for both mother and her breastfed child. Dairy foods such as milk, cheese and yogurt contain plenty of calcium. Remember, there’s just as mush calcium in skimmed or semi-skimmed milk as there is in full-fat milk. Non-milk calcium foods include sardines, tofu, figs, almonds, cooked spinach and tahini paste.

There are some foods you should avoid when breastfeeding. Eating shark, swordfish and marlin is best avoided and you should limit the amount of tuna you eat. Don’t eat more than one tuna steak a week or two medium-sized cans of tuna a week. All women who are trying to conceive, pregnant or lactating should be careful of the fish they consume because of the danger of mercury contamination. Some of the mercury in the fish you eat will pass into your breastmilk and high levels of mercury can harm a very young baby’s developing nervous system.

If you're breastfeeding you should take 10 micrograms of vitamin D. This vitamin can be produced by the body but only when your skin is exposed to constant sunshine. If you have any doubts or questions, consult your doctor.

Author: Robin OBrien
About the author:
>Follow the links to find out more about a healthy breastfeeding diet. Also learn about the benefits of breastfeeding as well as advice on what is the best nursing bra.

Buy the book: The New Breastfeeding Diet Plan
Shop for Wild Alaskan Salmon

Sheryl’s comment:
Please do not feel compelled to drink milk just because you are pregnant or breastfeeding. I have had a natural aversion to milk most of my adult life but I began faithfully drinking it while pregnant because I believed it was the best thing for my baby (and my bones). My daughter was born with unrelenting, insane colic. She screamed for a good part of the first three weeks of her life. It must have been excruciating for her and it was no picnic for me either. Only other parents of truly colicky babies will know what I am talking about.

In desperation I tried an elimination diet and my daughter’s screaming stopped the day after I stopped eating all dairy. The next day. To this day she has digestion problems when she eats dairy. People do not need to drink milk to make milk. That is absurd, otherwise cows would be drinking giraffe milk in order to lactate.

The pasteurized, homogenized, reduced fat, antibiotic and pesticide laden milk on grocery shelves causes health problems rather than preventing or curing them. Unless you have access to organic, raw, pasture fed cow or goats milk, then trust me, there are plenty of safer, healthier places to find calcium.

In addition: Get your Vitamin D from sunshine in the summer and Cod Liver Oil in the winter. It is a tragedy to avoid fish because of mercury. Pregnant and breastfeeding mothers need Omega 3 oil and fish is an excellent source. Seek out certified mercury free Wild Alaskan Salmon and eat it every day if you want to. Lastly, Continue taking your food based prenatal vitamin to fill in your nutritional gaps.

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Bonding is essential for any baby. Whether adopted or biological, babies have needs that are critical for proper development of mind and body. Newborns come ready to start this bonding process. Parents are the ones who don’t know where to start, especially if their baby is adopted or been placed in the NICU.

KidsHealth.org says, “Studies of newborn monkeys who were given mannequin mothers at birth showed that, despite the efforts of the baby monkeys to get a response through holding and touching the mannequins, the lack of a parental response caused stunted development, sadness, and failure to thrive… Scientists suspect that lack of bonding in human babies causes similar problems.”

Infants spend nine months inside their mother…listening to her heart beat, her voice, her breathing, the rhythms of her body. After birth, there is another world to contend with. For some babies, this can be frightening. How can you make this transition easier while promoting bonding at the same time? Try these tips from Tweetie Pie Baby.

Hold Your Baby
Hold your baby so she can feel your heartbeat. Skin to skin contact is known to be a calming, familiar experience for newborns. They can hear your heartbeat, smell your scent and know that you are close. This connection is important for dads too. Even if you can’t be skin to skin, you can use a baby sling carrier placed so your baby can hear your heart.

Talk to your baby
Talk with your baby, and make eye contact often. This not only increases awareness and communication, but rapidly encourages developing language skills. Hearing your voice provides reassurance to your baby. Maintaining eye contact builds trust and nurtures your growing relationship.

Wear Your Baby
Use a baby sling carrier to create a womb like atmosphere. While inside carrier, an infant is held close to your body, feeling all the very same rhythms they felt before birth. That familiarity gives them comfort and increases their level of attachment. Babies who are carried are known to sleep better and have less colic. According to Dr. Jim Sears, “Carried babies fuss less and spend more time in the state of quiet alertness, the behavior state in which babies learn most about their environment.” A baby sling carrier can help with the concern about attachment and healthy emotional development.

Massage Your Baby
Use Infant Massage to comfort your baby. All babies, especially premature babies and those with medical problems may respond well to infant massage. Muscular stimulation increases feelings of comfort and relaxation. Be sure to use gentle pressure with your newborn.

Breastfeed Your Baby
Consider breastfeeding either biological or adopted babies. This may be a complex task, but it can be done. The benefits both emotional and nutritional are outstanding. Bottle feeding can still be a bonding experience as long as you hold your infant close with skin to skin contact. Hands free nursing while using a baby sling carrier is a wonderful option to provide more freedom and privacy. Information on how to breastfeed an adopted child can be found by contacting La Leche League or a lactation consultant at your local hospital.

by Jenna Haynie
About the Author: Jenna Haynie is a Denver Colorado native and owner of Tweetie Pie Baby. A resource for baby essentials.

Sheryl’s comment:
This is a fanatastic list but I would also add using a family bed and practicing elimination communication. Both of these add to the infant’s security, trust and self esteem.

Buy The Baby Bonding Book: 50 Ways to Bond With Your Newborn
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Trying to deal with a fretful crying baby can be more stressful than doing a sales presentation to an audience of high-powered executives. Many parents end up feeling inadequate, incompetent and helpless. You may be thinking: “And I thought the worst part was over after the 9-month wait!!”

Here are some simple tips to help you soothe and calm your crying baby:
1. CHANGE YOUR PERCEPTION
First, it starts with you. Your attitude means everything. Adjust your perception. By you having a crying baby in your house doesn’t mean that you are one lousy parent. Recognize that crying is an important development in your baby’s growth and that crying is your newborn baby’s language for now. Once you adjust your perception, you’ll be more calm and cool when coping with a agitated baby. Your inner sense of balance and calmness will influence your tone of voice and your actions, which will in turn transmit positive signals to your baby.

2. TALK TO YOUR BABY AS IF HE WERE AN ADULT
Just as babies have physical growth spurts (remember the time when the baby in your tummy suddenly put on significantly more weight in the last 2 months as compared to the first 6 months of his development), babies’ brains grow more rapidly during the first year of his life than any other time. Your baby’s brain reaches 60% of its adult size by the end of 12 months! Respond to your child when your baby cries, in clear complete sentences in a firm strong tone. You will reap the rewards of your patience in time to come.

3. RECREATE THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE WOMB
Your new baby is trying to adjust to the new environment after being enveloped in a safe, dark, warm enclosure for the last 9 months. Ease the transition from the womb to this new world by creating an environment as similar to the womb as possible. One suggestion by midwife Rahima Baldwin is to keep lights reasonably dim at first for newborns. Consider bathing your baby in soft light by draping a veil of colored (recommended is blue and pink or rose-colored) silk over the cradle during the first few weeks.

Another suggestion is to unwrap him slowly (eg. when bathing, when changing diapers) to avoid exposing him to sudden changes in temperatures. Also, if you’re rocking him to sleep in your arms, consider draping a light blanket gently over your shoulder and baby to block out any excess visual stimuli.

4. BABYWEARING
Research has shown that babies thrive on skin-to-skin contact. First, because it provides warmth and second, the scent of a familiar parent/caregiver is reassuring for the baby. Third, according to PinkyMcKay, the author of “100 Ways To Calm The Crying“, the familiar sound of a mother’s voice has been shown to regulate an infant’s early, uncoordinated baby movements. Feeling your heartbeat and rhythmic movement as the mother walks has a calming effect on the baby’s irregular rhythms of waking, sleeping and digestion.

Swaddling may also help calm your baby because it resembles being enclosed within the mother’s uterine wall before birth. Swaddling can provide a sense of security and warmth. However, do recognize that not all babies like to be swaddled or swaddled in the same way. You may wish to try this: some mothers have testified that by swaddling the baby loosely during the day and more firmly at night has helped their babies differentiate between day and night.

If your baby is crying continuously then there is a possibility that your baby suffers from colic (the catchall term doctors use when they have no idea what is wrong). There is a great chance that you can ease your babies suffering (and they are suffering) by trying an elimination diet to rule out dairy and soy as colic-causers if you are breastfeeding or switching formulas if bottle feeding.

by Tani Lane
About the Author:Tani Lane is the webmaster for www.funsignlanguagewithbaby.com. Here you can get a copy of the ebook- Sign Language for Babies and Beyond. You can also receive a free evideo (over 250 signs) which you can use with your baby straightaway! A certified instructor and mother of 4 reveals her secrets and shares real life examples of joys and obstacles to guide you through your own journey of using sign language with your baby.

Buy the Book: Soothe Your Baby The Natural Way

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Are you one of the increasing numbers of women experiencing unbearable nipple pain because of breastfeeding? Did you know that 83% of new mothers experience varying degrees of nipple pain and trauma as well as other lactation problems? Don’t worry, you are not alone. These problems are thought to be due to the teaching of incorrect breastfeeding methods.

Basically, current teaching involves the mother or others thrusting the baby onto her breast and this is completely unnatural, resulting in the baby being rammed to the breast by the base of the head, neck or shoulder, preventing the baby from vacuuming correctly and causing the nipple to be crushed between baby’s tongue and the hard palate. This is not your fault. It seems that, for all its good intentions, our modern approach has overcomplicated the breastfeeding process and unnecessarily interfered with what should be for most mothers and babies a relatively simple and completely instinctual process. To ‘unlearn’ this unnatural method, especially with the first and early breastfeeds after birthing, it is suggested that mothers need to first understand a few key points about their newborn. Remember, healthy babies are not as helpless as you may think - they are programmed to survive. They are already skilled at drinking the surrounding water before birth.

Within minutes of birth the healthy newborn instinctively seeks, attaches and vacuums to the mother’s nipple and breast in a natural, harmonious way which allows it to leisurely draw colostrum - the first, super-concentrated form of milk that mothers produce. The act of breastfeeding, when done correctly, is also critical in stimulating maternal hormones and milk volume over those vital first 72 hours.

It never ceases to amaze me as I watch a newborn’s survival instincts in action - minutes after birth, if gently placed skin-to-skin with the mother, facing the breast, the baby’s ‘rooting reflex’ will kick in. This is where they use their senses - smell, taste, sight and touch - in order to locate the nipple. The baby will eventually draw the breast and nipple comfortably into their mouth, perfectly and gently molding the nipple and breast tissue inside the oral cavity.

When a mother is focused on her baby, the “love” hormones present just after birth are primed, and without interruption the mother gently guides her baby so that nose, cheeks and chin touch her breast symmetrically. Once the baby is swallowing symmetry can be fine tuned by slight, gentle movements, improving extension of the tongue, preventing gums pinching and painful ridging of the nipple. Given that it sounds so simple, you might wonder why you weren’t told this beforehand. This has to do with our modern tendency to overcomplicate many natural life events.

Western expertise assumes that newborns do not know how to feed, whereas in fact they have a pre-programmed instinct for it. Your baby already understands what it has to do to feed and the mother’s role is simply to gently guide the baby into the right comfortable position for easy access. Natural breastfeeding allows evolved behaviors to have their play. The baby draws intermittently, swallowing in harmony with the pulsating ejections, taking in breast milk until they reach satisfaction. The baby will then generally stay nurtured in its mother’s arms for a while until the important emotional and psychological part of the feed is completed.

The baby always knows how long to feed for satisfaction and emotion. Therefore, timing feeds interrupts this cycle. As a guide it is suggested that the young baby takes approximately one hour, including a rest in between each breast for digestion and a nappy/diaper change. The very first feed may take up to three hours changing from breast to breast until satisfaction with small amounts of colostrum is achieved.

A baby will feed from the first breast until relaxed and sleepy, and then continues nurturing until slipping off. Afterwards the baby rests and digests, lying stretched out, slightly inclined, in order to help with self burping and the transfer of pre-digested milk into the intestine. When ready for the second breast, the baby communicates with its arms and legs, and rooting begins again until the baby increasingly vocalizes. The feed continues from the second breast until the baby is relaxed and comes off again.

It’s wise to hold the baby upright for a while until the stomach has time to settle. By this stage pre-digested milk from the first breast has transferred to the intestine, allowing milk from the second breast to refill the stomach. Time and patience minimize gastro-intestinal problems like reflux and colic, which encourages relaxed and healthy sleeping. Healthy mothers and infants should be able to breastfeed in an essentially painless and low fuss way. Nipple damage, she says, should not be the norm, but a rarity. So relax all you frustrated mothers - there is an alternative to the pain and anguish of incorrect breastfeeding methods.

by Robyn Thompson
About the Author: For more information on Robyn’s incredible breastfeeding breakthroughs, and a host of breastfeeding tips, visit http://www.benefitofbreastfeeding.com/a1.html . For a limited time Robyn is offering a free ebook, ‘20 tips to pain-free breastfeeding’. You can also find out more about her instructional breastfeeding video.

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