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Tips to ease colic in babies

Life would be pretty boring if we all looked the same and had the same personalities wouldn’t it? The same applies to babies of course and as my mother-in-law once told me “no two are ever the same” My boys are a testament to this. E has always been the laid back but cautious one whereas M has always been the cheeky one that likes to joke around and make people laugh.

The one thing they both had in common when they were babies, though? Colic.

When your newborn when is crying uncontrollably and nothing you do seems to be able to comfort them it’s hard not to feel helpless. We spent many an evening rocking and soothing E when he was born, willing him to stop crying, trying to second guess if he was hungry again or whether he needed his nappy changed. Of course, all babies cry – it’s their way of communicating with us,  but when it’s constant crying for a good few hours you know that something is not quite right.

Colic in babies

Our baby was colicky and had a build up of gas and wind. We soon realised that we were supposed to be winding him after each feed.  Babies tummies are delicate and are not mature enough to break down food sufficiently. This leads to food passing through too quickly building up gas in the intestines which of course causes discomfort.

We had to quickly master the art of burping baby E (sounds so weird calling him that now!) but found we could spend ages patting and rubbing his back to bring up any wind. In the end, it turned  out that he was suffering from acid reflux (something that is a common side effect of colic) which explained why he would cry after his feeds because he was in pain. M subsequently went through a similar thing too but his was caused by a cow’s milk protein allergy.

m-moses-basket

Here are some of my tips to ease colic in babies

  • If bottle feeding try Dr Brown’s bottles – we found these to be really good at reducing the amount of air that is gulped when baby is drinking
  • Changing the teat to a fast flow one can also reduce the amount of air that is swallowed
  • Wind baby after each feed by patting and/or rubbing their backs in an upwards motion
  • Gently massage babies tummy to ease pain
  • Keep baby upright after feeds – this is particularly useful if your baby is suffering from reflux and helps milk to stay down
  • Use Infacol, a product that aims to stop colic pain in babies
  • Move babies legs in a cycle motion to help ease wind
  • Have a warm bath

It’s never nice to see your baby in distress, colic tends to appear when the baby is 2-3 weeks old but it does eventually pass. If you are in any way concerned that colic could be something more (like reflux or cow’s milk protein allergy for example) do go and see you GP for help and advice.

Have your babies had colic – what did you do to ease it?

*Collaborative post

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About The Author

Picture of Maria
Hello and welcome to Suburban Mum! I'm Maria and I'm mum to two boys - E who's 14 and M who's 11. This blog is about my family, the ups and downs of being a working mum and everything in between. If you want to find out more about me and my family head over to our About us page.

10 thoughts on “Tips to ease colic in babies”

  4. Savannah

    Thankfully, my son didn’t suffer from colic. He did, however have the reflux. If I didn’t keep him upright for at least an hour our two after eating, he would literally vomit everything in his tummy. I’m talking, even if I let his head dip down for a second, he was sick. It’s very worrisome for sure, and I am glad those days are behind us. Thanks so much for sharing! <3 #KCACOLS

    Reply
  5. Emma me and b make tea

    urgh we had a windy baby and I agree with your tips 🙂 infacol helped to come extent but holding my boy upwards and rubbing his back for a while def helped. I also found breaking feeds up and not letting him gulp down so much milk helped too. Thanks so much for linking up at #KCACOLS. Hope you come back again next Sunday!

    Reply
  6. five little doves

    Great tips, three of my four suffered with colic although my youngest daughter was wrongly misdiagnosed and actually had severe silent reflux, so much so that she spent the first year of her life in and our of hospital. We found Dr Browns bottles worked amazingly well with the others, and the cycling leg motions too. I hope this helps somebody who is looking for help, colic can be exhausting! #KCACOLS

    Reply
  7. kristin mccarthy

    I salute you- I have known a few mommies of colicky babies and I listen to their stories in total awe. My aunt said that when my cousin was born she resorted to driving around nearly all night and placing his little chair on the washing machine and then sitting there watching it to make sure it didn’t topple over. You are some strong mamas.

    #KCACOLS

    Reply
  8. Amie

    When my partner was a baby he had colic really bad and all his mum could do was walk and walk and walk. I’m so glad we hdidnt have this bad with our two now and Amelia was only a bit colicy for a week. This is a great post to help out new mums 🙂 #KCACOL

    Reply
  9. Louise

    I was very lucky my son only got colicky for about a week and only in the evening. I found keeping him upright after feeds and rubbing and patting his back helped the most. #KCACOLS

    Reply
  10. mummy here and there

    Such a horrid thing to deal with especially for new parents so these are great tips to combat colic in babies X #kcacols

    Reply

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