How Can Your Tell if it's Colic or Normal Crying?

All infants cry regularly. It is the earliest form of communication that helps parents identify the immediate needs of their infant until they learn other means to communicate. But what happens if the infant cries too often or cries for significant periods of time without reason?

Your baby might be experiencing a condition known as colic, a common issue that infants experience during the 3rd or 4th month of development.

What Is Colic?

There is little research on what colic is and where it originates. Colic is often characterized by intense and prolonged periods of crying without apparent reason.

How To Know If It's Normal or Colic Crying?

Luckily, there are ways to determine if your infant is experiencing colic. Colic has its own unique set of behaviors that you can spot.

Should you notice your infant be experiencing a crying spell, take note of the following symptoms:

* Reddish or pale face (specifically the cheeks or around the lips)

* Stiff arms and hard-clenched fists

* Arched back or curling into the fetal position

* High-pitched crying

* No apparent reason

It might take some time to determine if your baby’s crying is normal crying or if it’s a colic spell. A good rule of thumb is to check for the above behaviors and confirm if your infant has been fed, burped, or slept according to schedule.

What If It's Not Colic?

Long crying spells is not an automatic indicator of colic. Crying can also be a sign of fever or another illness. It could be possible that the intense cries you've been hearing are a symptom of another condition that requires the consult of a pediatrician. The following symptoms may cause long crying spells that are not related to colic:

* A sudden change of feeding habits, such as difficulty latching or avoidance of eating

* Losing weight despite regular feeding times

* Stool with a loose consistency, frequently accompanied with blood.

Should your baby experience these symptoms, contact your local pediatrician or a clinician immediately.

What Causes Colic?

There is no known medical cause of colic, so this could happen in an infant's life at any point without reason. However, there are theories that could possibly answer why infants are crying over long periods of time.

A known theory is that babies develop colic when they are sensitive to sensory stimulations. While some babies can quickly adapt to the many stimulants of the world around them, there some can become overstimulated. In this case, crying may be his or her form of communication in saying that he or she is too stressed.

Another theory is that babies develop colic symptoms when they can't calm themselves down since their nervous system is not fully developed. This theory states that babies will exhibit colic spells until they've adapted to the environment.

How Can We Treat Colic?

There are many ways to treat colic. We recommend trying Colic Calm, the #1 selling gripe water for infant colic, gas, and reflux. Colic Calm combines 8 safe and effective homeopathic remedies to gently encourage a baby’s body to heal itself. It is pediatrician recommended, safe, gentle, and great tasting.

Second, try adjusting your child’s feeding habits. If your pediatrician suggests that your child’s colic is developing from a food-related issue, you might have to feed the baby non-formulated milk and avoid common allergic triggers like eggs, protein, or wheat-based foods.

Fortunately, most pharmacies sell non-formulated and special milk powders for hypersensitive infants. One way to help pay for the cost of this formula is by registering to BuzzRx. BuzzRx offers one of the best Rx discount cards to cut down the cost.

Another way to try to treat colic is to keep your baby away from loud stimulants and sudden shakes by placing them in a soft, quiet playroom with toys. Mild stimulants, like piano music, soft blankets, and even a mother's voice, could calm them down and reduce the frequency of colic spells.

Treating colic may vary from infant to infant. If colic persists, consult your pediatrician for a consultation.

Final Note

There are a lot of things we don’t know about colic. But it is safe to assume that this is part of an infant's life and colic helps us understand an infant's developing body. As babies experience life, parents must observe their behavior well to give them the best environment for growth and development.