New Study Says Diet May Soothe Colicky Babies

ClickonDetroit ^ | November 7, 2005

[ShadowDancer]

New Study Says Diet May Soothe Colicky Babies

POSTED: 10:08 pm EST November 7, 2005
UPDATED: 10:28 pm EST November 7, 2005

DETROIT -- Moms who breastfeed are often given all sorts of advice about diet, especially when it comes to foods that might make their baby fussy or gassy.

Parents of colicky infants will go to almost any extreme to calm their chronic crybabies.

A new Australian study of nearly 100 breastfed colicky newborns suggests eliminating common foods linked to allergies -- like peanuts, eggs, cow's milk, wheat soy and fish -- from Mom's diet may help reduce infant crying time.

In the study, researchers said babies fed the allergy-free diet cried less compared to the group with no diet change.

"It's interesting research findings, but it's not something I would want to put into practice in my patients yet," said Duke University pediatric allergist Dr. Wesley Burks.

Burks noted that the study was short -- just a week -- and that mothers in the two groups perceived little difference in crying patterns.

"I think there is a lot more that needs to be done to show that those foods really can cause a subset of kids to start crying," Burks said.

Burks said that infants with true food allergies get sick with hives or stomach troubles, and added that there is little evidence linking foods to chronic crying.

The study did not include babies on formula.

Mothers in the allergy-free group of the study excluded cow's milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, soy and fish from their diet, while mothers in the control group continued to eat those foods.

Though all newborns cry and show some fussiness, when a child who is otherwise healthy cries for more than three hours per day, they are thought to have colic.

It's been estimated that up to 25 percent of all infants have colic. It usually starts between the third and sixth week after birth, and goes away on its own by the time the baby is 3 months old.

The research was conducted by the Royal Children's Hospital in Australia and is published in the journal Pediatrics.

[proudofthesouth]

To cure colic, feed the baby camomile tea. My son had it bad from the time he was born. Finally my German landlord told me to brew up some tea and give it to him. After a couple of bottles of the stuff his colic was cured forever.

[Valpal1]

From experience, I can tell you that horseradish is not a favorite of breastfed infants.

My 3 children didn't seem to mind garlic or jalepeno's, but horseradish was where they drew the line on my taste for the strong and spicey.

[Alia]

"It's interesting research findings, but it's not something I would want to put into practice in my patients yet," said Duke University pediatric allergist Dr. Wesley Burks.

What a refreshing voice of reason.

Colic is a fascinating subject. Whether it is diet, or the infant is "stressed" due cognitive, physical or emotional growth -- is such a question. I've seen mothers gets so stressed in attempting to halt/mitigate "colic" in their babies, they pass that stress right on to the infant.

Oh, yes.. I do indeed know about colic. Blessings to all parents.

[FourPeas]

Colic is indeed a fascinating subject. Given the small sample size and short duration I'd be interested in someone with a background in statistics to review the conclusions.

Having said that, anyone who's ever had a colicy baby is usually willing to try almost anything.

Oh, and colic can start sooner than three weeks and last longer than three months. BTDT

[hindsfeetnhighplaces]

Yes it can. My first son was colicky for 6 months. He cried around the clock. The doctors would examine him and shrug their shoulders saying, oh, its just colic. He did outgrow it but he never took to solid foods until he was about 12 months. I offered it to him all the time but he just would not eat solid foods.

It was a particularly hard time for me. My husband worked 18 hours at day at the time harvesting hay. I had no family near by so I was alone with a crying baby 24 hours a day.By the time my husband came home I was usually crying as much as our son.

We did survive though, and went on to have a very happy second child. My Mother wisely counseled me to have another baby telling my that my first was just a practice baby. LOL Boy was she right. I learned a lot with my first baby. The biggest problem with my second son was that he was known as the "spit up king" I had to carry 2 or 3 extra clothes for the baby and at least that many for me.