A baby that won’t stop crying is bound to make his or her parents feel unhappy, worried, even angry. It’s a chilling fact that the peak age for “shaken baby syndrome,” about 6 weeks old, is also the age when babies naturally cry the most. Of course, most parents don’t hurt their babies; they just suffer from jangled nerves and the horrible worry that there must be something terribly wrong. As a pediatrician who’s seen thousands of babies over more than 30 years, I can view the problem from a better angle. I know that a baby who fusses and screams from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., but who eats, sleeps and interacts happily for the other 20 hours a day, is almost certainly healthy. Most often the crying jags depart, like unwelcome houseguests, around three or four months of age. More concerning is the baby that cries excessively through the day. The list of conditions that can cause irritable crying is long, and a careful medical examination is worth getting. I’m glad to see a crying baby often – every few days or even more – if that is what it takes to be sure that we are not missing anything. Knowing that your baby isn’t seriously ill helps, but you still need the screaming to stop. Here are some things to try: SHUSHING: Wrap your baby in a blanket, hold him on his side with his chest and tummy supported by your arm, and rock him gently back and forth while making a “shushing” sound. Pretend you are the heartbeat that your baby heard in the womb. Many babies find the position, movement and sound very soothing. FEEDING: Babies may swallow air while crying in hunger. The air causes bloating, which hurts, leading to more crying, more air swallowing, and so on. The answer is to offer the breast or bottle sooner. For bottle feeders, check that the nipple lets out about one drip every second; any more or less tends to cause air-swallowing. Burp well. FORMULA CHANGES: Careful studies show that changing to a hypo-allergenic formula reduces crying in about a third of cases. These formulas are expensive and (to my nose) smelly. Often enough, after changing formulas several times the crying stops – and probably would have anyhow, just by the passage of time. Breast-feeding mothers sometimes find that removing cow’s milk from their own diet makes a difference. Cabbage, chili peppers, or other foods can be the culprits, although most babies like their milk a little spicy. PROBIOTICS: If you look online, you’ll find many testimonials to the wonders of beneficial bacteria, given as drops or dissolved in formula. Two recent large, well-designed studies report mixed findings. In one, probiotics significantly reduced the number of babies who developed colic. In the other, among babies who were already showing excess crying, probiotics didn’t help. Still, since probiotics are safe and inexpensive (without a prescription), they’re probably worth a try. TREATMENT FOR REFLUX, OR GERD OR GASTRO-ESOPHAGEAL REFLUX DISEASE: Babies with this condition seem to be in real pain. When stomach acid flows back up the esophagus, babies spit up, stiffen, and arch their backs. A trial of antacids, prescribed by a doctor, can help greatly. PEACE AND QUIET: The list I’ve just written isn’t complete. If you look online, or in a parenting book, you’ll find many more suggestions, all of them guaranteed to work, some of the time. But when all the shushing, rocking, singing, feeding, medical exams and other interventions haven’t helped, sometimes the best approach is simply to lay your baby down, safely on her back, in a quiet, dark room, and go get yourself a cup of tea. Peace and quiet may be what your baby needs the most. Dr. Robert Needlman, revising author of “Dr. Spock’s Baby & Child Care,” ninth edition, is a pediatrician and child development specialist at The MetroHealth System. He can be reached at 216-778-4288 or [email protected].
Posted on: Fri, 13 Jun 2014 01:00:01 +0000
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