I have been through a major battle with my little daughter who has been suffering from colic for the past four months. Every day at 5:00 PM sharp, she would start screaming and crying inconsolably, and really nothing seemed to help. The other symptoms were kicking her legs, making tight fists, and arching her back. But she never did spit up after feedings.
The best I could do was to take her and carry her around, but she still kept crying miserably. My husband tried to help me a few times when this first started, but with him she was even worse. It seemed that the only relief she got came from me holding and carrying her. It got so bad that my husband and older son would leave the apartment and go in the park. Frankly, I saw no benefit in them staying at home and listening to this anyway, as there was nothing they could do.

My pediatrician was equally clueless, and kept insisting that this would pass soon, and that there really wasn’t much that could be done. He attributed the problem to the fact that my daughter was born early, but the same had been true for her three year older brother, and he never had to go through this.

I read everything I could about this problem, and I learned that colic happens in some children, although nobody really knows why. The excessive crying and the predictability of these episodes in terms of occurring in the late afternoon or evening and usually at the same time each day applied in my daughter’s case, but that information didn’t really help matters.

My daughter was being breast-fed, and I was very careful to avoid eating the things that have been associated with babies experiencing colic, such as dairy products, caffeine, and gas-producing foods. The other risk factors, such as over- or under-stimulation, exposure to cigarette smoke, and antibiotics given to the baby at birth or to the mother during delivery all didn’t apply.

Since there really weren’t any risk factors, the conventional approach of eliminating them was not an option. I tried alternatives such as fennel tea and lemon balm, but without success. Warm baths with a few drops of lavender oil seemed to make some difference. I finally consulted a homeopath, and his treatment really seemed to work best, although it didn’t resolve the problem completely. But it did make the colic episodes less severe.

The problem finally disappeared as suddenly as it had originally started. I guess we will never know if it was due to the homeopathy or the fact that my daughter had simply outgrown it, as colic usually resolves on its own by about six months of age. Even the homeopath was not sure which it was in the end, although we both felt that it was a combination of the two.

Since colicky babies often develop other allergies later in life, I am sticking with the homeopathic treatment. Apparently, the right homeopathic remedy might reduce that risk.

ref: aprilly Taumed website www.taumed.com

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