Crying Time
Twenty percent of infants suffer from colic. If your baby is one of them, click here to read
our action plan. 
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Read:
Calming Your Fussy Baby: The Brazelton Way, by T. Berry Brazelton, M.D., and Joshua D. Sparrow, M.D., (Perseus Publishing, 2003).
Secrets of the Baby Whisperer: How to Calm, Connect and Communicate With Your Baby by Tracy Hogg with Melinda Blau (Ballantine Publishing Group, 2001).
The Practical Pediatrician: The A to Z Guide to Your Child's Health, Behavior, and Safety by Howard Markel, M.D., Ph.D, F.A.A.P, and Frank A. Oski, M.D., F.A.A.P., (W.H. Freeman & Co., 1996).
Contact:
Infant Development Center, part of Women and Infants' Hospital in Providence,
R.I., at 401-453-7690; colic.cc or infantdevelopment.org.
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The Infant Development Center at Women & Infants' Hospital of Rhode Island in Providence offers these recommendations for dealing with colic.
To Reduce Crying Time
- Decrease level of stimulation (eliminate noise) during feeding or if distressed.
- Promote self-soothing by putting your inconsolable infant down intermittently for brief periods.
- Interpret infant cues using diaries and knowledge of normative infant development.
To Avoid Feeding-Related Distress
- Consider a one-week trial of hypoallergenic formula or dairy elimination for nursing mom.
- Remove caffeine from nursing mother's diet.
- Space feedings at least two and a half hours apart (from beginning to beginning) and longer for babies weighing more than 10 pounds. Healthy infants should feed at least every four hours in the daytime.
- Keep feedings to 30 minutes.
- Limit distractions and keep the baby awake during feeding.
- Avoid using breast or bottle as a pacifier.
To Relieve Gastroesophageal Reflux
- Elevate the head of the bed.
- Use upright positioning for 20 minutes after feedings.
- Consider thickening formula (not for nursing infants).
- Discuss medical treatment options with your pediatrician.
To Help Regulate Sleep
- Limit daytime naps to two and a half hours each by waking the baby and playing.
- Make middle-of-the-night feedings business only - short, boring, with low lights, no television and no conversation.
- Establish a regular bedtime and try not to allow sleeping for one and a half hours prior to bedtime.
- Develop a soothing bedtime routine in the baby's room, including a feeding and low lighting.
- Introduce naps with a shortened version of the infant's bedtime routine. Put infants in the same room and bed for day- and nighttime sleeping.
- Infants older than 4 months and toddlers, in particular, find routine and regularity extremely reassuring. Regular but not rigid times, settings and routines around meals, naps and bed are quite helpful.
To Stay at Your Best
- Ask trusted friends and family to watch the infant, help with older siblings, prepare meals or help with household chores, so parents can take a break.
- Identify 30 minutes a day when mother or father can read a book, take a walk, talk to a friend or just relax.
- Once parents are rested, they should plan time out together as a couple.
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Tips for Treating Colic