My oldest son, Jason, had it. He screamed for weeks. His birth was hard on him.  Forceps were used. The colic began mysteriously (not long after I took antibiotics for a breast infection) when he was about four weeks old.  The colic stopped mysteriously when he was about four months old. 33 years later I still sometimes feel traumatized by the experience. If I had known then what I know now...

In my bodywork practice colic (inconsolable crying that somehow seems related to a very bad tummy ache) is one of the most common reasons parents seek Craniosacral Therapy for their infants. Craniosacral therapy almost always helps. Providing relief to the family with the screaming infant is one of the most satisfying aspects of my work.

It is my opinion that colic is caused by one or two things: 

Thing One: Vagus Nerve Compression

The vagus nerve (there are actually two of them - they’re paired) is the longest nerve in the body.  It is responsible for the functioning of nearly all of the digestive system. It emerges from the baby’s skull in an area (jugular foramen) that can experience significant movement during the birth process. My theory is that for some babies this movement causes micro-trauma to the soft tissue surrounding the nerve where it exits the skull.  Over the days and weeks following the birth the damage heals in a way that causes tiny adhesions and restrictions that interfere with proper nerve functioning. That’s why they start screaming when they’re four weeks old (this is variable).

Vagus nerve compression happens to cesarean-born babies too. When the surgical incision is made into the uterus the baby inside experiences a rapid change in pressure that sometimes causes more cranial bone movement than the forces associated with a vaginal birth.

Thing Two: Candida in the Baby’s Gut (thrush or yeast infection)

Many women are given antibiotics during their labors, after their cesarean births or for treatment of mastitis and other infections. Breastfeeding mothers give antibiotics to their babies in the milk. The antibiotics kill off the “good” flora in the baby’s gut creating the ideal environment for candida to grow and multiply. Candida causes gas, pain and distress for the baby. We used to think that candida would always show up as white patches inside the baby’s cheeks or as a distinctive diaper rash. That’s not necessarily true. It’s also not always true that the baby and mother will both have an overgrowth of candida at the same time. Giving the baby and/or mother Nystatin or baby acidophilus will not always cure it.

What Doesn’t Cause Colic

Colic is not caused by nervous, high-strung, up-tight mothers.

Colic is also not caused by mothers who eat broccoli, dairy products, meat, curry, garlic, tofu, onions or radishes. It’s not about what the mothers eat. Interestingly, most cultures have a list of taboo foods that breastfeeding mothers should not eat. These lists are all different! I can’t tell you how many times I have gone to a home to treat a new baby with colic and encountered a starving mother who has eliminated nearly everything from her diet in an effort to soothe her baby. Typically, she’s six weeks postpartum and below her pre pregnancy weight. When I ask if the diet changes are helping her baby she says no, but her doctor said it could take a few weeks. This is BS. It’s part of the mother-blame thing. If our babies cry it must somehow be our fault. Right.

I do agree that some things can pass through the milk and irritate a baby. Drink two liters of caffeinated Pepsi and I guarantee you’ll have a wakeful, irritated breastfeeding infant. But cheese? No way!

Likewise, I’m alarmed by the rising number of colicky babies who have a diagnosis of “reflux”. These babies are increasingly given Zantac, a drug not approved for use in infants. Zantac reduces the amount of hydrochloric acid produced in the stomach in order to reduce irritation when genuine reflux causes the acid to slosh up into the esophagus. Most of the babies I see aren’t sloshing - they’re crying and nearly impossible to soothe. I wonder how well they are being nourished when they don’t have the hydrochloric acid they need for proper digestion...

Next Installment: The Treatment of Colic

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