What causes colic

There are many theories as to the cause of colic and it really depends on how far down the causality tree you want to go as to what the cause is.

A few of the theories that have come up are:-

• Reflux causing pain
• Serious Gas causing intestinal pain
• Mild gas causing irritation
• Baby’s brain is not developed properly in colicky babies.
• Babies cannot self calm
• Mothers cause it by being anxious
• It is inherited by Parents that are heperactive

If you are not digging too deep into the cause issue then the most common and logical reason that I have seen is that “Babies cannot calm themselves”

This may seem very simplistic at first and it does not completely answer all aspects of the question.
For example.

• When your baby is tired but cannot calm itself and go to sleep, then baby cries. (This is the main one)
• If baby is already tired, then gets gas, baby gets upset and cannot relax again so baby cries.
• If baby was in pain and cannot calm then baby cries even when the pain has passed.
• It is also a vicious circle, baby cries, gets tired and cannot sleep so start to cry more.

In my experience with my 2 kids who both had extreme cases of colic I am sure that lack of self calming is the cause of colic. Also all of the successful treatment of colic is based on this as the base cause of colic.

With this knowledge you will save yourself hours of trying to get baby to sleep, once you understand what is happening and what you can do about it everything will become easier. All you need to do now is find a way to treat colic.