File:Human-Male-White-Newborn-Baby-Crying.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Key facts
- Other names
- Infantile colic
- Specialty
- Pediatrics
- Symptoms
- Crying for more than three hours a day, for more than three days a week, for three weeks
- Complications
- Frustration for the parents, depression following delivery , child abuse
- Usual onset
- Six weeks of age
- Duration
- Typically goes away by six months of age
- Causes
- Unknown
- Diagnostic method
- Based on symptoms after ruling out other possible causes
- Differential diagnosis
- Corneal abrasion , hair tourniquet , hernia , testicular torsion
- Treatment
- Conservative treatment , extra support for the parents
- Prognosis
- No long term problems
- Frequency
- ~25% of babies
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Subclass of
- colic
Show 2 more facts
- health specialty
- pediatrics
- NCI Thesaurus ID
- C113481
via Wikidata · CC0
~9 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Baby colic, also known as infantile colic, is defined as episodes of crying for more than three hours a day, for more than three days a week, for three weeks in an otherwise healthy child. Often crying occurs in the evening. It typically does not result in long-term problems. The crying can result in frustration of the parents, depression following delivery, excess visits to the doctor, and child abuse.
The cause of colic is unknown. Some believe it is due to gastrointestinal discomfort like intestinal cramping. Diagnosis requires ruling out other possible causes. Concerning findings include a fever, poor activity, or a swollen abdomen. Fewer than 5% of infants with excess crying have an underlying organic disease.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “baby colic” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.