Maria: I have been dealing with the "gassy baby" situation for years as a
doula. I believe "colic,"which means a sharp pain in the abdomen, is what all
these babies have. About 50% of my moms say simethicone helped and the other
half said it did nothing. I think it is the crying spells that at least 85%
per cent of babies have between the ages of 3 weeks and 3 months. It usually
occurs in the evening and goes on for hours; inconsolable, hard crying. In my
practice I have a handout called Crying Spells that lists things the mom can
try, some work some times and not others. One of my clients has a brother who
is a pediatrician who knows of a study being done on this problem and he says
preliminary results seem to show that babies living nearer the equator have
less of a problem than the rest. These things are:(Assuming the baby is
breastfed, burped, changed and warm)

Wear the baby in a sling or front pack everywhere (the single most effective
baby calmer), walk baby in football hold, face down, carry him with his back
against your chest against (excellent for burping), skin to skin contact,
swaddle tightly, use  a baby swing if you can't carry him, simethicone,
lactobacillus bifidus, immerse body in warm water, better yet get parent and
baby in the tub in dim light, put baby in infant seat on dryer (vibration)
remaining with baby so he doesn't vibrate off onto the floor, let him look at
light sources,  learn infant massage, if nothing works allow baby to
discharge while holding and touching lovingly.
Vicky York, CPD, IBCLC
Portland, Oregon

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