Harvey;

hmm. So the 5 s's are swaddling, swinging, shushing, ?, ? This is a good
checklist to go through with a mom.

Also, isn't much intestinal pain intermittent? Gas pain comes and goes.
Cramps come and go. So couldn't a baby be screaming one minute, then
comforted for 5 minutes, then screaming again? The fact that he was
temporarily comforted doesn't mean, in my opinion, that he was never in
pain.

Plus factor in the personality of the baby. I know my kids have sometimes
been in great pain but still made every effort to be happy and likeable.
Wouldn't babies do the same? After all from a survival perspective, a baby
should not be wired to scream until their parent doesn't care but should
instead be wired to scream until the problem is solved and otherwise be
happy (so a predator doesn't hunt them down).

I guess I disagree with the premise of the test which seems to be that
temporary relief from pain / screaming facilitated by distraction / soothing
indicates that the screaming was not in pain.

However, I do completely agree that every option of calming / soothing
should be tried before it is assumed that the baby is in pain. However I
don't get too many calls from Moms with colicky babies where the Mom or Dad
hasn't tried every trick in the book. Do you really find Moms who haven't
tried soothing techniques?

Rachael

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