About colic -- it may very well be that what we see as "colic" is a baby
with an unusually immature nervous system that cannot handle the scheduling
of the typical US household's style of infant care and feeding.  Many
babies do fine on it, and perhaps they have the more mature nervous
systems.  Babies in Mali don't have to adjust to the parents' schedules, so
it doesn't matter whether or not they have an immature nervous system.
Colic that goes away at 3 months may be the result of the child's
eventually maturing nervous system finally being able to cope.

About speech delays -- I know that many babies/children don't eat a lot
during the year between 1-2, but this is quite different from not eating
anything!

About pushing fluids -- Perhaps the mothers who find that they have more
milk when the "push" fluids don't have normal thirst mechanisms.  In other
words, they aren't really drinking any more than you or I would, but their
indicators of thirst don't work properly, so it seems to them they are
drinking when they aren't thirsty.
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Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D.                         email:
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Anthropology Department                               phone: (409) 845-5256
Texas A&M University                                    fax: (409) 845-4070
College Station, TX  77843-4352
http://www.prairienet.org/laleche/dettwyler.html