Finally - Something Real to Help Your Colicky Baby With

For a condition that affects such a large number of babies (the government believes that one out of five babies in the country suffers from colic), doctors sure seem to know precious little about it. And yet, colic is a condition that is familiar to anyone - anyone who's lived in the same home as a baby - and heard a colicky baby crying incessantly for some reason to do with their tummies.

Scientists, as they try to gain some kind of understanding into what exactly causes colic, have from time to time suspected everything from hormonal additives to milk to stress during pregnancy and all kinds of allergies. As of now, medical researchers have abandoned the more exotic possibilities in favor of something far more plausible and far more regular - they believe that a colicky baby is a baby that suffers from inflamed intestines that get that way because the baby doesn't have enough good bacteria in her tummy. And a surfeit of the bad ones. Studies such as a famous one done at the University of Texas for instance, found that a baby with colic often had, not just some kind of inflammation of the intestines, but also bad bacteria that usually do tend to inflamed things. They also found that babies that are healthy have all kinds of bacteria that a colicky baby never does. So is it that simple? Do you just need to get a doctor to write out a prescription for a capsule (small enough for a baby to swallow of course) of beneficial bacteria? Is that all that it's going to take to solve a problem that's never left mothers or babies in peace for a very long time - probiotics?

You might be tempted into thinking that all this comes about because mothers tend to not breast-feed their babies enough anymore. Actually, it seems to have very little to do with breast-feeding. Research done about five years ago in Italy took up dozens of babies up to study for the colicky baby syndrome. And all of those babies were breast-fed ones. The study ran to about a month and involved giving some babies with colic, medication to help with gas called simethicone; and others, a probiotic supplement with the same bacteria found in yogurt (called L.Reuteri). They found that every colicky baby that received the probiotic cried far, far less than the babies on the simethicone.

Since then, they've studied this time and time again and found nearly the same thing. The next time your colicky baby acts up, perhaps you could give your baby a probiotic supplement. It really is that simple.