Children & Infants
Colic in Infants
Severe, unexplained crying and abdominal pain in infants, typically beginning around the 3rd week and resolving by 12 weeks. Usually caused by gas, food sensitivities, or diet.
📝 At a glance
Likely root causes: Abnormal amounts of gas passing through the infant's stomach and intestines.; Food allergies are a frequent cause — in breastfed babies, the mother's diet is often the trigger.; Common offenders in the mother's diet include onions, cabbage, garlic, wheat, yeast, broccoli, and brussels sprouts, as well as fried foods and refined foods..
First thing to try: CAUTION -- colic is common and self-limiting, but any real illness in a baby needs a doctor's check, and herbal teas or remedies should not be given to an infant without medical advice. Seek prompt care for fever, vomiting, blood in the stool, poor feeding, breathing trouble, limpness, or a cry that is unusually high-pitched or different from normal. The soothing measures below are comfort care only and are not a treatment.
See a doctor if: Fever in a baby under 3 months (100.4°F / 38°C or more) is always urgent — call the doctor now
🔎 Start with the cause
Lasting relief rarely comes from covering a symptom. First find what is feeding the problem, change what you can, and then help the body do what it was designed to do — heal.
Likely root causes
- Abnormal amounts of gas passing through the infant's stomach and intestines.
- Food allergies are a frequent cause — in breastfed babies, the mother's diet is often the trigger.
- Common offenders in the mother's diet include onions, cabbage, garlic, wheat, yeast, broccoli, and brussels sprouts, as well as fried foods and refined foods.
- In formula-fed infants, the milk, wheat, soy, or sugar in the formula is often the cause.
- Drugs given to the mother during labor and delivery increase colic risk.
- Milk formulas that use pork skin to fortify vitamin D commonly cause allergies and colic.
Change what you can
- CAUTION -- colic is common and self-limiting, but any real illness in a baby needs a doctor's check, and herbal teas or remedies should not be given to an infant without medical advice. Seek prompt care for fever, vomiting, blood in the stool, poor feeding, breathing trouble, limpness, or a cry that is unusually high-pitched or different from normal. The soothing measures below are comfort care only and are not a treatment.
- Give the infant warm catnip teaA warm drink made by steeping herbs in hot water. How to make a tea → in a bottle.
- Warm anise, peppermint, chamomile, thyme, or catnip teaA warm drink made by steeping herbs in hot water. How to make a tea → — prepare 1 cup and give 1 tablespoon at a time.
- A very warm bath given an hour before an expected attack may help prevent it.
- A footbath or fomentationA hot, moist cloth pressed on the body — classic hydrotherapy. How to make a fomentation → over the abdomen that's comfortably warm (around 40 C / 104 F, tested with the hand or elbow first) relieves gas pain. Have someone else test the water, or skip it, if you have diabetes, neuropathy, or poor circulation.
- Give 1–2 oz. of warm water.
- Activated charcoal helps relieve gas — stir a little powdered charcoal in water and give it; do not overdo it as it can cause constipation and will blacken the stool.
- Pancreatic enzymes (75–200 mg three times daily before meals), flaxseed oil (1–2 drops after each meal), and vitaminA natural substance your body needs in small amounts to stay healthy, like vitamin C or D. More → B6 (10 mg, twice daily) may help.
- For breastfed babies, the nursing mother should eliminate suspected foods one at a time and keep a diet diary.
- Offer fresh boiled goat's milk as an alternative to cow's milk formulas — it is less likely to cause problems.
- Feed the baby in an upright position and burp frequently.
🩺 When to see a doctor
- Fever in a baby under 3 months (100.4°F / 38°C or more) is always urgent — call the doctor now
- Green vomit, blood in the stool, poor feeding, or a limp, hard-to-wake baby: emergency care
- Crying with a swollen belly, or after any injury, needs same-day attention
- Trust your instinct — if baby just isn't right, call
🌿 The seven pathways to health
Seven pathways for your colic in infants — tap the circle to check one off (saved on your device), or ask Remy for help.
“Disease is an effort of nature to free the system from conditions that result from a violation of the laws of health... In case of sickness 1cause should be ascertained, 2go to work intelligently to remove the disease. 3Unhealthful conditions should be changed, 4wrong habits corrected. 5Then nature is to be assisted in her effort 6to expel impurities and 7to re-establish right conditions in the system.”
🌿 Overview
Severe, unexplained crying and abdominal pain in infants, typically beginning around the 3rd week and resolving by 12 weeks. Usually caused by gas, food sensitivities, or diet.
Colic is frequent, prolonged crying in an otherwise healthy, well-fed baby, often in the late afternoon or evening, typically beginning in the first few weeks of life and easing by around three to four months. The baby may draw up the legs, clench the fists, and seem in discomfort. Its cause is not fully understood, and importantly, it is not the parents' fault and does not mean anything is seriously wrong.
Gentle soothing and patience help most: holding and rocking, gentle motion, a warm bath, tummy or back rubbing, white noise, swaddling, and checking feeding technique (winding well, and an upright position during and after feeds). A health professional can advise if a feeding adjustment might help. Crucially, parents need support too, as relentless crying is exhausting — it is okay to put the baby down somewhere safe and take a short break to gather yourself. Any fever, poor feeding, vomiting, an unusual cry, or a baby who seems genuinely unwell beyond colic warrants prompt medical review.
Common signs
- Abdominal pain, distension, extreme fretfulness, insomnia, and inconsolable crying.
- The infant pulls knees up to the abdomen, has a distended stomach, and may turn red in the face.
- Symptoms typically worsen at night.
- Colic usually begins around weeks 3–4 and resolves by week 12.
⭐ Community-ranked natural supports
Vote ▲ on everything that helped you, and ▼ on anything you tried that didn't — the ranking updates live. Tap 💬 to share what worked, so others can find it faster.
Ensuring the breastfeeding mother is well hydrated supports milk production and composition; maternal elimination of gas-producing foods (cruciferous vegetables, dairy, caffeine) often eases infant colic.1000
Having the parent practice slow breathing while holding the infant in a calming position reduces the baby's distress by regulating the nervous system through co-regulation.940
A warm (not hot) compress or warm water bottle wrapped in a cloth applied to the baby's abdomen during a colic episode relieves gas pain and intestinal spasm.900
Cooled chamomile tea given in small sips several times daily significantly reduced colic crying time in a German clinical trial; it relaxes intestinal spasm and calms the infant's nervous system.850
Gentle clockwise abdominal massage following the path of the colon helps move trapped gas through the intestine and provides comfort during colic episodes.850
Lemon balm, often combined with fennel and chamomile, has shown colic-reducing effects in trials; its carminative properties help relieve gas and intestinal tension.850
Catnip herb tea has a long folk medicine history for infant colic; its antispasmodic properties gently relax gut smooth muscle, reducing cramping.840
In breastfed infants, maternal probiotic supplementation (and infant drops of Lactobacillus reuteri) has shown consistent evidence of reducing colic crying time by up to 50%.830
How the numbers work: this is a weighted voting system — every published book or article recommending a remedy counts as an endorsement vote, and your ▲/▼ counts too. Not medical advice. *Ties are broken by our editor score (sources, safety, simplicity, cost, lifestyle fit, eight-laws alignment).
🍽️ Eating to help
Food is one of the gentlest medicines — small, steady changes help most.
If breastfeeding, the mother should avoid onions, cabbage, garlic, wheat, yeast, broccoli, brussels sprouts, fried foods, refined foods, and confused food combinations. Both mother and baby need an excellent diet. If formula-fed, try substituting vitamin-enriched goat's milk. Do not introduce grains until 5–6 months of age when the infant's digestive enzymes can handle them. Do not give yeast bread before 12 months. Add only one new food at a time after weaning.
⚖️ Good to know
- Colic that is unusually severe or persistent, or accompanied by blood in stool, fever, or failure to thrive, warrants medical evaluation to rule out other causes.
⚕️ What a doctor may offerConventional treatments for this condition — for your information.Show ▾
RemedyRank's heart is natural healing — and honest information. Here is what conventional medical care commonly involves for this condition, listed to inform, never to promote. Decisions about treatment belong with you and your own physician.
Colic is self-limiting and resolves by 3–4 months in most infants; treatment focuses on reassurance and practical soothing strategies, with limited evidence for pharmacological interventions.
Commonly offered
- Simethicone drops (Mylicon) — widely used, though evidence is inconsistent–
- Probiotic drops (Lactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938) — best evidence of any intervention–
- Switching to hydrolyzed formula in formula-fed infants to rule out cow's milk protein intolerance–
- Maternal elimination diet (dairy, soy, wheat) for breastfeeding mothers–
- Reassurance, support, and parent well-being resources–
- Ruling out medical causes of crying (ear infection, hernia, etc.)–
👍/👎 shares whether a treatment helped you — community experience, not medical advice. For full professional details, see the sources under “Learn more” below.
📚 Learn more
Sources for further reading. These open in a new tab.
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