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Definition

By Mayo Clinic staff

If your baby cries about the same time each day and nothing you do seems to offer comfort, your baby may have colic. Colic is often defined as crying more than three hours a day, three days a week for more than three weeks in an otherwise well-fed, healthy baby. What is most important for the diagnosis is sustained crying in an otherwise healthy baby for a regular period of the day lasting for several weeks.

Colic can be distressing for both you and your baby. But take comfort: Colic is relatively short-lived. In a matter of weeks or months, the colic will end, and you'll have weathered one of the first major challenges of parenthood.

Symptoms
References
  1. Colic. The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/sec19/ch266/ch266f.html. Accessed Feb. 28, 2011.
  2. Roberts DM, et al. Infantile colic. American Family Physician. 2004;70:735.
  3. Cohen-Silver J, et al. Management of infantile colic: A review. Clinical Pediatrics. 2009;48:14.
  4. Savino F, et al. Lactobacillus reuteri (American type culture collection strain 55730) versus simethicone in the treatment of infantile colic: A prospective randomized study. Pediatrics. 2007;119:e124.
  5. Canivet CA, et al. Infantile colic, maternal smoking and infant feeding at 5 weeks of age. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health. 2008;36:284.
  6. Savino F. Focus on infantile colic. Acta Paediatrica. 2007;96:1259.
  7. Turner TL, et al. Clinical features and etiology of colic. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed March 1, 2011.
  8. Turner TL, et al. Evaluation and management of colic. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed March 1, 2011.
  9. Hoecker JL (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. March 2, 2011.
DS00058 July 6, 2011

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