Baby crying, parents' anguish

Crying is a normal response of the child, if excessive it may be infant colic. Colic occurs in healthy infants under four months of age, with loud, sudden, evening cries, appears at two to three weeks of age, occurs in 10-40% of infants, and can have psychological, gastrointestinal and environmental causes. Aetiological causes may be psychological, gastrointestinal and environmental, and may occur in infants who are exclusively breastfed and/or formula fed. It may be a predictor of allergic diseases, psychological disorders and recurrent abdominal pain in older children. Diagnostic tests depend on clinical guidance and treatment consists of exclusive breastfeeding, hydrolysed formula and the use of probiotics, allopathic drugs (herbs), and even massage and acupuncture, which is under discussion. The prognosis is excellent.

Autorentext

Pediatra e gastroenterologo, professore presso l'Universidad de los Andes, Mérida-Venezuela, dottore in Scienze mediche presso l'Universidad del Zulia. Membro della Società Venezuelana di Puericultura e Pediatria e della Società Venezuelana e Latinoamericana di Gastroenterologia.