This paper is only available as a PDF. To read, Please Download here.
Abstract
Infantile colic is a common and frustrating condition for parents and health care
practitioners. A commonly held belief is that the condition is benign and only results
in transient loss of parental sleep; however, a detailed study of the recent literature
and clinical studies suggests that not all colic abates without residual consequences.
In this article, we outline current understanding of the condition and suggest methods
of intervention. In addition, we focus on the potential effect of colic on infant
attachment; the later growth and development of the once-colicky child; the evidence
that supporting and refuting commonly held beliefs, and areas of intervention.
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Journal of Pediatric Nursing: Nursing Care of Children and FamiliesAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Nursing: A social policy statement.American Nurses' Association, Kansas City, MO1980
- Soy-protein formulas: Recommendations for use in infant feeding.Pediatrics. 1983; 72: 359
- Infant colic: A possible solution.Maternal Child Nursing. 1983; 8: 185
- Infantile colic: A review.Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. 1982; 4: 57-62
- Psychosomatic factors with particular reference to parents of the colicky infant.Pediatrics. 1956; 18: 833-835
- The nursing child assessment training study guide: Program learning manual.University of Washington, Washington1978
- Nursing child assessment feeding scale.University of Washington, Department of Parent-Child Nursing, Seattle, WA1978
- Parental diary of infant cry and fuss behavior.Archives of Disease in Childhood. 1988; 63: 380-387
- Crying during the first 10 days of life.Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology. 1972; 14: 362-373
- Infantile colic.in: Shirkey H.C. Pediatric therapy. 5th ed. Mosby, Louis1975: 617-619
- Crying in infancy.Pediatrics. 1962; 29: 579-588
- Coping with a colicky baby.Redbook. 1974; 143: 70-72
- Application of cry research to clinical perspectives.in: Lester B.M. Boukydis C.F.Z. Infant crying. Plenum Press, New York1985: 325-340
- Breastfeeding and mixed feeding.in: Practice of pediatrics. Vol. I. WF Prior, New York1940
- Why colic? (A response).The Medical Journal of Australia. 1979; 2: 486
- Infantile colic.Pediatric Clinics of North America. 1961; 8: 143-145
- The whiplash shaken infant syndrome.Pediatrics. 1974; 54: 396-403
- Maternal anxiety and infantile colic.Clinical Pediatrics. 1968; 7: 590-595
- Clinical application of infant temperament measurements.Journal of Pediatrics. 1972; 81: 823-828
- Psychologic sequelae of early infancy health crisis.in: Swartz J.L. Swartz L.H. Vulnerable infants: A psychological dilemma. McGraw-Hill, New York1977: 195-202
- The importance of temperament-environment interaction for child health and development.in: Lewis M. Rosenblum L.A. The uncommon child. Plenum Press, New York1981
- “Colic” or excessive crying in young infants.in: Levine M.D. Carey W.B. Crocker A.C. Gross R.T. Developmental-behavioral pediatrics. Saunders, Philadelphia1983
- “Colic”—Primary excessive crying as an infant-environment interaction.Pediatric Clinics of North America. 1984; 31: 993-1005
- Temperament and increased weight gain in infants.Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. 1985; 6: 128-132
- Dynamics of individual behavior development.in: Levine M.O. Carey W.B. Crocker W.B. Gross R.T. Developmental-behavioral pediatrics. Saunders, Philadelphia1983
- Incorporating behavioral pediatrics into primary care.Pediatric Clinics of North America. 1981; 29: 261-296
- A study of the possible relationship of progesterone to colic.Pediatrics. 1963; 31: 65-71
- The fussy infant: Dealing with colic.Patient Care. 1985; 19: 93-96
- The fussy infant: Dealing with colic.Patient Care. 1985; 19: 93-96
- Comfort for the crying child.Nursing Times. 1985; 81: 59-63
- Diagnosis and management in children with severe and protracted constipation and obstipation.Journal of Pediatrics. 1963; 62: 261-275
- The irritable colon of childhood (chronic nonspecific diarrhea syndrome).Journal of Pediatrics. 1966; 69: 1027-1038
- Maternal learned helplessness and physiologic response to infant crying.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1981; 40: 919-926
- Infant colic.Charles Schribner's Sons, New York1983
- Problems of early infancy, formula changes, and mothers' beliefs about their infants.Journal of Pediatrics. 1985; 106: 1012-1017
- Colic in infants.Pediatrics. 1956; 18: 828-829
- Child abuse: Pathological syndrome of family interaction.American Journal of Psychiatry. 1974; 131: 882-886
- Prevalence of infant colic.Archives of Disease in Childhood. 1982; 57: 559-560
- Infantile colic.Clinical Pediatrics. 1969; 8: 566-569
- A study of mothers, infants, and colic.in: Doctoral dissertation. Ohio State University, Columbus, OH1985
- Motion stimulation effectiveness on colicky infants.Final report to National Institutes of Health, Grant 5R44 H018567-03. 1986;
- Increased carrying reduces infant crying: A randomized controlled trial.Pediatrics. 1986; 77: 641-648
- Three-months colic.Archives of Disease in Childhood. 1954; 29: 165-174
- Prostaglandins in human milk.Archives of Disease in Childhood. 1981; 56: 407
- The infant development distress (IDD) syndrome: A predictor of impaired development?.Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. 1975; 9: 153-158
- Cow's milk proteins cause infantile colic in breast-fed infants: A double-blind cross over study.Pediatrics. 1983; 71: 268-271
- Injured children and their parents.Children. 1968; 15: 147-152
- Can fussy babies be spoiled? (Letter.).Pediatrics. 1985; 76: 854-855
- Crying baby, sleepless night.Warner Books, New York1983
- Colonic hyperstalsis in neurolabile infants.Acta Paediatr Scand. 1952; 85 (suppl): 1-10
- No relation between evening colic and later recurrent abdominal pain.American Journal of Diseases of Children. 1984; 138: 990-991
- Infantile colic.Journal of Family Practice. 1984; 19: 107-116
- Discussing problems in newborn babies with their parents.Pediatrics. 1960; 26: 832-838
- Child abuse: The crying baby at risk.in: Neale A. Renwick R. Early childhood in New Zealand: Their needs—Our concerns. Proceedings of the Second Early Childhood Convention, Christchurch, New Zealand1979 (August)
- Individual differences at birth, implications for early experiences and later development.Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry. 1967; 6: 676-690
- Personality factors in mothers of excessively crying (colicky) infants.Monographs of Society for Research in Child Development. 1957; 22: 7-48
- Recurrent abdominal pain in childhood.American Journal of Diseases in Children. 1980; 134: 347-348
- A biosocial model of infant crying.in: Lipsett L.P. Advances in infancy research. Academic Press, New York1984: 167-212
- There's more to crying than meets the ear.in: Lester B.M. Boukydis C.F.Z. Infant crying. Plenum Press, New York1985: 1-27
- The treatment of colic in infancy by use of the pacifier.Journal of Pediatrics. 1956; 37: 750-755
- Infantile colic: Association with lactose and milk intolerance.JAMA. 1981; 247: 732-733
- Cow's milk formula as a cause of infantile colic: A double-blind study.Pediatrics. 1982; 70: 7-10
- The colicky baby.Annals of Allergy. 1954; (Nov–Dec): 700-704
- Behavioral antecedents of accidental injuries in early childhood. A study of twins.The Journal of Pediatrics. 1971; 79: 122-124
- Temperament and intellectual development: A longitudinal study from infancy to four years.American Journal of Psychiatry. 1987; 2: 144-150
- Colic: Its pattern in infancy and later life.Southern Medical Journal. 1950; 43: 335-337
- The crying baby—Why colic?.Australian Family Physician. 1978; 7: 1262-1266
- Why colic? (A response).Medical Journal of Australia. 1979; 2: 484-486
- New prescribing information on Bentyl (dicyclomine).Merrill Dow Pharmaceuticals Bulletin. 1984;
- A clinical interpretation of the colicky infant.Postgraduate Medicine. 1958; 29: 627-632
- Colic in low birth weight infants.American Journal of Diseases in Childhood. 1971; 122: 25-27
- The colicky baby: Helping parents cope.Contemporary Pediatrics. 1986; 3: 86-98
- Infant care: Frustration and despair.Community Outlook. 1985; 8: 19-22
- Why colic? (A response).Medical Journal of Australia. 1979; 2: 486-487
- Infantile colic, or what to do until the fourth month comes.Comprehensive Therapy. 1980; 6: 9-12
- The failure of convention drug therapy in the management of infantile colic.American Journal of Diseases in Childhood. 1979; 133: 999-1001
- Maternal and other factors in the etiology of infantile colic.JAMA. 1966; 197: 191-199
- Origins, A short etymological dictionary of modern English.MacMillan, New York1958
- Delayed onset of “three months colic” in premature infants.American Journal of Diseases in Childhood. 1948; 75: 190-192
- Infantile colic: Its effect on later life.in: Proceedings from the 12th Annual Patient Care Research Colloquium. Indiana University School of Nursing, Indianapolis1985
- Counseling parents of infants with Down's syndrome.Postgraduate Medicine. 1977; 58: 90-95
- Colic in infants—General considerations.Pediatrics. 1956; 18: 828-840
- Crying in infancy.Journal of Genetic Psychology. 1972; 121: 49-57
- Infantile colic and dicyclomine (Editorial.).South African Medical Journal. 1985; 68: 831-832
- Infantile colic: Reviewing the situation.Pediatric Nursing. 1978; 4: 20-21
- Infantile colic: Incidence and treatment in a Norfolk community.Childcare, Health, and Development. 1984; 10: 219-226
- Infantile colic and parental smoking.British Medical Journal. 1984; 289: 660-661
- Coping with infant colic: A guide for parents.Ross Laboratories, Columbus, OH1982
- Infants who do not sleep through the night.Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. 1981; 2: 20-23
- Colic: Excessive crying in newborns.Clinical Perinatology. 1985; 12: 441-451
- Maternal personality and early adaptation as related to infantile colic.in: Shereslefsky P. Yarrow L.J. Psychological aspects of a first pregnancy and early postnatal adaptation. Raven Press, New York1979: 209-215
- A comparison of the patterns of mother-baby interaction for a group of crying, irritable babies and a group of more amenable babies.Child Care Health and Development. 1977; 3: 1-2
- To cry or not to cry.Nursing Mirror. 1981; 153: 20-23
- Postural treatment of infant colic.American Journal of Roentgenology. 1937; 38: 779
- Vulnerability and risk in early childhood.in: Osofsky J.D. Handbook of infant development. Wiley & Sons, New York1979: 799-808
- The first year of life.International Universities Press, New York1965
- Infantile colic: Occurrence and risk factors.European Journal of Pediatrics. 1984; 143: 108-111
- Excessive infant crying (colic) in relation to parent behavior.American Journal of Psychiatry. 1954; 110: 687-694
- Cry babies.Nursing Times. 1984; 80: 16-17
- Soy feeding in infancy.Archives of Diseases in Children. 1982; 57: 814-815
- A study of infantile colic.Canadian Medical Association. 1957; 76: 458-461
- Effects of infant colic on the family: Implications for practice.Issues in Comprehensive Pediatric Nursing. 1986; 9: 273-285
- Baby, please don't cry.Mother's Today. 1986; 22: 31-32
- Clinical trial of the treatment of colic by modification of parent-infant interaction.Pediatrics. 1984; 74: 998-1003
- Helping parents to cope with colic.Pediatric Basics. 1983; 33: 12-14
- Infantile colic and near-miss sudden death syndrome.Medical Hypotheses. 1981; 7: 1193-1199
- Crybabies: Coping with colic.Berkley Books, New York1984
- Nightwaking in 4-to-8 month old infants.Journal of Pediatrics. 1984; 104: 477-480
- Plasma progesterone concentration in infants: Relations to infantile colic.Journal of Pediatrics. 1983; 103: 935-936
- Paroxysmal fussing in infancy and something called colic.Pediatrics. 1954; 14: 421-434
- The psychology of child abuse.in: Helfer R. Kempe C. The battered child. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago1968
- Classification and treatment of infantile colic or gastroenterospasm.Medical Clinics of North America. 1936; 20: 511-525
- Management of infantile colic.American Journal of Diseases in Childhood. 1979; 133: 995-996
Article info
Identification
Copyright
© 1988 Published by Elsevier Inc.