Anti-colic and formula milk: how to avoid colic in infants
When a mother cannot breastfeed, she should be supported and helped with bottle feeding.
In fact, although colic more frequently affects babies fed with formula milk, your baby is not destined to suffer from it , on the contrary.
Gas colic is NOT physiological but caused by an irritative and inflammatory condition of the newborn's intestine .
Choosing the best anti-colic or formula milk is just one of the parameters to consider to avoid or treat colic in the bottle-fed newborn.
What are the 4 parameters to avoid colic in the bottle-fed newborn?
Every month I treat hundreds of newborns to successfully cure infant colic (read more than 260 verified reviews on Google by typing Matteo Silva Osteopath ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐).
In this article I will explain the real causes of colic in bottle-fed babies and how to treat them.
Before starting, I'll leave you some useful information:
- If you would like to schedule a studio visit with me, you can find me here.
- You can also find me on Instagram with the profile @drsilva.com_official
- In the video courses section you will find how to promote the psychomotor development of the newborn and much more.
Colic in babies drinking formula milk: what are they?
Until a few years ago, since the real causes of infant colic were unknown, this problem was defined as a behavioral syndrome.
The newborn suffering from colic presented typical symptoms such as crying, alterations in intestinal transit, stomach ache and passing gas or feces.
Here is the etymology of the term "infant colic " explained:
- colic derives from the term colon , the part of the intestine which was blamed for the cause of the problem;
- The term gassy comes from the fact that the baby often emits air during crying fits.
Unfortunately, in most cases colic is defined as physiological only because your baby (fortunately) gains weight, despite suffering and crying a lot.
Gas colic is considered a normal problem caused by a fateful immaturity of the intestine (spoiler: FALSE! ).
Your baby is not meant to suffer and you parents are not forced to sleepless nights and inconsolable crying.
Colic in newborns is not caused by immaturity of the intestine, but by intestinal inflammation .
Testifying to this without a shadow of a doubt is the recent 2018 scientific study “ Infantile Colic, New Insights into an Old Problem ” which was published in the journal Gastroenterology Clinics of North America .
What was found?
The presence of fecal calprotectin has been observed in breast-fed infants presenting with neonatal colic.
This indicates an inflammatory intestinal condition as the values were the same as those of children who had intestinal inflammation.
This discovery led me to work for 4 consecutive years to investigate the real causes of intestinal inflammation and discover the remedies to prevent and truly cure gas colic in newborns.
The question we need to ask ourselves is this:
What irritates and inflames the intestines of newborns (and ours too)?
The answer is simple: anything that is poorly digested by a child irritates and inflames the child's gastrointestinal system (just as it happens in adults).
Anything that is poorly digested by the baby causes both reflux and gas colic; this is why these problems often coexist.
This does not mean that breast milk or formula are the wrong foods for the baby, but it does mean that some parameters such as the mother's diet , the type of formula, the bottle, the teat and other essential factors can irritate the baby's intestine and inflame it, causing gas colic.
Recognizing colic: the symptoms
When a newborn cries, it is not easy to understand the reason.
However, if the baby cries continuously despite having eaten and presents numerous symptoms attributable to gas colic, the diagnosis is relatively simple.
Below I list the symptoms with which you can understand if your baby suffers from colic .
During colic the newborn cries , contracts his tummy and stretches his legs .
The newborn cries even though he has already eaten enough and/or refuses breast milk/bottle.
Along with these symptoms, you may notice abdominal tension, a hard belly, and a swollen abdomen.
In addition, the newborn may cry and fart a lot, that is, repeatedly release gas (the baby makes wind).
Crying due to colic is difficult to calm .
The newborn cries loudly and for a long time during the acute phase of colic but is never completely calm and relaxed; even when not crying, he may grumble and seem annoyed.
If bottle-fed , the baby may often wean himself off the bottle because he has a tummy (or stomach) ache, or cry after feeding even though he has drunk a sufficient amount of milk.
Furthermore, another symptom attributable to gas colic is that the newborn has difficulty digesting , burps loudly and suffers from stomach ache even after a long period of feeding .