Infant and baby feeding difficulties - colic, crying & poor weight gain
Mr Bevis Nathan on Feeding difficulties, poor weight gain, colic, crying, tantrums, food intolerances:
Bad-tempered babies!
?My baby seems irritable all the time ? as if she?s cross or uncomfortable. She?s now six weeks old and she?s been like this since birth. My doctor says she?s fine and will settle down, but she hasn?t yet. She?s breast-fed and putting on weight properly, but I cannot put her down without her crying. What can I do? Can osteopathy help??
The first thing to say is that some babies are more like this than others ? that is, there?s a personality trait and not an illness that might be the biggest influence. Irritability may be partly a need to get on, learn about the world and change it ? a need to be stimulated. Also, many parents make the mistake of assuming their child has a personality compatible with theirs. This isn?t always the case!
Others are irritable because they are sensitive to their own digestive processes. The immature stomach and intestines can take a while to get used to the whole business of taking in food and managing it. This initial difficulty can actually be felt by the baby ? and it is an uncomfortable feeling, and can contribute to what we call ?colic? (see below).
If your baby is gaining weight and your doctor is sure she?s basically well, then think about the following:
- Is she getting enough food? You may need to supplement her breast milk with formula milk if you?re not producing enough. This is necessary in a small proportion of babies under three months old.
- If you?re supplementing with formula already, are you using enough water with the powder? Some crying babies on formula milk are thirsty.
- Does she have constipation? Breast-fed babies can go several days without passing stools and be perfectly healthy. But if she?s having some formula milk and her stools are hard, try increasing her water intake.
- If you?re supplementing with formula, she may be allergic to cow?s milk, but this is uncommon. Try a two-week cow?s milk-free diet. Goat?s baby-milk is better than soya.
- Is she warm enough or even too hot? Babies do not regulate their own temperatures anything like as well as adults.
- Is there any stress or fatigue in the family, or relationship difficulty? Research shows that babies in families with emotional or financial or other difficulties are more prone to periods of irritability, crying and ?colic?.
- Are you a first time mum and do you need more practical help? Use friends and extended family often. It is good for babies to feel that a number of different people can care for them.
- Does she have severe nappy rash? Ask your health visitor for advice.
- Is she crying because she?s full of wind? Some babies habitually swallow air while they feed. Many of these will not be irritated by their wind - whilst others will be furious. You may need to be patient when ?winding? her. Some babies seem to refuse to bring wind up. Often there?s nothing you can do except ensure that the feeding conditions are as relaxed as possible. It may be a good idea to give smaller feeds more often, in order to lessen the hunger at the beginning of each feed, so that the baby isn?t so agitated. Occasionally babies swallow air because they?re not latching on to the nipple properly or are unable to produce a good suction. This can be a mouth/nipple mismatch, impatience, ?tongue-tie?, or less often it can be caused by a strain to the jaw, neck or skull during birth. More rarely, the problem can be due to irritation of the nerves that work the tongue - again by a strain during the birth process. Osteopathic treatment is the treatment of choice for such strains.
- Was the birth very long, very short or difficult in any way? In my opinion this can lead to two main types of problem. One; learned anxiety in the baby, and two; strain to the baby?s body ? usually the head or neck.
- ?Learned anxiety? means simply that the baby is still feeling the effects of its traumatic start to life. (In much the same way as adults can feel badly shaken up emotionally, though not badly injured, after an accident.) This anxiety can affect the body chemistry, especially the hormone system and the digestive system. These babies need more than the average amount of mothering. In fact, they are often extremely touch-hungry, and ideally, they should not be put down until they want to be ? as far as this is practical. This means using a soft sling such as a Wilkinet, or simply carrying them around with you all or most of the time so they can feel you next to them.
- It?s often helpful to nurse babies ? that is, breast feed them ? skin to skin whenever this is possible, and on demand. And it is fine for them to sleep in the same bed next to mum. In other words, they should be treated as if they were still actually part of mum?s body, until they themselves make it clear that this is no longer necessary. It is important to remember that, during the first three months of your baby?s life, bonding is largely through touch. Calmness of mum and other family members is very important.
- Osteopathic treatment, especially cranial osteopathy, can help relieve the tension in the baby?s body caused by learned anxiety.
- Mechanical strain to the baby?s body during birth ? usually the neck or the skull - can cause irritability. It can cause sleep problems. It can disturb the feeding or digestive process and contribute to ?colic?. It can disturb the breathing mechanics ? not seriously, but just enough to make it a source of agitation. It can cause a generalised bodily discomfort, and it can probably cause headaches. It is for these kinds of problems that osteopathy may be very useful.
Mr Stefan Chmelik on Infant and baby feeding difficulties, poor weight gain, colic, crying, tantrums, food intolerance
You have a beautiful new baby to look after, but this already daunting task is made more tiring and difficult by junior seeming to be in frequent distress, never apparently sleeping or refusing all food.
This can be bewildering and distressing for any parent, and only all the more harder as you are already pretty worn out by ten months of pregnancy and giving birth.
Sometimes the problem is surprisingly easy to fix, with simple dietary modification. It can also be much more complex, and perhaps related to problems experienced in the womb or from birth trauma.
Either way, support, guidance and treatment is possible and available, and it is always a privilege to work with babies and parents.
Dr Brian Kaplan on Feeding difficulties, poor weight gain, colic, crying, tantrums, food intolerances:
Orthodox Medicine:
Obviously medical causes of these problems must be excluded first and treated appropriately if located. However most babies and children with these sort of problems are not diagnosed with any ‘medical condition’ and these neonates and young people often respond very well to an holistic approach such as homeopathy.