Parenting for Beginners

Infantile Colic is a frustrating problem that can begin in early infancy and may persist for several months. Although there are no fully accepted definitions of colic, the characteristics of colic are bouts of crying, abdominal pain and irritability. A commonly used criteria for colic is the duration and frequency of crying in infants who otherwise appear healthy and well-fed. If an infant cries at least three hours per day, three days a week, for a period of three weeks, colic may be the cause.

What can be done to help your colicky baby?

• Get your child adjusted by your family chiropractor. A Danish study found that 94% of infants with colic had shown improvement after two or three treatments.
• Supplement your baby’s diet with bifido bacteria or acidophilus to establish the normal gut flora. Sometimes babies need extra good bacteria in their tummies to help them with sour stomach.
• Nursing mothers should avoid common allergy producing foods such as: dairy, eggs, citrus, peanuts, and wheat. Vegetables such as cabbage, broccoli, kale, collards, cauliflower, onions and garlic should be avoided as they may also be culprits in upsetting baby’s tummy.
• Use homeopathic remedies such as chamomile or belladonna found in HP14. These natural remedies help calm the baby.
• Apply heat to the baby’s tummy – use a hot water bottle to heat up a blanket and put the blanket on the baby’s tummy – not the hot water bottle!
• Give your infant a massage. The calming touch will help soothe your baby and ease some of the colic symptoms. Tummy massage helps digestion and helps make baby more comfortable.
• Craniosacral therapy for babies also has tremendous benefits by helping the baby eat more efficiently.

While babies do cry, they don’t have to cry and be uncomfortable for hours each day. Chiropractic care and massage have tremendous benefits for your baby. Many people seek out chiropractic care for their babies as the last resort, but chiropractic care should be considered as a first choice so mom and family can enjoy their new bundle of joy.

Dr. Jean Ciola is a Minnesota Chiroprator and joined Aagesen Chiropractic Clinic in October of 2004. Dr. Jean sees many infants and children in her practice, helping them grow healthy from the beginning. Dr. Jean is one of our four chiropractors and has two children with a third one on the way. She sees many new babies and infants that have colic, gassy tummies, ear infections and sleeping trouble. Chiropractic adjustments are safe and natural for kids.

Before attending Northwestern Health Sciences University, Dr. Jean worked as personal trainer at the Northwest Athletic Club in the Target Center. She also worked as a high school track and field coach.

Dr. Jean is a member of the Minnesota Childbirth Collective and the American Pregnancy Association. She is certified in acupuncture and also has a chiropractic pediatric certificate. For more information about Dr. Jean, please visit Aagesen Chiropractic Clinic at http://www.aagesenchiro.com

Helpful Home Cures For Colic – Soothe Your Baby Naturally.

Becoming the parent of a newborn baby is both an exciting and stressful event. It’s such a joy to welcome a new child into your life, but unfortunately babies don’t come equipped with instruction manuals. We all seem to muddle through the ups and downs of taking care of an infant, but one definite down is if your son or daughter has colic. Colic is a harmless condition that affects a good number of babies, and if yours is one, you already know that it can affect you too. Although there are medicinal routes to take when your baby has this problem, there are also several home cures for colic that offer great results.

One of the best and easiest home cures for colic is warmth. Many parents have found that placing a hot water bottle next to their infant’s tummy will bring the baby a good deal of relief. You need to be mindful of the temperature of the bottle though and it’s always advisable to put a thin blanket between the bottle and the baby. Hold it there for a few minutes or rest the bottle against your chest while you hold your infant next to you. An alternative to the bottle is to give your little one a nice, warm bath. Gently cradle the baby in the bath and rub his or her tummy with the warm water. Again, since baby’s skin is so sensitive, double check the temperature of the water.

Another of the home cures for colic that works amazingly well is to create some white noise in the room. This is fairly simple and can be accomplished by turning on a vacuum cleaner, the dishwasher or even putting on the radio and tuning it between stations. That type of noise simulates what your infant would have been hearing when he or she was still in the womb. Many parents find it useful to also rock the baby while the noise is on. The rhythm is comforting to infants.

There are things you can do to help your baby when he or she is suffering with colic. For more suggestions, including a method that is 100% guaranteed to cure colic, visit this informative site.

Don’t let your baby struggle with colic even one more day. If your heart is breaking watching your newborn crying and not being able to fall asleep, find out what you can do to help them today. There are proven ways to cure your baby’s colic forever that are guaranteed to work.