Colic and Excessive Crying: Surviving the First Few Months
If a healthy baby cries for hours every evening, it may be colic. What actually soothes it, why ghutti can be risky, and how to protect your own sanity.
Colic and Excessive Crying: Surviving the First Few Months
Some evenings a young baby cries and cries and nothing seems to help. If your baby is otherwise healthy, feeding and growing, this pattern often has a name: colic. It is exhausting, but it is not your fault, and it does end.
What counts as colic
Doctors often describe colic by the "rule of threes": crying for more than three hours a day, more than three days a week, for more than three weeks, in a baby who is well and feeding normally. It usually starts at around two weeks, peaks near six weeks, and settles by three to four months on its own. The crying is intense, often in the late afternoon and evening, and the baby may pull up the legs, clench fists and go red in the face. No one is certain what causes it — and, importantly, it is not caused by bad parenting.
Things that often help
Every baby is different, so work through these calmly and see what soothes yours:
- Hold the baby close, with skin-to-skin contact.
- Gentle motion: rocking, walking, a pram ride, or slow swaying.
- Steady "white noise" — a fan, or soft shushing near the ear.
- A warm bath and a gentle tummy massage.
- Swaddling a young baby snugly (always placed on the back to sleep).
- Stepping outside for fresh air, which calms both baby and parent.
Check the feeding
Sometimes what looks like colic is a feeding issue. Make sure the baby is well latched and winded after feeds so trapped air can come up. If you bottle-feed, a slower-flow teat and an upright position reduce swallowed air. If you suspect the crying is linked to feeds, mention it to your doctor before changing formula.
Be careful with ghutti and gripe water
Many families reach for ghutti or gripe water passed down through generations. These are not tested for babies, their contents vary, and some traditional mixtures can upset a newborn's stomach or contain unsafe ingredients. Please check with your paediatrician before giving any such remedy, and never give honey to a baby under one year.
Look after yourself, too
Relentless crying wears you down, and that is normal. A few things protect both of you:
- Take turns with your partner or a family member so you can rest.
- If you feel overwhelmed, it is safe to put the baby down on their back in the cot, step away for a few minutes, and breathe. Never shake a baby — it can cause severe, permanent harm.
- Accept help with cooking and chores so you can focus on rest and the baby.
When crying is not just colic
Get medical help if the crying is different from the usual pattern — a weak or very high-pitched cry, or crying with fever, vomiting, blood in the stool, poor feeding, a swollen tummy, or a baby who is limp or hard to rouse. These are not colic.
Colic feels endless in the moment, but it truly is a phase that passes. If you are ever unsure whether the crying is normal, or your instincts say something is wrong, let your child's doctor take a look — that is exactly what they are there for.