Crying baby
Anyone who has walked half the night with a crying baby will do anything to stop the pain. A sleep-deprived mother, shaking her baby, breaks her head. What exactly did she eat that caused this suffering? Was it cauliflower? Tomato soup? White sauce? Onion? Garlic? Wheat?
The thought comes up: maybe switch to soft rice with a limited amount of vegetables? This is not the best idea. It turns out that food is not the main culprit of colic babies.
1 Culprit Number One: Air
Swallowing air. Babies may swallow air while feeding or while crying. This is easy enough to solve. Belching quickly calms and reduces crying to a minimum.
2. Too much breast milk
If it’s not the air that’s causing the problem, it’s possible that too much breast milk is causing gas. Lots of milk is good, right? Yes, if you have twins. If not, the baby may be getting too much watery, sweet milk that comes out first, and not enough rich, thick milk that slows down digestion and helps prevent gas.
Lactation specialists can help with the problem of excess breast milk, but be careful about making decisions that reduce milk production. Perhaps the best option is to express excess breast milk and store it in the freezer. It may come in handy in the future.
3. Time
Having solved the problem with belching and excess milk, you have to come to terms with the fact that the only real cure for colic in babies is time. Babies have an immature digestive system and suffer from gas because of this. Most of them cope with the problem of gas formation on their own at the age of three or four months of age. It sounds disappointing in the middle of the night.
4. Food intolerance
If colic is the result of a food intolerance, other symptoms are likely to appear. Rash and frequent regurgitation are the most common signs of food poisoning, along with vomiting and constipation.
Surprisingly, the gas-producing foods mom eats aren’t really a problem. So do not rush to give up broccoli and beans.
The most common cause of intestinal disorders in infants is dairy products, especially their excess consumption. Don’t eat ice cream for dessert!
Before vegans gloat about the negative effects of drinking milk, it should be noted that half of children with milk intolerance are also intolerant of soy. Ouch!
5. Food allergies
Other foods that can cause the problem are common allergens such as wheat, fish, eggs, and peanuts.
If none of the foods mentioned make your child unhappy, an investigation should be done to narrow down the suspects. Cut out every single food in your diet for a week and see how your child reacts.
It is worth noting that food intolerances may go away as a child’s digestive system matures, so you should try to reintroduce foods that you should have eliminated into the diet. Don’t assume that a child is permanently allergic just because the food causes colic now.
A breastfeeding mom can try all of the obvious solutions listed above and will most likely get relief this way. But mothers, first of all, should follow their intuition. If you think tomatoes are the culprit, then it doesn’t hurt to give them up for a while to see if that helps.