People at risk

Colic by definition only affects infants under 4 months of age, and affects boys and girls equally.

Risk factors

While it is not clear exactly what causes colic, certain factors appear to increase the risk (but the link is not always clearly proven):

• maternal smoking during pregnancy and after⁷
• the mother’s age between 30 and 34 years old⁵
• the fact that this is a first child⁵
• if breastfeeding, the fact that the mother has a strong ejection reflex (squirts of milk) can cause digestive discomfort by increasing the level of lactose ingested, which is difficult to digest⁸.