Best Sleeping Positions for Colic Babies
Does your baby cry for long hours, and you are tired and confused about what may be troubling her? Chances that she is hurting from colic. In this guide, you will learn the best sleeping positions for colic babies, and other methods of easing your baby’s pain.
What is Baby Colic?
A lot of opinions have been formed as regards what causes baby colic. It was presumed to be associated with severe and intermittent abdominal pain caused by an obstruction in the intestines or intestinal gas.
However, some experts maintain that it could be bouts of intense and prolonged fussiness.
Colic is different from baby crying because infants have been studied to clench their muscles while they are crying, and that’s due to the effect of the stuff.
Colic may as well make your baby cry inconsolably and in a more intense way than your expectations. It tends to happen at any time, though it frequently happens around the same time of the day or night and may start its display anytime, without any identifiable cause.
What Causes Colic in Babies?
Colic usually begins around the 2nd week of the baby’s life and gets to the highest maximum when it clocks 6 to 8 weeks. You can regulate normal and constant crying successfully if you make superb attempts, but stopping colic despite all forms of methods would still be unsuccessful when compared. Unfortunately, this may continue until about when your baby is four months old.
The cause of colic is still unknown, and also the treatment for it is also unknown. There have been cases where some remedies have been attempted by some parents, such as acupuncture, midnight riding, massages, and some substances such as Colic Calm and Colic Ease.
Even though there have been some successful results, a very low science-backed hypothesis, and there are still shrieking cases anyway despite the treatments.
Some babies will respond to most of these treatments, while some babies will not respond to any. By the time you try out every treatment you know of, the baby would already be old enough that so many of the crying sessions will stop.
There are several approaches and theories about the cause of baby colic. While some believe that a baby’s nervous system is becoming overstimulated while still developing, others claim that it’s a result of the digestive system’s development.
If colic has a particular cause, identifying it may enable you to resolve the crying. It can be extremely difficult to pet a crying baby with colic. Hence, it is best to learn the best sleeping position for Colic babies to ease your baby’s condition.
10 Best Sleeping Positions For Colic Babies
Some carrying or sleeping positions would work particularly well for you when trying to help your baby’s condition.
1. Colic Carry
Placing your baby on their belly along your forearm can help to soothe them. You can ease their discomfort as you place a slight amount of pressure on their stomach with your arm.
2. Specialist Cushion
Using a specialist cushion is also an effective way to ease the problems caused by colic to your baby. It can consistently ease their distress and minimize crying.
3. Football hold
This is one of the best sleeping positions for colic babies, by placing your baby’s stomach down along your forearm with the head near the crook of your elbow and his legs straddling your hand and press your forearm into your baby’s tense abdomen to ease the colic effect.
4. The Neck Nestle
Snuggle your baby’s head into the groove between your chin and chest. While swaying back and forth, you can serenade your baby with a song. Doing this will take the tension out of the baby.
5. Colic Dances
It is a choreography that works best to contain colic. Its movement in all three plains: up and down, side to side, and forward and backward.
6. Dinner Dance
Another colic relief strategy that can work is called the “dinner dance.” It is a fun way to ease your baby’s condition as your graceful movement, plus the baby’s sucking will be a winning combination.
7. The Colic Curl
Place your baby’s head and back against your chest and encircle your arms under her bottom, then curl your arms up. You can, through this method, maintain eye contact with your baby and entertain him with funny facial expressions.
8. Tummy Tucks
- Place a warm water bottle enclosed in a cloth diaper under the baby’s stomach.
- Then lay your baby’s stomach down on a cushion, ensuring her legs are dangling over the edge. Then rub her on the back.
- To ensure her breathing isn’t obstructed, turn her head to the side.
9. Tummy Touches
For colic relief, sit your baby on your lap and place the palm of your hand over the baby’s navel, and let your fingers and thumb encircle the baby’s abdomen. Let your baby lean forward, pressing her tense abdomen against your warm hand.
10. Magic Mirror
This technique is known to pull babies out of many crying jags. Hold a colicky baby in front of a mirror and let him witness his drama. Place his hand or bare foot against his image on the mirror surface and watch the intrigued baby grow silent.
You can also use a strategy called the Five S’s that can substitute the best sleeping position for colic babies.
The Five S’s for soothing babies
1. Swaddling
Keep the baby’s arms close to the sides, but keep the legs relaxed and bent so that there is room for the hip to move.
2. Shushing
Mimicking womb-like sounds will help your baby to sleep longer. You can also get recordings of the rain sounds of a hairdryer as they might also work. Though you may find these noises loud, your baby will find them comforting because it’s a replica of what was heard during the fetus stage.
3. Swinging
A slow and smooth motion will calm your baby down. It is the most conventional baby pacifying position and one of the best sleeping positions for colic babies.
4. Sucking
Babies always want to suck, especially in the first few months of life. Satisfying that urge can quickly calm your baby if she is a fretful infant and always make sure you appease her. While some breastfed babies may refuse it, it will provide instant relief for others. So watch your baby closely to figure out what she wants.
5. Stomach Lying
Position your baby across your forearm or lap with her head resting in your hand. It will be very easy to calm your crying baby if she’s lying on her side or stomach.
Have You Read These Yet?
Best formula for colic and Reflux
Pampers Vs Huggies for newborns
Why should babies sleep on their back
How to transition baby from Puree to table food
Conclusion
Don’t forget that each baby is different. Some need swaddling and shushing, while others don’t calm until you add swinging. While some usually need all done together expertly to switch on their calming reflex, ensure you know your baby enough to know what treatment plan to give to her. Here is a recommended article to read on Best Baby Lounger for Reflux
