Colic is much more frequent in bottle-fed infants than in those fed on breast milk. Cow's milk, no matter how skillfully it is prepared for their use, is at best an unsuitable diet and taxes the digestive ability of robust children. It is quite natural for an infant whose digestive organs are not strong to develop colic and intestinal indigestion if put on artificial food. Any condition that causes indigestion may likewise cause colic. Those children who are always overfeeding,—taking too much milk, too strong milk, or who are fed irregularly,—are the colicky babies.
Constipation is frequently associated with colic and may be the actual cause. A daily movement of the bowel does not necessarily mean that the bowels are emptying themselves satisfactorily. Despite the daily movement, there may be considerable fecal matter left in the bowel which undergoes decomposition. This results in the evolution of large quantities of gas and severe attacks of colic. Indigestion is very often caused by conditions which effect the stability of the child's nervous organism; such conditions are fright, anger, fatigue, exhaustion, excitement.
The origin of the colic in breast-fed children is very often caused by some nervous condition of the mother that affects her milk. Constipation in the mother may cause colic in the child.
Symptoms.—A baby having an attack of colic will cry loudly from time to time and whine during the interval; it will pull up its legs and bear down. Its abdomen is tense and hard and distended with gas. With the expulsion of the gas the pain ceases and the child falls asleep. If the attack is very severe the prostration and exhaustion is marked; the feet are cold and the body is bathed in perspiration.
If the colic is constant the child may be fretful and restless most of the time, being seemingly comfortable for only an hour or two in the twenty-four.
In older children who cry because of severe pain in the abdomen the possibility of appendicitis must not be forgotten.
Treatment.—Find out the cause of the colic if possible. If the cause is located in the mother, the remedy naturally must affect her. Regulation of her bowel, restriction of her diet, and proper exercise, may be sufficient to effect a cure of the colic in the infant.
The object of treatment is to help the child get rid of the gas. The best and quickest means to effect this is to apply massage or give a rectal injection. An injection of two ounces of cold water in which a half or one teaspoonful of glycerine has been put, will act quickly. Dry heat applied to the abdomen in the form of the hot-water bottle or woolen cloths will aid in the expulsion of the gas. The feet should be kept warm.
In cases of habitual colic in breast-fed babies the cause may be in the quality of the mother's milk. It should be examined and if found too strong should be diluted. This can be done by giving the child an ounce of plain boiled water or barley water before each feeding. If the child gets an ounce of liquid before each feeding he will not want as much of the breast milk; so we shall have the same total quantity, but a reduced quality, which may cure the colic at once.
It is necessary, in order to cure colic, that the bowels move every day in a satisfactory manner. If any aid is needed, milk of magnesia is the best laxative. It may be given in teaspoonful doses in water previous to a feeding. Aromatic cascara sagrada in from ten to thirty-drop doses is a very good laxative, if a stronger remedy is needed.