Shocking Research on Infant Colic

An article was published this week on the psychology of infant colic. The results may come as a shock to you, but this scholarly review of the current research indicated that colic still sucks.

I am paraphrasing a bit, but that’s the gist of it.

The review summarized where the current research is at:

• We still don’t know what causes colic
• Colic is very distressing for parents
• Some researchers have argued that the disruption to the parent/child bond that occurs because of colic can have long term consequences
• Some researchers have suggested that crying that does not end around 3 months may have long term implications
• Definitions of colic to this point have relied on behavioural descriptions (eg. 3 hours of crying, 3 days a week, etc.), and this may make it more difficult for us to come up with an accurate definition
• More research is needed to better understand colic
• We need to figure out better coping and soothing strategies