How to tame a colicky baby
Posted by: "Shirish Bhate" shirishbhate@yahoo.com shirishbhate
Date: Mon Jan 29, 2007 8:45 am ((PST)

The fat storage for the baby is already built during pregnancy itself. the development of breast, hips etc starts right from puberty itself to make a teenager ready for motherhood. The fat content uncorrelated to mother's diet is easily verifiable statement. One more thing is true breast milk does not have same content of lactose and fat even during the same feed. Initial feed is rich in lactose so that babies brain gives early satiety signal and last feed is rich in fat, protein a little. What is important to know that breast milk content of fat is much less than many of our fatty diet items, at the time when baby is growing fastest both by body and intelligence!

Peter Hartmann say many a time that the fat content of > milk is related to the degree of breast emptiness and *not* the > maternal intake. Only the fatty acid profile changes with diet."

In india, colicky babies is a rare sight since most mothers also give Janma-ghuti to babies right from the day they reach home from the hospital if it was hospital birth. This Janma ghuti takes care of most of the digestion, gas, stomach pain, constipation, parasites complaints of babies. Janma ghuti contains many herbs (approximately 15-21) and has even dried dates, almonds. Author learnt the importance of dates this way only. We get complete set of 15-21 herbs in a single packing termed Janma-Ghuti. Of course pharmacies have stepped in here too, and sell tablets for grinding them into paste, the paste mixed with a little milk and licked by baby.

In case when colic develops, simple massage around navel with warm oil in which asafoetida, ajwain, turmeric (sometimes ginger and garlic) are heated till golden brown is applied and massaged in clockwise motion comforts baby in just 10 minutes. another method for externally fed babies in villages is to boil milk with a little lime water (the water floating on top of calcium hydroxide paste). this makes milk digestible.

The leaves of castor plant, papaya plant coated with castor oil applied to belly and then apply hot water bag/bottle also solves the problem. Castor oil fomentation is last resort. This passes gas, relief from constipation without baby straining too much.

dr bhate