Infantile colic: incidence and treatment in a Norfolk community

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Abstract
In a prospective study of 1019 infant and mother pairs, 268 infants suffered with infantile colic. Significantly more of these were breast fed, supporting the proposed theory of a colic-producing factor in breast milk. Social class and maternal education were not related to the incidence of colic. Of infants with colic 72% suffered from classical evening colic. The symptoms did not disappear from all the infants by 3 mo.-over 38% continued to have symptoms after 3 1/2 mo. of age. Treatment is limited, but merbentyl helped to relieve symptoms to a varying degree in > 60% of the infants who tried it. Family relationships are often strained during this period and this appears to persist when at 1 yr of age significantly more of these infants were described as demanding, miserable and bad-tempered by their mothers.

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