ABSTRACT

Crying during infancy is a regulatory function. Infantile colic may be defined as crying episodes in healthy child-ren, which occurs during some hours a day, lasts for 3 to 4 hours, and cannot be linked to any cause. The frequ-ency of infantile colic is 10-40% with an unknown precise cause. In terms of etiology, the points under discussion are gastrointestinal, neurodevelopmental, and psychosocial causes. It is reported that colicy infants have increa-sed risk of physical abuse and are observed to have behavioral problems like hyperactivity and academic difficul-ties. It is further reported that findings such as exhaustion, weariness and depression are likely to develop in the parents of colicy infants. In the treatment of infants with infantile colic, the duration and severity of crying, as well as other features which accompany a crying episode should be evaluated in detail. An affected infant should be examined in detail and evaluated in terms of growth and development. When a diagnosis of infantile colic is made following the exclusion of other possible diseases, the families should be advised accordingly. The appro-aches in the treatment of infantile colic are dietary recommendations, alternative foods, pharmacologic thera-pies, physical supportive treatments, and behavioral therapies. There is no such treatment available for infantile colic, which has a proven efficacy. It is quite significant to advise the affected families in that colic is typically a temporary condition and to relieve and support them accordingly.