It can sometimes be difficult for a parent to understand whether
baby has colic or reflux (and even GERD) since some of symptoms (eg. poor sleep, constant crying) can be similiar. It's also extremely important to rule out reflux as a cause of this crying, as it's becoming widely acknowledged that many cases of colic are actually undiagnosed and untreated cases of reflux. In these cases, simply treating reflux may eliminate colicky behavior. The easiest way to determine whether a baby has colic or reflux is to look at definitions and symptoms of each. Then compare them to your child's symptoms.
COLIC
Colic can be defined as uncontrollable, extended crying in babies who are otherwise healthy and well-fed. All babies cry, but when they cry for more than three hours a day, three to four days a week, they are said to have colic.
Symptoms of Colic The main symptom is continuous crying for long periods of time. This crying can occur at any time of day but it usually gets worse at night. It's not believed that colic is caused by pain although a colicky baby may look uncomfortable or appear to be in pain. They may lift their head, draw their legs up to their abdomen, pass gas and become red-faced. Poor sleep habits is also common.
REFLUX
The term reflux is a shorter way of referring to GER (Gastro Esophageal Reflux) and is simply defined as backward flow of stomach contents up esophagus. GER is a physiological process that happens to everyone—young and old—from time to time, particularly after meals and many times we are not even aware it is happening. In babies it generally occurs from immaturity of LES (Lower Esophageal Sphincter) which is muscle between stomach and esophagus.
Some common symptoms of uncomplicated reflux can include:
*constant or sudden crying or colic like symptoms *irritability and pain *poor sleep habits typically with frequent waking *arching their necks and back during or after eating spitting-up or vomiting *wet burp or frequent hiccups *frequent ear infections or sinus congestion
