Colic and how massage can help

Techniques on how to prevent and treat colic in your baby.

Oh how Misaki cried from gas/ colic! It was awful. Hysterical screams for hours sometimes. This was in the first couple of months when you don’t know whether it is this or that, that is causing her pain. Not even the medics can tell you. I reluctantly tried medication after hours of burping didn’t work but this didn’t help either. I tried abdominal massage but it is impossible to do it when your baby is screaming in pain.

When you are tense or in pain you tense your stomach muscles. When your baby is relaxed and happy her belly will be soft and malleable. Some say the stomach is our emotional centre and massaging her stomach when she is happy will help her relax, relieve stress, anxiety and birth trauma. When the stomach is relaxed the diaphragm can descend so that they can breathe in more deeply and 'massage' the digestive organs. This thus may help relieve colic and constipation.

Further reading suggests that if they are distressed as she was, I needed to rest her facing down on my forearm and place the other hand relaxed over her abdomen and gently knead from side to side (https://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Colic/Pages/Treatment.aspx). The pressure of her body weight onto your hand should prevent the need for your having to dig in with much pressure to get the required depth. I was not taught this technique when I consulted a lactation consultant. They said to calm her down by getting her upright but all worth a try.

When they are calm all have suggested to lie her on her back and massage their whole abdomen with a clockwise circular motion. Start from the bottom left and with a gentle cupped hand move up the outside of the abdomen, across the top (making sure not to be pressing on their ribs) and then down the outer right side of the abdomen. Repeat this several times until hopefully the gas is released.

The clockwise makes sense to me from an anatomical point of view as one should follow the path of the digestive tract, clockwise starting at the small intestines in the centre to the large intestines encircling at the perimeter as recommended in adults. Massage also apparently increases stimulation of the vagus nerve which aids digestion with release of insulin and glucose so less colic, wind and incidentally more growth results. See a physiotherapist, midwife or lactation consultant if you need help applying the massage techniques.

“massage their whole abdomen with a clockwise circular motion...”

Another quicker alternative that you can try is with them lying on their back bend their legs all the way to their chest and then straighten them. The only problem for us with that is that Misaki was wearing a hip spica at the time so I couldn’t do the flexion and extension of the legs. It is all about trial and error and see what works for you. Best of luck if your poor baby suffers from this.

Diet can be a large factor in stomach upsets so see a dietician if you are concerned about this. I will see if my friend and colleague, Dietician Trish Hancock can give some insight on this.

“a lot of gas could be because... they are not latching on properly when breastfeeding...”

Also if your baby is getting a lot of gas it could be because they are taking on a lot of air because they are not latching on properly when breast feeding. This could definitely require help from a lactation consultant to help teach you and your baby how to latch correctly. Your baby might be struggling to latch probably because she has got neck stiffness from childbirth or whilst in the womb. See our blog on torticollis in "My baby is making my boobs lopsided". This is where a physiotherapist can help gently treat your baby’s neck with gentle mobilisations (basically specific touch) and stretches.

Summary

Abdominal massage in a clockwise motion can help relieve colic.

Moving your babies legs up and down may also help colic.

To perform abdominal massage your baby needs to be calm so their stomach relaxes.

Colic could be caused from your baby not latching on properly because they have torticollis (a stiff neck) which physiotherapy can treat.

Melli Tilbrook is a Physiotherapist based at Adelaide Physiotherapy and Pilates Studio, Beulah Park.