Reduce Colic Symptoms with Dr. Brown’s Bottles
There are innumerable platitudes and advice parents of colicky babies hear on a daily basis. Keep baby moving, let them self-soothe, make noise, don’t overload their senses, you’ll just have to get through it – and many parents’ favorite – have you tried feeding them?
But there’s a good reason parents get such a wide array of information. Fact is, we just don’t know what all the causes of colic are, so we don’t know one single way to cure it. And while there aren’t a lot of scientific studies to clear things up – there is one study that has very clear results: Dr. Brown’s anti-colic baby bottles are clinically proven to reduce colic symptoms.
What Exactly is Colic?
Symptoms
Colic most commonly afflicts babies beginning at two weeks old and can last through six months old, and includes the kind of crying you’ve never before heard in your life. Not just typical new-baby crying – we’re talking piercing crying at a decibel that’s around 25% greater in frequency than non-colicky babies. Here are more ways colic cries are different:
- Crying with clenched fists, stiff arms, red face, arched back, or knees drawn up to belly
- Crying bouts that begin in the evening and early morning
- Crying with physiological symptoms like swollen bellies, regurgitation, or gas
- Crying that does not cease with diaper change, feeding, or any soothing
- Crying that begins after feeding
Diagnosis
Your doctor will diagnose your baby with colic when they have eliminated any other health concerns, using the “rule of three”: Crying that lasts more than 3 hours a day, for more than 3 days a week, for at least one week and in some cases, up to 3 weeks before diagnosis.
There is no discernible pattern for which babies will get colic. Not race, gender, class, culture, country of origin, mom’s diet, parenting styles – nothing. That’s part of the mystery.
Prognosis
Despite not knowing much about causes or cures for colic, we do know that ultimately, baby will be fine. Colic is a temporary condition that has no lasting impact on baby’s health.
Help Baby with the Bottle Clinically Proven to Reduce Colic Symptoms
One of the theories concerning the cause of colic is digestive or feeding problems in baby, including swallowing air when feeding. This is especially relevant if your colicky baby presents with bloating and gas.
Which is where Dr. Brown’s bottles come in. A study of over 1,000 UK moms with babies under six months old found that:
- Three quarters of babies with colic (75%) whose parents changed to Dr. Brown’s Natural Flow bottles saw improvement in their colicky symptoms after their bottles were changed.
- Over half (53%) of those changing to Dr. Brown’s Natural Flow saw an improvement in three feeds or less.
- 36% of Dr. Brown’s Natural Flow users noted a distinct change for the better after just one feed, far more than any other bottle.
- On average it took 5.4 feeds for moms using Dr. Brown’s to see an improvement in their babies’ colic symptoms, the shortest time of all bottles.
What’s more, only 15 percent of babies who used Dr. Brown’s Natural Flow in their early months went on to develop colic – way below any other bottle tested. All these findings have led 9 out of 10 healthcare professionals in the UK to recommend Dr. Brown’s for colic relief. And in the US, pediatricians recommend Dr. Brown’s more than any other bottle. It’s obvious that doctors and parents around the world agree: Dr. Brown’s is the best solution for colic.
Happy Feeding™ for Colicky Babies
What sets Dr. Brown’s bottles apart is the fully vented internal system that completely eliminates the vacuum-effect in bottles and helps baby feed at their own pace – reducing gas, bloating, and spit-up. No other bottle offers this fully-vented technology, which correlates to why Dr. Brown’s was so effective in the study. By removing air from the bottle and helping baby feed at their own pace, baby gets less air in their belly for a much happier feeding experience.
In another university study, Dr. Brown’s also fared the best at preserving key nutrients in milk throughout a typical feeding session – which is so important for developing digestive systems in your little one.
Take Care of You, Too, Moms and Dads
Knowing that your colicky baby will be fine, and life won’t always be this way, helps mitigate worry and stress. But can we be really honest for a minute? It only helps so much for sleep-deprived and stressed out parents who are in the thick of it. Listening to your baby’s cries for hours on end, days on end – it’s enough to drive the world’s number one parent to tears. And that is okay.
We don’t know what causes colic, but we do know it’s not because you have failed as a parent. Remember: Colic does not discriminate. Here are things it’s okay to do as a parent of a colicky baby:
- Get a babysitter who understands the situation, a relative, an expert – someone you trust. And get away, even if it’s just for a few hours.
- Pack up the baby and get out of the house. If you’re too worried about upsetting other people, go to a park, walk the trails – or just sit on a bench and breathe.
- Work as a team with your partner and baby. All three of you are exhausted and completely frayed. It’s okay to have bad days, just allow the same from everyone else.
- Feel all of the feelings. No matter how scary or upsetting, it’s okay to feel them. Give yourself as much understanding as you wish others gave you.
- Look into joining a support group, either online or in your area. Express those feelings. Consider meet-ups with your new-found comrades; going out of the house with two screaming babies is weirdly easier than going it alone.
- Don’t be afraid to look into counseling. Going to counseling before you reach your limit is not only healthy, but it can have an immensely positive long-term impact on your relationship with your partner and your little one.
A cure for colic is not right around the corner. But Dr. Brown’s bottles are, at your local store or just a click away on a wide range of websites. The facts are in: Dr. Brown’s bottles can help reduce the symptoms that come up for colicky babies. And you, too, can take some steps towards self-care that will go a long way in helping you and baby do more than just get through it – but end up fully intact and happy on the other side.