A baby with colic is particularly at risk because of the hours spent crying and being lifted and carried around by a carer who is trying to pacify the child while being extremely tired and in despair.
It is not commonly known that newborn babies, up to the time they are able to crawl are at risk of sustaining some degree of damage due to the
way they are lifted and carried. This damage would be quite unintentional of course, and not immediately apparent because the damage would probably be minor and this does not apply only to babies with colic.
Supporting the baby’s head is critical and this advice – “Support the head” is always given to the new mother when she first takes her infant child in her arms, but the risks of disregarding the advice are not explained, possibly because nursing staff or not fully versed on this
subject. My own area of expertise is a baby colic remedy which cures
extremely fast and safely when used for a colicky breast fed baby, but my concern for tiny babies extends to any way at all that they can be protected.
The new parents are much more likely to take great care but the baby is at risk of being handled without the necessary support by members of the family or friends who volunteer to help with the colicky infant and my concern is this: It is not just a matter of whether the baby is uncomfortable, in fact it is very dangerous to lift or carry a baby with the head unsupported.
Even the most loving and well-meaning person can unwittingly cause some brain damage by lifting a crying baby improperly, when they are just intending to be some help to a tired new mother. The damage can range from slight to quite devastating and slight damage doesn’t become apparent until the child is older so the same unsupported lifting is likely to be repeated many times, particularly when a fussy baby is crying a lot.
How many people actually know that the weakness, or danger area, in a baby is where the brain and spinal cord meet? Even rocking a crying newborn gently without the head being supported can damage the part of the spinal cord that controls the baby’s breathing.
So a child born with perfect health, although possibly developing baby colic symptoms, can be injured in this way, perhaps repeatedly, without anyone knowing, resulting in a degree of brain damage and a harder life for the child from thereon.
A fussy baby who doesn’t settle to sleep easily is more at risk because there is likely to be far more lifting and carrying during the crying periods and anyone in the family is likely to pick the baby up, in an effort to help the mother out and in these cases, colic in babies needs to be researched so that the newborn can spend more time sleeping safely.
It was discovered by researchers when they examined the brains of children who were suspected to have been killed by violent shaking, most likely during a bout of crying due to baby colic, that even mild shaking can damage the nerve fibres that control breathing. The brain swells, due to lack of oxygen and this can cause some degree of brain damage, or even cause the death of the baby.
It does seem quite likely that baby colic is the main culprit that leads to a carer becoming exasperated and exhausted from trying to deal with the constant crying for hours, and then mild shaking is likely to happen.
Until someone experiences the colic scenario, night after night, it is difficult to imagine how awful it makes parents feel.
When we speak of brain damage it is usually the more extreme kind that comes to mind, but brain damage doesn’t always mean 24 hour care for life and the need for a wheelchair. It can be quite slight and just affect a child’s reaction speed, intelligence, speech, co-ordination or anything else the human brain is wonderfully designed to control, thus leaving the child a lesser person than they were born to be and giving the impression that they were born with those minor handicaps, when quite likely, what they were born with was a nutritional deficiency which caused them to suffer
from all the colic symptoms.
It is said that baby colic is not dangerous but I cannot completely agree with that. The danger lies not in the condition of colic, but in the increased risk of damage unintentionally caused to the fussy infant.
Aside from the problems baby colic causes, how many folk know that it’s extremely dangerous to play rough with a baby before the child can even crawl? Everyone involved with the care of a new baby needs to be warned of this fact. Also they need to be warned to always support the newborn’s head when walking about with them and it makes good sense to explain the reason clearly because rules which seem to be for no purpose tend to be ignored or forgotten. This is particularly true if it is an older sibling helping out and trying to pacify the colicky baby. Siblings are usually but children themselves.
I am concerned about this subject because several times in my own life I have needed to quickly say “Support the head” when people have not been taking the proper care with someone’s new baby and there must be thousands of babies who have no-one there to give this extremely important advice.
Would it not be an excellent thing, in order to keep helpless and dependent babies safer, to have warnings about supporting a baby’s head and ‘no rough play too soon’ printed on packs of diapers and baby formula, in the same way warnings are on cigarette and tobacco packs about the dangers to health? Surely, if smokers get this consideration, then babies, with or without colic symptoms, deserve the same care.
By: Anne V Agar
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
It is not commonly known that newborn babies, up to the time they are able to crawl are at risk of sustaining some degree of damage due to the
way they are lifted and carried. This damage would be quite unintentional of course, and not immediately apparent because the damage would probably be minor and this does not apply only to babies with colic.
Supporting the baby’s head is critical and this advice – “Support the head” is always given to the new mother when she first takes her infant child in her arms, but the risks of disregarding the advice are not explained, possibly because nursing staff or not fully versed on this
subject. My own area of expertise is a baby colic remedy which cures
extremely fast and safely when used for a colicky breast fed baby, but my concern for tiny babies extends to any way at all that they can be protected.
The new parents are much more likely to take great care but the baby is at risk of being handled without the necessary support by members of the family or friends who volunteer to help with the colicky infant and my concern is this: It is not just a matter of whether the baby is uncomfortable, in fact it is very dangerous to lift or carry a baby with the head unsupported.
Even the most loving and well-meaning person can unwittingly cause some brain damage by lifting a crying baby improperly, when they are just intending to be some help to a tired new mother. The damage can range from slight to quite devastating and slight damage doesn’t become apparent until the child is older so the same unsupported lifting is likely to be repeated many times, particularly when a fussy baby is crying a lot.
How many people actually know that the weakness, or danger area, in a baby is where the brain and spinal cord meet? Even rocking a crying newborn gently without the head being supported can damage the part of the spinal cord that controls the baby’s breathing.
So a child born with perfect health, although possibly developing baby colic symptoms, can be injured in this way, perhaps repeatedly, without anyone knowing, resulting in a degree of brain damage and a harder life for the child from thereon.
A fussy baby who doesn’t settle to sleep easily is more at risk because there is likely to be far more lifting and carrying during the crying periods and anyone in the family is likely to pick the baby up, in an effort to help the mother out and in these cases, colic in babies needs to be researched so that the newborn can spend more time sleeping safely.
It was discovered by researchers when they examined the brains of children who were suspected to have been killed by violent shaking, most likely during a bout of crying due to baby colic, that even mild shaking can damage the nerve fibres that control breathing. The brain swells, due to lack of oxygen and this can cause some degree of brain damage, or even cause the death of the baby.
It does seem quite likely that baby colic is the main culprit that leads to a carer becoming exasperated and exhausted from trying to deal with the constant crying for hours, and then mild shaking is likely to happen.
Until someone experiences the colic scenario, night after night, it is difficult to imagine how awful it makes parents feel.
When we speak of brain damage it is usually the more extreme kind that comes to mind, but brain damage doesn’t always mean 24 hour care for life and the need for a wheelchair. It can be quite slight and just affect a child’s reaction speed, intelligence, speech, co-ordination or anything else the human brain is wonderfully designed to control, thus leaving the child a lesser person than they were born to be and giving the impression that they were born with those minor handicaps, when quite likely, what they were born with was a nutritional deficiency which caused them to suffer
from all the colic symptoms.
It is said that baby colic is not dangerous but I cannot completely agree with that. The danger lies not in the condition of colic, but in the increased risk of damage unintentionally caused to the fussy infant.
Aside from the problems baby colic causes, how many folk know that it’s extremely dangerous to play rough with a baby before the child can even crawl? Everyone involved with the care of a new baby needs to be warned of this fact. Also they need to be warned to always support the newborn’s head when walking about with them and it makes good sense to explain the reason clearly because rules which seem to be for no purpose tend to be ignored or forgotten. This is particularly true if it is an older sibling helping out and trying to pacify the colicky baby. Siblings are usually but children themselves.
I am concerned about this subject because several times in my own life I have needed to quickly say “Support the head” when people have not been taking the proper care with someone’s new baby and there must be thousands of babies who have no-one there to give this extremely important advice.
Would it not be an excellent thing, in order to keep helpless and dependent babies safer, to have warnings about supporting a baby’s head and ‘no rough play too soon’ printed on packs of diapers and baby formula, in the same way warnings are on cigarette and tobacco packs about the dangers to health? Surely, if smokers get this consideration, then babies, with or without colic symptoms, deserve the same care.
By: Anne V Agar
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
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