How I dealt with Colic

My baby was Colicky!!She would cry for apparently no reason and for quite a while at a time.

The Doctor prescribed some colic medicines, but they had a limited effect. Nevertheless, I kept giving them to her as prescribed.

We did try (and seemed to benefit from) some home remedies.

1. Take a pinch of asafoetida powder (Hing) in a teaspoon. Add a couple of drops of lukewarm / room temperature water and create a paste. Apply this on the baby's abdomen around the belly button without touching the stub of the umbilical cord or allowing any of the paste to get into the baby's belly button.

2. Take a Paan leaf (betel leaf) and apply a layer of castor oil on it. Heat the leaf by holding above an open flame. Test the temperature of the leaf on the back of your palm and if okay, apply the leaf on the baby's abdomen with the castor oil side touching the baby's skin. You can repeat this process with the same leaf every 3-4 minutes till the leaf changes colour.

3. There's a herb called Vesambu in tamil, Bach in Hindi, Vaj in Marathi and Acorus in English. It looks like a thick twig. Hold this above an open flame till it gets blackened. wait for it to cool. Rub your finger on the blackened part so some of it comes onto your finger. Put this on the baby's tongue.

4. Take a fist full of Ajwain/Omum/Ova seeds. Wrap them in a cloth and heat them in the microwave oven till they are warm. Alternatively, heat them on a hot pan and then put them in a cloth. Foment the babies tummy and chest with this. You could also grind them to a paste with water and then heat the paste and use it for fomentation. Always remember to test the temperature on the back of your palm before you apply it to the baby's skin!

We tried all these until we felt any one of them was working and then we just stuck to that one remedy for that time.

Hope this brings releif to some of you!

Your suggestions and experiences are welcome.