07/08/2024
I've said it before and I will say it again. COLIC IS NOT A DIAGNOSIS!
One of the most heartbreaking and arguably frustrating experiences for anyone with an infant is being told, "your baby is fine, they're just colicky." Doctors hand out colic diagnoses to infants as a catch-all instead of looking at the underlying issue.
AND. IT. DOESN'T. SOLVE. A. THING.
Arguably, colic is a SYMPTOM of an underlying issue and not a final (or helpful) diagnosis in infants. After all, infants cry to communicate their basic wants and needs, do they not? Why are we ignoring their communication signals?
I've been there as a mom. I was told to use gripe water and other over the counter remedies that JUST. DON'T. WORK. I tried infant massage and other body work. That didn't hold either.
Why? Because these "treatments" don't fix the ROOT CAUSE of the colic. It just throws a temporary bandaid on the symptom.
We need to listen to our gut and KEEP DIGGING when a little one is telling us they are unhappy, in pain, or are just surviving and not thriving. If you've lived through "colic" you know exactly what I mean.
This goes out to both parents of infants and ALL of the medical providers that work with them!
DO. NOT. SETTLE. for a 'colic' diagnosis; treat it as a symptom. An infant should be seen by an SLP/OT/IBCLC who specializes in infant feeding and tethered oral tissues (TOTs). Make sure this person has a TEAM that they can connect you with to help assess and treat the ACTUAL issue once identified.
There may be tongue, lip or even cheek ties present. And there may not be. That's where your SKILLED TOTs team comes in handy. We need a differential diagnosis for these colicky babies.
Don't forget, we are connected from the tips of our tongues to the tips of our toes. Colic is a symptom of SOMETHING not operating correctly, AKA dysfunction. Let's figure out where along the digestive tract (starting at the lips!) things are going off-track and help get that baby on track so they can THRIVE.
