Prolonged crying in a well, thriving baby. Most remedies do not work — and looking after the parent matters as much as the baby.
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Colic describes prolonged, intense crying in a baby who is otherwise healthy, feeding well and gaining weight. The usual definition is crying for more than three hours a day, more than three days a week, for more than three weeks.
It affects roughly one baby in five, typically starts at two to three weeks, peaks at around six weeks, and has resolved in the great majority by three to four months.
Nobody knows what causes it. It has been blamed on wind, immature guts, feeding technique and maternal anxiety, and none of those has held up well. The most honest description is that some babies cry a great deal for a period of weeks, and then stop.
That is not a satisfying answer when you are the one awake at 2am, which is why this page gives as much attention to the parent as to the baby. Relentless crying is genuinely one of the hardest things new parents face, and the support around it matters as much as any remedy.
These matter, and they are the reason a well baby is still worth having assessed:
The honest position is that the cause is unknown, and any page telling you otherwise with confidence is overstating it. Theories that remain plausible:
Not anything you have done. Not anxiety, not inexperience, not the way you hold your baby. Colic occurs at the same rate in first and later children, and in breastfed and formula-fed babies alike.
Colic is diagnosed in a baby who cries excessively but is otherwise entirely well — growing along their centile, feeding, and settled between episodes.
There is no test. The assessment is a careful history, a look at the growth chart, and an examination to exclude the specific things that mimic it.
Cow's milk protein allergy, reflux, infection including urine infection, constipation, a hair tourniquet wrapped around a toe or finger, an eye scratch, or an incarcerated hernia.
The hair tourniquet is worth knowing about — it is genuinely a cause of unexplained screaming in small babies, it is easy to find if you look, and almost nobody thinks to check.
Colic assesses reasonably well remotely, because the useful information is the pattern of crying, the feeding history and the weight trend — all of which you can describe, and the weight comes from the red book.
Prescribe reflux medication for a thriving, crying baby without good reason. Acid-suppressing drugs are widely given for colic, and the evidence that they help is poor.
Seek urgent assessment if your baby:
If you feel you are reaching the end of what you can cope with, that is also a reason to ask for help today. It is not a failure and it is far commoner than anyone admits. Speak to your health visitor, your GP, or call 111.
Simeticone drops, gripe water and lactase drops are widely sold and widely bought, and the evidence that any of them work is weak. They are unlikely to do harm, and if one seems to help, there is no reason to stop — but do not feel you are failing by not finding the right product. There may not be one.
Probiotic drops containing Lactobacillus reuteri have some supporting evidence, mainly in breastfed babies. They are the one over-the-counter option with a reasonable case behind it.
Do not cut dairy from your own diet, or switch formula, without advice. Where cow's milk protein allergy is genuinely suspected it is worth a properly supervised trial — done blindly it just adds difficulty.
If the crying is overwhelming you, put your baby down somewhere safe — their cot, on their back — leave the room, and take a few minutes. A baby crying alone in a cot for five minutes comes to no harm. A parent at the end of their rope, holding a screaming baby, is the situation to avoid.
Never shake a baby. It causes catastrophic and permanent brain injury, and it almost always happens to ordinary parents at the end of an ordinary bad night.
Ask for help early. Share the nights, accept offers, tell your health visitor how you are actually doing. Postnatal depression and anxiety are commoner in parents of babies with colic, and both are treatable.
Start with your health visitor. For colic specifically they often have more practical time and expertise than a ten-minute GP appointment.
This page follows NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries on colic, alongside NICE NG143 for assessing an unwell infant.
UK safeguarding guidance is explicit that parents should be advised it is acceptable to put a crying baby down safely and take a short break, and that a baby must never be shaken. Abusive head trauma most often occurs in response to inconsolable crying.
Reviewed against NICE CKS and NG143 current at the date shown above.
Honestly, nobody knows. Babies with colic look uncomfortable, but no clear physical cause has ever been established.
What is known is that they are otherwise healthy and that it resolves — which is not much comfort at 2am, but it is true.
It peaks around six weeks and has usually settled by three to four months.
Almost all colic ends on its own, regardless of what was tried.
The evidence is weak for both. They are unlikely to harm, and if one seems to help you there is no reason to stop.
But you are not failing by not finding the right product. There may not be one.
Not without advice. Cow's milk protein allergy causes a minority of cases, usually with other features such as eczema, diarrhoea or blood in the stool.
An unsupervised exclusion diet makes life harder and rarely answers the question.
No. Colic occurs at the same rate in experienced and first-time parents, and in breastfed and formula-fed babies.
It is not caused by anxiety, inexperience, or how you hold your baby.
Sometimes, but reflux is diagnosed far more often than it occurs.
Acid-suppressing medicine is not recommended for a thriving baby who simply cries, and it is prescribed for this a great deal.
Put your baby down safely in their cot, leave the room, and take a few minutes. That is the correct thing to do, not a failure.
Never shake a baby. And tell someone how you are — your health visitor, your GP, a friend. This is where help genuinely exists.
Fever, forceful or green vomiting, blood in the stool, poor weight gain, or a baby who seems unwell rather than distressed.
Also a cry that sounds different — high-pitched, weak or moaning. That is not colic.
Movement, holding, white noise and reducing evening stimulation help most, and cost nothing.
Probiotic drops containing Lactobacillus reuteri have the best evidence of the shop-bought options, mainly in breastfed babies.
August 30, 2026
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