Incurable Colic? Docs and Moms Weigh In on Natural Remedies

March 28, 2011— -- When asked about treating a colicky baby, these are just a few of the dozens of remedies, tricks and words of exasperation mothers all over the country shared with ABC News via Twitter:

"We suffered through colic for eight months. What worked one day wouldn't work the next. We tried everything."

"[W]alking around the room constantly. But the best is bouncing baby on an exercise ball."

"I used peppermint in my daughters [sic] bottle and some warm water."

"[J]ump out the window, lol. partly kidding, swaddle baby tightly and sway gently."

Anywhere from one in five to one in 20 babies have infantile colic in the first few months of life, and the fussiness and inconsolable crying associated with the problem can leave parents at their wit's end and many pediatricians stumped.

With no known cure and few reliable treatments, parents often will resort to any number of alternative remedies in hopes of soothing their crying infant.

Anna Kulcsar, 32, of Baltimore, a mother of four boys, struggled with fussiness and gastrointestinal problems with her first child until she noticed that having him near the thrumming laundry dryer calmed him down. That trick, combined with modifications to her diet (she now eats mostly raw foods and is vegan), seemed to lessen the extent of colic in each of her subsequent sons.

In their tweets, moms told ABC News that they used anise tea, long walks outside, rides in the car and even goat's milk in an attempt to soothe their babies' crying. Still other mothers said that time and only time could cure colic and urged patience and TLC.

What do pediatricians have to say about all the remedies? Are alternative remedies harmless but likely ineffective? Are parents wasting their time with drops and teas when they should just be making sure they burp the baby sufficiently?

U.K. researchers delve into the issue of alternative colic treatments in a paper published Monday in the journal Pediatrics. They assessed 15 previous studies on alternative remedies and found that most were inconclusive when it came to treating colic, though herbal remedies such as fennel extract and chamomile and the use of sugar solution had soothing effects on infants that merited further study.

But if none of the remedies worked consistently, what are parents to do?

"Apply common sense, TLC and patience," said study co-author Dr. Edzard Ernst of the Peninsula Medical School in the U.K.

Correct diagnosis is also key, added Dr. Thom Lobe, a pediatric surgeon based in Beverly Hills, Calif., because colic can stem from a number of different causes.