Psychosomatic factors with particular reference to the parents of the colicky infant.

Whatever the etiology of colic in infancy, and multiple causes seem most likely, there is little doubt that emotional factors enter the picture. Whether these constitute one of the causes of colic on only intensify it, is at present impossible to determine. Some investigators have found the colicky infant to he hypertonic, tense, fussy, unhappy even before the onset of specific symptoms. McGee in 1943 suggested that fetal hiccoughs were common in babies who later developed colic. Spock has emphasized that fatigue of the infant in late afternoon may be a factor, and Gesell has pointed out that there is heightened tension and increased irritability in infants, starting at about 4 weeks of age and continuing to 2 on 3 months, as evidence by increased appetite, more frequent crying, and greaten difficulty in getting to sleep. \Vessel and others have found family tensions greater amid more frequent where there arc colicky babies than where the infants are contented. The mother of the infant with colic has l)eefl described as tense, anxious, uncertain, inconsistent in lien handling of the baby and often rejecting him. The psychiatrist’s