An analysis of etiology of colic in infants.

have observed that not infrequently the colic disappears when an infant is taken from the care and handling of a tense nervous person and placed in the care of one who is relaxed and assured. But these observations, both on the use of the pacifier and the handling of the infant by a relaxed person by no means rule out the importance of allergy, improper diet and specific food intolerances as causative agents. Every pediatrician has observed infants where the signs of colic subside with shifts to hypo-allergenic formulae. And we have also seen infants respond to changes in the milk or carbohydrate content of formulae, and then there are children who react favorably when specific vitamin preparations or orange juice are removed from the diet. All these possible factors must be considened by the pediatrician when presented with an infant suffering from colic, but he should also consider the possibility of the emotional causes of this condition, as they apparenfly are of great signfficance. It may be that this hypentonicity of the baby makes him more sensitive to certain materials or certain food proportions, or makes his digestive tract more prone to the absorption of specific proteins. We all know the effect of emotional tension on the allergic response of older children and adults. Perhaps some similar relationship exists in the case of the colicky baby.