By week three, you’ve come to the place where you could set your clocks by it: at exactly that same time every day (probably in the early evening), your sweet little baby boy or girl turns into a red faced ball of fury. It amazes you that so much noise and crying could possibly come out of such a small baby, but it goes on, hour after hour, taking as much as three or four hours every night.

If you’ve ever had a baby with colic, you know what we’re talking about. It can come on anywhere from about 6 weeks of age to about 4 months and it can absolutely drive you to distraction if you let it. To make things worse, everybody and their sister has a “surefire” way to deal with it, ranging from all kinds of weird home remedies to simply going into another room and letting your baby cry it out.

We’re not here to suggest that any one approach is better in all circumstances than any other approach. We’re not big fans of the “cry it out method,” but babies have grown up to become perfectly healthy children and adults when they were left to cry during a bout of colic, so we’re not here to bash it, either.

We are here to encourage you. Hang in there, and this too shall pass. Colic can last anywhere from three weeks to about three months or so. As long as that seems while you’re going through it, in reality it’s just a very small part of baby’s life (and yours).

The vast majority of babies outgrow colic somewhere between 3 months old and 4 months old. Often, it subsides gradually, but trust us on this one, there will come a time when you suddenly realize that your baby is not crying at her regularly scheduled time. And when that happens, everyone can take a deep breath and get ready, because teething comes next in another month or two.

The most important thing you can do while your baby has colic is to just keep loving on your baby and reminding yourself that you are a good parent who is doing everything she possibly can. Before you know it, you’ll be bouncing a school aged child on your knee, telling her stories about how she used to cry for hours at a time. And, if she’s like most school aged kids, you’ll probably get a good laugh out of her for it.

You love your baby. You do the best you can to make sure that she’s safe, healthy, and happy. Yet there are times when you feel powerless to do so. When your baby has colic, you feel like you’re sitting back just watching while she screams in terror. Nothing you do seems to make a difference. You’ve talked to your doctor, and you’ve tried every trick in the book, yet she has these crying fits.

The good news is that colic doesn’t present long-term danger to your baby. The bad news, of course, is that you have to find a way to get through it, knowing you can’t do much more than try to comfort him when he cries.

It’s hard, at times, to keep your sanity when your baby has colic.

Colic also doesn’t last forever. It might seem endless at times, but it will stop within a few months. Still, that doesn’t give you much relief when you’re going through it. You can become upset, and sometimes even very frustrated.

Here are some things you can do when your baby has colic to help stay calm and get through the rough times:

• Pray, meditate, or use relaxation techniques. These things can help to calm you down, which will help you get through those colicky moments and be a comforting thing for your baby.
• Sing. In some cases, singing gently to your baby can soothe her. Even if she doesn’t stop crying, it can help you to calm down, and help you to be able to concentrate on something other than the crying.
• Ask for help. Your partner, family, friends, and other folks are there for you. Even if you don’t have those kinds of resources, there may be counselors or other resources in your area to help, as well
• Sleep when you can. One of the worst parts of colic for adults is the lack of sleep. Take advantage of his sleep times, and get some rest yourself.
• Take care of your own health. If you’re not at your best both physically and mentally, you’re going to have a harder time taking care of your baby.

Calming a colicky baby can be something of a challenge for many parents. Colic is frustrating in and of itself. When there is a baby in the house with colic, it affects everyone. It raises the overall level of chaos and stress for everyone. On top of that, the helpless feeling that many parents of colicky babies have can be truly saddening and frustrating. It can make you feel powerless. Unfortunately, there’s no cure for colic, and at the end of the day the best you can often hope for is to comfort your baby while he’s distressed.

For some colicky babies, calming can come from simple changes to the diet. While experts aren’t agreed that diet has anything to do with colic, the fact of the matter is that many babies seem to have a connection between colic and tummy troubles. Laying off dairy products, for example, helps lessen colic for some babies. Introducing probiotics or gripe water may also help to put your baby more at ease, at least from a gastrointestinal perspective, and thereby help with colic.

Some babies with colic can be comforted by swaddling. Being wrapped snugly helps the baby to feel safe and secure, and can hold back some of those involuntary movements that come from an immature nervous system. There is also some evidence that swaddling may reduce the risk of SIDS, too.

A pacifier may help a baby with colic, but many colicky babies get so upset that they just won’t keep one in their mouths. Infant massage works for some colicky babies, too. There are herbal oils and other supplements that might be useful as well. Some will respond to rocking or holding, although many will not.

For most families, it’s a process of trial and error in terms of figuring out what exactly will calm your little one when she’s so tremendously distressed.

If you’re concerned that your baby has colic, you should talk to your doctor to see what kinds of advice she might have, and to make sure that any herbal remedies you’re considering are safe for your baby as well.