Colic is a condition in which an otherwise healthy baby cries for prolonged periods for no apparent reason. We show you how to comfort a crying baby, especially if they are suffering from colic. <br /><br />Colic is a condition in which an otherwise healthy baby cries for prolonged periods for no apparent reason. Our mums and experts discuss how they comfort a crying baby, especially if they are suffering from colic.<br /><br />If your newborn is crying inconsolably, she may have colic. Here's how to soothe a colicky baby - and lower your stress levels<br /><br />Before you gave birth you probably prepared yourself for some grizzling. But more than one in five parents find themselves with a screaming, inconsolable baby: a child that no amount of feeding, playing with or nappy changes can soothe. <br /><br />Welcome to colic o'clock. Mothers who have survived a colicky baby describe it as everything from 'a living nightmare' to 'the biggest shock of my life'. <br /><br />So if you think you've entered this baby house of horrors, be reassured. <br /><br />'No matter how wearing it gets -- and it does -- there are plenty of parents up and down the country feeling exactly the same as you,' says midwife Maureen Royds-Jones. 'But this phase won't last forever -- colic rarely carries on for longer than four months.' <br /><br />Just crying -- or is it colic? <br /><br />'A baby with colic tends to cry or scream intensely, clench her fists and arch her back,' says Maureen. 'A good test is to gently straighten her back; if the crying subsides, she probably does have colic.' <br /><br />Colic is not an illness as such and a medical diagnosis doesn't exist. No one really knows for sure what causes it. <br /><br />'Over the decades many different factors have been blamed,' says Siobhan Mulholland, author of Coping With Crying And Colic (£6.99, Vermilion). <br /><br />'Digestive problems, such as trapped wind, were the most popular explanation, but experts now think it's a normal part of development. In fact all your baby might be doing is merely venting -- crying for the sake of it -- and finding it difficult to stop once she's started.' <br /><br />Typically, colic starts in the second or third week and is at its worst in the late afternoons and early evenings. <br /><br />Visit www.motherandbaby.co.uk for more advice
