INFANTILE COLIC - A PEDIATRIC PRACTITIONER RESEARCHERS POINT-OF-VIEW

Infantile colic is at the same time exasperating and also fascinating and gratifying. This is the point of view of a pediatric practitioner and researcher with over three decades of practical experience. Colic is exasperating because of the unpleasantness of the extensive crying and because of the inadequacies of much of the existing research and writing on the subject. It is fascinating for the researcher and observing clinician because it probably represents the earliest known example of a behavior problem resulting from a stressful parent‐child interaction. It is gratifying because of the opportunity for successful clinical intervention to help distressed families. This paper summarizes the evidence supporting these points and suggests ways to solve some of the remaining problems. No new data are introduced; rather, this is an attempt to put what is already known into a more useful perspective. Copyright © 1990 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health