Colic: surviving the evening crying with a healthy baby
Last updated September 3, 2026.
Colic is the name for long, intense bouts of crying in a baby who is otherwise healthy, fed, and thriving. The working definition is crying for more than three hours a day, more than three days a week, in a baby under three months, typically peaking in the late afternoon and evening. It is exhausting, it is not your fault, and it ends: most colic resolves by three to four months.
What does it look like?
The pattern matters more than any single cry. Colicky babies cry hard at predictable times (usually the evening), draw their knees up, arch their back, clench their fists, and go red in the face, and the crying can continue despite feeding, changing, and cuddling. Crucially, between bouts the baby feeds well, gains weight, has normal wet and dirty nappies, and has contented periods. A baby who cries around the clock, feeds poorly, or is not gaining weight is describing something else.
What causes it?
Honestly, the cause is not established. Theories include an immature gut, trapped wind, an immature nervous system struggling to switch off, and sensitivity to stimulation. It is not caused by something the parents did, and it is usually not an allergy or reflux, though cows' milk protein allergy and reflux are the two diagnoses a doctor will consider if the story does not fit neatly. Colic affects breastfed and bottle-fed babies equally.
What actually helps?
- Soothing techniques: holding your baby upright against your shoulder, gentle rocking or walking, white noise, a warm bath, and rhythmic motion (a pram walk or car ride) each help some babies; try them one at a time.
- Feeding tweaks: smaller, more frequent feeds, careful burping, and an upright position after feeding; if bottle-feeding, check the teat flow is not too fast.
- Simethicone drops: safe and worth a trial, though evidence is modest; speak to a pharmacist.
- What to skip: unregulated gripe-water-style supplements, changing formula repeatedly without advice, and any advice to leave a young baby to cry it out.
- Protect yourself: it is safe and correct to put your baby down on their back in their cot and step into another room for ten minutes when you are at breaking point. Never shake a baby.
When is it an emergency?
Crying with a fever, vomiting (especially green or forceful), blood or mucus in the stool, a swollen or hard abdomen, poor feeding, fewer wet nappies, unusual floppiness or unresponsiveness, a high-pitched or weak cry, or any breathing difficulty needs same-day medical assessment, and a fever in a baby under three months is always urgent. If you ever feel at risk of harming your baby, put the baby safely in the cot and call someone immediately. Pymander's escalation routing is built and tested specifically for this class of decision; see the safety architecture working paper.
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Common questions
How do I know it is colic and not something wrong?
Colic has a shape: intense crying at predictable times (classically the evening), in a baby who feeds well, gains weight, has normal nappies, and has genuinely contented periods. Warning signs that point elsewhere include vomiting (particularly green or forceful), fever, blood or mucus in the stool, a hard or swollen abdomen, poor feeding or poor weight gain, floppiness, breathing problems, or a cry that sounds high-pitched, weak, or simply wrong to you. Any of those, or your own instinct that this is more than crying, deserves same-day medical review.
Does colic mean my baby is in pain?
The drawn-up legs and red face look like pain, and gut discomfort is one theory, but the honest answer is that nobody has proven what colicky babies feel. What is known: colicky babies grow and develop normally, and colic leaves no lasting effects. That does not make the evenings easier, but it does mean you are not watching damage happen. It also explains why no single treatment works: when the cause is unclear, the remedies are all educated guesses.
Will changing formula or my diet help?
For most colicky babies, no: colic affects breastfed and bottle-fed babies at the same rate, and routine formula switching is discouraged. The exception is suspected cows' milk protein allergy, which usually comes with extras like eczema, vomiting, or mucus or blood in the stool; if that picture fits, a doctor may trial a hypoallergenic formula, or dairy exclusion for a breastfeeding mother, but only under supervision and for a defined trial period. Cutting major food groups on spec risks your own nutrition without helping the baby.
Do colic drops and gripe water work?
Simethicone drops are safe and have some supportive evidence, so a pharmacist-supervised trial is reasonable. Lactase drops have limited evidence in a subset of babies. Gripe water is a traditional remedy with no good evidence, variable ingredients, and occasional safety concerns, so most clinicians advise skipping it. Probiotic drops (specifically Lactobacillus reuteri) have the best evidence base among supplements, mainly in breastfed babies. Whatever you trial, change one thing at a time and give it a week, or you will never know what did what.
Is it OK to put my crying baby down and walk away?
Yes, and knowing this protects your baby. When you have fed, changed, burped, and cuddled and the crying continues, it is completely safe to lay your baby on their back in the cot, leave the room, and take ten to fifteen minutes. Colic crying has driven exhausted parents to shaking babies, with catastrophic consequences; a crying baby in a safe cot is in no danger, and a parent stepping away to recover is doing the right thing. If you feel close to the edge, hand the baby to someone else or call a helpline.
When will it end?
Colic typically peaks around six weeks and resolves by three to four months, in nearly all cases by six months. That timeline is genuinely reliable, which is small comfort at 7pm but real comfort at 3am. In the meantime, the job is not to cure the crying (no one reliably can) but to get your household through it intact: take shifts, accept help, use the cot for safe breaks, and keep the health visitor looped in. Parents of former colicky babies universally report the same ending: it simply stopped.