If your baby has colic, the most effective things you can do are use physical soothing techniques consistently, protect your own mental health during the worst weeks, and know that colic almost always resolves on its own by 3 to 4 months of age. Colic is defined as an otherwise healthy infant crying for more than 3 hours a day, at least 3 days a week, for at least 3 weeks. It peaks around 6 weeks old and can feel relentless, but it is not a sign that something is wrong with your baby or that you’re doing something wrong as a parent.
Physical Soothing That Actually Helps
No single technique works for every colicky baby, so the goal is to rotate through several and find what calms yours. These are the methods with the most consistent support from pediatric organizations:
- Swaddling: Wrap your baby snugly in a large, thin blanket so they feel secure and warm. The gentle pressure mimics the tight environment of the womb.
- Tummy pressure: Lay your baby face-down across your knees and gently rub their back. The steady pressure against their belly often provides comfort, especially if gas is contributing to the fussiness.
- Rhythmic motion: Rock your baby, carry them in a baby carrier while walking, or use a swing. The motion and body contact can soothe even when the discomfort persists.
- White noise: A fan, white noise machine, vacuum cleaner in the next room, or even a running clothes dryer can help. Steady, low-frequency sound mimics what babies heard in the womb and can help them fall asleep.
Combining techniques often works better than any one alone. Swaddling plus white noise plus gentle rocking, for example, layers several calming signals at once. If one approach seems to lose its effect after a few days, switch to another and cycle back later.
What to Try With Feeding
If you’re formula feeding, switching to a whey hydrolyzed formula (sometimes labeled “partially hydrolyzed” or “gentle”) may help. In one trial, 40% of infants on hydrolyzed formula no longer met colic criteria after one week, compared to 28% on standard formula. It’s not a guaranteed fix, but it’s a reasonable next step if standard formula seems to make things worse.
If you’re breastfeeding, the evidence on changing your diet is less clear. One small study found that 74% of colicky infants improved when their mothers followed a low-allergen diet (removing dairy, eggs, nuts, wheat, soy, and fish), compared to 37% whose mothers ate normally. That sounds promising, but a Cochrane review of all available studies concluded the evidence is too limited and inconsistent to strongly recommend any specific dietary change. If you want to try eliminating dairy and soy for a trial period of one to two weeks, that’s a reasonable approach, but don’t restrict your diet dramatically without seeing whether it makes a real difference first.
Probiotics: One Option With Decent Evidence
A specific probiotic strain called Lactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 has the strongest evidence of any supplement for colic. In a clinical trial, breastfed infants given this probiotic daily for 28 days went from crying about 340 minutes per day down to roughly 78 minutes per day. Infants on placebo also improved, but only to about 232 minutes per day. That’s a meaningful difference.
Most of the positive research has been in breastfed babies, and the results in formula-fed infants are less consistent. Probiotic drops containing this strain are available over the counter. They’re generally safe, though it’s worth confirming the product contains the specific strain studied, not just any Lactobacillus species.
What Doesn’t Work
Simethicone drops (sold as gas drops) are one of the most commonly purchased remedies for colic, but the clinical evidence doesn’t support their use. A systematic review in BMJ Open found moderate to low quality evidence showing no benefit, and five separate reviews concluded simethicone either made no difference or worsened symptoms. These drops aren’t harmful, but spending weeks hoping they’ll help delays trying approaches that have better evidence behind them.
Gripe water, another popular remedy, lacks rigorous clinical trials. Its ingredients vary widely between brands, and some formulations have contained alcohol or sodium bicarbonate, neither of which is appropriate for infants.
How to Tell If It’s Something Else
Colic has a specific pattern: crying episodes tend to be worse in the evening, happen randomly rather than during or after feeds, and your baby eats normally and gains weight on schedule. If what you’re seeing looks different, it may not be colic.
Signs that point toward reflux rather than colic include crying and back arching during or right after feeding, refusing to eat, spitting up more often or more forcefully than usual, wheezing or coughing during feeds, and slow weight gain. The key distinction is timing. Colic crying is disconnected from meals. Reflux symptoms cluster around feeding.
If your baby’s crying is consistently linked to feeding, if they’re losing weight or not gaining, or if you notice blood in their stool, those are reasons to have your pediatrician evaluate for reflux or a cow’s milk protein allergy rather than assuming colic.
Protecting Yourself During the Worst Weeks
Colic peaks around 6 weeks and typically resolves by 3 to 4 months, with most cases fully gone by 6 months. That timeline can feel impossibly long when you’re in the middle of it. The frustration and exhaustion are real, and they carry a genuine safety risk.
Seattle Children’s Hospital, which developed the Period of PURPLE Crying education program, offers a simple protocol: if you feel overwhelmed, put your baby down in a safe place like their crib, walk away, and take a few minutes to calm yourself before going back to check on them. Your baby will be fine crying alone in a safe space for five or ten minutes. Call a trusted family member or friend for support, or simply for a break.
This matters because shaking a baby, even briefly, can cause brain bleeding, blindness, permanent brain damage, or death. Babies have weak neck muscles and developing brains that are extremely vulnerable to rapid movement. The frustration of inconsolable crying is the single most common trigger for shaken baby injuries. Knowing your limits and walking away before you reach them is one of the most important things you can do for your baby’s safety.
The Timeline to Keep in Mind
Colic is most common during the first 6 weeks of life, and its intensity typically drops significantly by 3 months. By 6 months, it’s almost always gone entirely. Nothing you did caused it, and in most cases, no intervention “cures” it. The soothing techniques, feeding adjustments, and probiotics described above can take the edge off and reduce total crying time, but the biggest factor in resolution is simply your baby’s nervous system and digestive system maturing.
Tracking crying times in a simple log, even just noting approximate hours per day, can help you see the gradual improvement that’s hard to notice when you’re sleep-deprived. It also gives your pediatrician useful information if you need to rule out other causes.