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Children's Health Colic
Research
Colic - massage and
vibration may help
New research reveals
that infant massage or a crib vibrator may both be helpful in reducing the
incidence and severity of infant colic.
Babies, all under 7 weeks of age and
perceived as colicky by their parents, were randomly assigned to an infant
massage group (n = 28) or a crib vibrator group (n = 30). Three daily
treatments were recommended for each baby in both groups.
Parents recorded infant crying and
their treatments in a structured cry diary that was kept for one week
before the commencement of the study and for three weeks during the study.
The parents were also interviewed after the first and third weeks of
intervention to obtain their evaluation of the effectiveness of the given
massage or crib vibration.
At start of the study, the average
(mean) amount of total crying was 3.6 hours/day in the massage group
infants and 4.2 hours/day in the vibrator group infants. The average
amount of colicky crying was 2.1 hours/day and 2.9 hours/day,
respectively. The average number of daily intervention periods was 2.2 in
both groups.
The results revealed that, over the
4-week study, the amount of total and colicky crying decreased
significantly in both intervention groups. The reduction in crying was
similar in the study groups: total crying decreased by an average of 48
percent in the massage group and by 47 percent in the vibrator group, and
colicky crying decreased by 64 percent and 52 percent, respectively. The
amount of other crying (total crying minus colicky crying) remained stable
in both groups over the intervention.
Ninety-three percent of the parents
in both groups reported that colic symptoms decreased over the 3-week
intervention, and 61 percent of the parents in the massage group and 63
percent of the parents in the crib vibrator group stated that the
treatments were, in their estimation, responsible for reducing the colic.
Infant massage was comparable to the
use of a crib vibrator in reducing crying in colicky infants. We suggest
that the decrease of total and colicky crying in the present study
reflects more the natural course of early infant crying and colic than a
specific effect of the interventions.
Infant massage compared
with crib vibrator in the treatment of colicky infants.
Huhtala V, Lehtonen L, Heinonen R, Korvenranta H
Department of Pediatrics, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland.
©
Internet Health Library 2000
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This page was last updated on 20 October 2006 10:25:16
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