‘Good bacterium’ prevents colic symptoms in newborns

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/good-bacteria-prevents-colic-symptoms-newborns

Nathan Seppa
6:02pm, January 13, 2014

Newborns who take drops containing a beneficial bacterium cry less than babies not given the supplement, researchers report January 13 in JAMA Pediatrics.

The cause of excessive crying — or colic – is not well understood, but scientists suspect that the microbial mix in infants’ intestines is involved.

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Newborns getting the microbe were less apt to develop colic symptoms. They cried for an average of 38 minutes per day; infants getting placebo cried for 71 minutes. The microbe-treated babies also spit up less often. These improvements meant fewer doctor visits and trips to emergency departments for the infants. Parents whose babies got the microbes lost only about half a day of work during the study, compared with nearly three days for parents of infants getting a placebo.