Infantile colic and parental smoking

Abstract

Infantile colic is very common and usually presents as paroxysmal screaming with clenched fists, legs drawn up, and a red face. The belief that crying occurs mainly in the evening was not confirmed in population surveys. The symptoms are thought to result from vigorous gastrointestinal contractions, but almost nothing is known about the cause. Brazelton claimed that paroxysmal crying that occurs in the early evening is a distinct entity from colic. We describe the relation of evening and postprandial colic to parental smoking.