A tight tummy and all that gas

What the crying pattern usually is

AAP's description of colic is precise and worth reading against your own evening: crying inconsolably, often screaming, extending or pulling up the legs, and passing gas.

About one fifth of babies develop it, usually between the second and fourth weeks. So it arrives just as the newborn fog is supposed to be lifting, which is part of why it lands so hard.

The trajectory is the useful part. The regular fussing usually peaks at about 3 hours a day by 6 weeks old, then declines to 1 or 2 hours a day by 3 to 4 months. Colicky crying generally stops by 3 to 4 months, though it can last until 6 months.

That curve is worth holding onto at week five, when it is at its worst and feels permanent. Week six is roughly the top of the hill.

Gas is a passenger, not usually the driver

This is the part that changes what you do. Passing gas appears in AAP's description as something babies DO during these episodes — not as the cause of them.

Which is a reasonable explanation for why gas drops and gripe water so often underwhelm. If the wind is a by-product of an hour of crying and gulping, then treating the wind is treating the symptom that came last.

It is also why the winding technique you were shown, executed perfectly, sometimes changes nothing — and that is not a failure of technique.

A firm, gurgly, active tummy in a newborn is largely just a new digestive system working loudly. Softness between episodes is the thing to notice, more than firmness during one.

What actually helps

AAP's list is unglamorous and mostly about the nervous system rather than the gut: walking them, rocking, white noise, offering a pacifier, positioning them tummy-down across your lap or arm, and swaddling.

For nursing parents, dietary changes are sometimes tried, and in rare cases a hydrolysate formula — both worth discussing with your doctor rather than starting on a hunch, because elimination diets have real costs and are frequently unnecessary.

Note what is NOT on that list: nothing that treats gas directly. The interventions that help are the ones that soothe a baby, which fits the picture of a crying pattern rather than a digestive problem.

When it is not colic

This is the section to actually read, because everything above assumes a baby who is well between episodes.

A tummy that is hard and STAYS hard between episodes, rather than softening. Crying that is continuous and intensifying through the day and night rather than clustering. Vomiting that is green, or forceful. Blood in the nappy. Not passing urine. A fever in a baby under three months, which is always its own emergency. Or a firm lump or swelling in the groin or scrotum, which can be a hernia and can become urgent.

AAP is explicit that a medical evaluation is needed to rule out things like hernias or illness — colic is what remains once someone has looked and found nothing else, not a conclusion to reach at home.

None of these are winding problems, and none of them improve with a different hold.

What to tell them when you call

This is the part that gets you a better conversation. Have four things ready: how old they are, when it started, what you have actually noticed, and what specifically worries you.

For this in particular: is the tummy soft between episodes or hard all the time; are they feeding normally; how many wet nappies; what the crying pattern is across 24 hours rather than at its worst; and whether anything has changed in the last few days.

That is not a diagnosis and does not need to be. It is the information your doctor is going to ask for, and having it ready turns a vague call into a useful one.