Significant reduction in crying time following introduction of lactase to colicky babies’ feed
Affecting up to 30% of all newborns (between the ages of 3 and 13 weeks), colic is an extremely distressing condition for both babies and parents. Characterised by long bouts of unbroken crying, colic may contribute to impaired parent-child bonding or in extreme cases child abuse1. A newly published report in the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics 20012 confirms transient lactose intolerance as one of the key causes of infant colic and shows that pre-treatment of feeds with lactase typically reduces crying time in responders by 45% or more.

Handy Hint

If your baby suffers from colic, carry her with her tummy down, long ways on your arm, using your hand to cradle her head. It should soothe her and help her with her tummy pains.

The double blind, placebo controlled study was carried out at the Department of Paediatrics at Guys Hospital in London. 53 babies meeting the trial criteria of 3 hours per day of full force crying for three days or more were recruited. Following recruitment, formula-fed babies were given bottles pre-treated with the lactase enzyme and breastfeeding mothers were instructed to express their foremilk (which has the highest lactose content), treat it with lactase and feed to the baby before resuming normal breastfeeding. This process was followed for an initial period of ten days and was succeeded by a five-day wash out phase (when completely untreated feeds were given) and then ten days using a placebo.

Reporting on the results, Dr Paul Clayton, co-author with Dr Dipak Kanabar consultant paediatrician at Guy’s Hospital, said: “The transient lactose intolerance hypothesis had already been tested once (Kearney 1998) but the trial was so small that its accuracy could not be relied upon. By using larger trial numbers, and testing breath hydrogen, we were able to confirm that a significant number of colicky babies are unable to digest lactose, leading to bacteriological and metabolic changes in the gut which in turn cause pain and distress. This study has demonstrated that pre-treatment of feeds with lactase to break down the lactose in milk before feeding, results in considerable symptomatic benefits for the baby with a massive 45% reduction in crying time in around a third of all cases”.

Professor Kanabar et al.’s study was conducted using the enzyme from Crosscare - the same formula as used in Colief Infant Drops.

A 7ml bottle of Colief contains approximately 160 drops, which is sufficient for 80 separate feeds. Colief is priced at £9.99 and is available from Boots. For help and advice call the Colief Infant Drops helpline on (0800) 0281187 or visit www.colief.com.