No matter how you look at it, colic isn’t fun. A parent can feel extremely helpless when their little one seems so distressed and yet nothing they do to try to calm her seems to make any difference at all. Still, by being informed and understanding some things about colic, you can be better prepared to deal with it.

Here are some key facts about colic that you should know:

• All newborns will cry and be fussy. However, when a baby who is otherwise in good health cries for over three hours a day, more than three days a week for more than three weeks, it’s colic.
• Colic is normal for some babies, and doesn’t cause any long-term damage to your child’s development or happiness.
• Some estimates suggest that as many as 40 percent of babies hav colic.
• Colic usually begins sometimes between week three and six after your baby is born, and it usually goes away on its own by the time your baby turns three months old.
• Even if a baby has colic, she is likely to have a strong sucking reflex as well as a healthy appetite. In addition, she will be healthy otherwise and growth should be steady and regular. If your baby isn’t feeding well, there may be a different reason she’s crying and you should talk to your doctor.
• A baby with colic likes to be held and cuddled, much like other babies. If your baby doesn’t like to be held or cuddled, talk to your doctor as this is a sign of a different problem.
• Your baby with colic may have gas, spit up or a bowel movement toward the end of a crying session. Your colicky baby’s stool should be normal, and he’s not any more likely than another baby to have diarrhea or blood in his stool. If he does, talk to your doctor.

There are several things to consider when deciding what you’re going to use to swaddle or cover your little one with. Some of the things you need to think about are fairly obvious, while others may not have occurred to you.

First of all, you want to consider the warmth the blanket will provide for baby. Of course, this is the main reason to use a blanket at all, so chances are you’ve probably considered this. Keep in mind the climate where you live. If you live in a particularly warm climate, you probably don’t need many thick blankets. If, on the other hand, you live where the winters are long and cold, you’re going to want something substantial to wrap baby up in.

Contrary to popular belief, babies don’t need many more layers than we as adults do. In most cases, your baby will only need one more layer than you do. This extra layer makes up for the fact that babies don’t have much fat serving as insulation yet, and don’t move around to keep her body temperature up.

When selecting a blanket for baby, perhaps the most important concern of all is safety. All too often, parents with newborns don’t really consider safety hazards when it comes to baby blankets. Blankets just aren’t viewed as potential safety threats, but they should be.

Most commercially produced baby blankets are fine, as they take into consideration the most up to date safety regulations and concerns, but here are some things to avoid:

• Blankets should not have ribbons or other strips of cloth overhanging the edges. If ribbons overhand edges at all, it shouldn’t be by more than an inch or two, as longer ribbons can present a choking hazard.
• Blankets, especially knit blankets, should not have large holes in them. Babies can get their arms, legs, or even their heads caught in larger holes. If you go with a knit blanket, it’s best to buy one that is fairly tightly knit.
• Avoid quilts or other soft, heavy blankets. These are suspected of contributing to SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, also called crib death).

In addition to finding blankets that are safe and warm, consider buying blankets made of breathable materials. Babies can easily overheat if their blankets do not allow air in and moisture out.

Your baby will likely be spending a lot of her time with her favorite blankets. Babies tend to become very attached to their favorite blankets, so it’s best to only offer them blankets which are safe, even during the daytime.

There have been strong and often conflicting opinions on the merits and demerits of the pacifier. Some parents swear by them, others believe that they will somehow damage their little one if they use it. There has been recent evidence, however, that using a pacifier can significantly reduce the risk of one of the leading killers of infants between two and six months old: Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS as it is commonly referred to, is when an apparently healthy baby dies during sleep, and no other cause can be discerned. While the exact causes are unknown, there are several things which medical professionals have determined to reduce the risk of SIDS. One of the most recent discoveries is that using a pacifier significantly reduces baby’s risk. Here are some other things you can do to reduce the risk of SIDS:

• If you smoke, stop smoking inside the house or around your baby. Better yet, stop smoking altogether.
• Leave a fan running in baby’s room. Face the fan so that it is parallel with baby’s crib. This provides air circulation which helps prevent SIDS.
• Always lay baby down to sleep on his back. Never lay a baby down to sleep on her stomach. This has been found to be the leading cause of SIDS.

If you are breastfeeding your baby, don’t introduce the pacifier right away, as this can cause confusion for the baby and make breastfeeding difficult. Wait until baby is a month old before giving her a pacifier to sleep with. The risk of SIDS is very low before baby is a month old anyway. After baby is a month old, she should be well accustomed to latching on and breastfeeding.

Babies are at their greatest risk of SIDS between the ages of two months and six months old. Giving babies a pacifier (also called a dummy in some parts of the world) not only helps them fall asleep faster and soothe themselves better, but also helps keep their airway open, significantly reducing the risk of SIDS.

The bottom line with pacifiers is this: most of the objections some raise to them are based on anecdotal beliefs. There is no study which proves that using a pacifier can have any negative impact on a baby’s teeth later in life, or that pacifier use damages a baby in any other way. There is, however, significant evidence that using a pacifier helps reduce the chances that baby will die of SIDS.

Have you ever noticed that babies can fall asleep in some of the noisiest places? At home, you can keep everything calm and quiet, while the baby screams her head off, but in a crowded restaurant, or even at a sporting event, baby is able to fall right to sleep, despite the noise.

Turns out there may be a very logical reason for that. While baby was in your womb, she was subject to constant stimulation. Every time you moved, even a little, she was jostled about and rocked back and forth. And as it turns out, it’s actually fairly loud inside Mamma’s tummy.

As early as the 9th week of pregnancy, your baby was able to not only hear, but react to sound. By the end of week 26 (the end of the second trimester), your baby’s hearing is almost fully developed.

During your baby’s entire stay inside of you, she is surrounded by constant noise. Your body’s inner workings make identifiable sounds all day, every day. Even while you sleep, baby is surrounded by the sounds of your breathing, digesting, and the constant, gentle thump, thump of your heartbeat. All of this lends a certain rhythm to your baby’s existence. Believe it or not, part of what is scary to your baby after she is born is the lack of noise in the outside world.

One of the best things you can do to soothe your baby and help her fall asleep is to provide some form of noise. The best sounds include a lot of “white noise,” as these sounds are most reminiscent of the way things sounded inside the womb, when everything was muffled by embryonic fluids.

You can buy commercial white noise machines, if you like. Some of them are even designed specifically to replicate the sounds from inside the womb, which baby is sure to find comforting. Other things you can do to create white noise and soothe your baby include running household machinery or appliances near her, such as the laundry machine, vacuum cleaner, or fans. Make sure that you don’t leave baby unattended, of course, especially after she has become mobile.

Fans are perhaps the best option, as running a fan in the room also helps with air circulation which is believed to lower the risk of SIDS. Place the fan so that it is parallel with your baby (not blowing directly at or away from her) and make sure that it is far enough away that she can’t get her hands or feet near it.

Of course, loud, sudden noises will startle baby, so it’s best to avoid those. But constant white noise is one of the best sleep aids you will ever find for your baby, especially if she is fussy or has colic.