Infant Colic Does Not Have Lasting Effects on Mothers' Mental Health

Published Online: Saturday, March 1, 2003   [ Request Print ]

Infant colic tends to resolve by 3 months of age and has little lasting effect on mothers? mental health, according to a recent article in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. Among 547 mother?baby pairs, 131 had colic at 6 weeks of age, but only 18 of these (13.7%) still had colic at 3 months. No significant changes in anxiety and depression scores from week 1 to 6 months postpartum were found when comparing mothers whose infants had colic versus those whose infants were not colicky.