Colic is usually defined by the rule of threes: crying for more than three hours a day, more than three days a week, for more than three weeks, in a baby who is otherwise healthy and feeding well. It typically peaks around six weeks and eases by three to four months.
On medication, we defer entirely to your pediatrician. Simethicone drops, gripe preparations and probiotics are widely used and widely discussed, and the evidence for each is genuinely mixed. That is a conversation for your doctor, who knows your baby's weight, feeding history and medical background. We will not recommend, compare or dose anything here.
What we can talk about is the sensory side — the part that costs nothing and that many parents are never told about.
Continuous sound. A colicky baby is often in a state of nervous-system overload. Steady low-frequency sound — womb recordings, heartbeat rhythms, a washing machine hum — gives the nervous system a single, predictable input to organise around. This is the same principle behind the shushing in the widely taught 5 S's method. Crucially it must be continuous, not intermittent; sound that starts and stops re-triggers alertness.
Motion and pressure. Gentle rhythmic movement and firm containment — a snug hold, side-lying support in your arms — reproduce the constant motion and boundaries of the womb. Both are standard, safe soothing techniques.
Visual anchoring. Once the initial escalation breaks, many babies will lock onto a slow high-contrast pattern. This does not stop pain, but it interrupts the feedback loop where crying drives more distress which drives more crying. Keep any screen at least 30cm away, keep sessions short, and always stay with your baby.
Reduce input, don't add it. A common mistake is bouncing, singing, rocking and talking all at once. An overloaded baby needs fewer channels, not more. Pick one soothing input and stay with it for a few minutes before switching.
See a doctor urgently if there is fever, blood in the stool, projectile vomiting, poor feeding, lethargy, or if your baby is difficult to rouse. Persistent inconsolable crying always deserves a medical review — colic is a diagnosis of exclusion, which means a doctor rules other things out first.