In the case of unremitting colic, your physician may recommend glycerin sup positories to help your baby expel gas or feces that may be causing his discomfort.

Dr. Lendon Smith, the well-known pediatrician and author, reports that careful stretching of an infant's tight anus results in successful treatment of colic. This is a procedure that must be performed by a doctor.

Other drugs, including antiflatulents, sedatives (such as phenobarbital), and antispasmodics like dicyclomine (Bentyl), are sometimes prescribed for colic and occasionally offer limited relief, but in most cases they are of little benefit. In addition, they can have serious side effects. Ask your doctor to explain all of the pros and cons of any prescription medications before giving them to a colicky baby.

Dietary Guidelines
If you are breastfeeding and your infant suffers from colic, he may be sensitive to something you are eating. The most common offenders are dairy products, chocolate, caffeine, melons, cucumbers, peppers, citrus fruits and juices, and spicy foods. There's a good chance that you yourself may have hidden allergies to certain foods. To track down food allergies, try an elimination diet or rotation diet. Following these diets may seem like an overwhelming task, but the results can be very worthwhile. An alternative is to keep an ongoing food diary to help you identify correspondences between the foods you eat and symptoms, both your baby's and your own. If you discover a hidden sensitivity that you hadn't suspected, simply avoiding that food will likely help you feel better and alleviate your baby's colic as well.

If you are nursing a colicky baby, try deleting all gas-forming foods from your diet, including cauliflower, broccoli Brussels sprouts, cucumbers, red and green peppers, onions, beans, and legumes. Other foods in a nursing mother's diet that can contribute to colic include cow's milk, bananas, berries, and anything that contains caffeine.

A mother nursing a colicky baby should minimize the amount of raw foods in her diet. A breastfeeding mother's diet should consist of 70 to 80 percent cooked foods, and only 20 to 30 percent raw foods. Keep your diet simple.

If your colicky infant is bottlefed, his formula may be causing the problem. Ask your doctor about the advisability of changing to a different formula.

Nutritional Supplements
Lactobacillus acidophilus provides the bowel with friendly intestinal flora, which will ease digestion and may help resolve colic. A breastfeeding mother should take 1/2 teaspoon, twice a day. Give a bottlefed baby 1/8 teaspoon of acidophilus powder dissolved in formula, twice a day.