Infantile colic, maternal smoking and infant feeding at 5 weeks of age.
BACKGROUND
Many parents seek help from health professionals because of their infants' persistent crying in the early months. The aetiology of this condition, often labelled ;;infantile colic'', is still unclear.


OBJECTIVE
To assess whether smoking during pregnancy, and/or smoking at infant age 5 weeks, is associated with infantile colic, and to describe how feeding at infant age 5 weeks and smoking are related to colic.


METHODS
This was a community-based study, with telephone interviews in late pregnancy, and at infant age 5 weeks, covering 1,625 mother-infant dyads, i.e. 86% of the eligible population.


RESULTS
Daily maternal smoking in pregnancy was related to subsequent colic, with an age-adjusted odds ratio (OR) of 1.74 (95% confidence interval 1.08-2.82). In the multivariate model, the OR was largely unaltered. The association between smoking at infant age 5 weeks and colic did not reach statistical significance. The subgroups based on smoking and infant feeding were small, but the results suggest that exclusive breast-feeding was protective against colic, including for infants of smoking mothers.


CONCLUSIONS
This study presents yet another argument why smoking in pregnancy should be discouraged - some cases of infantile colic may be avoided. With regard to mothers who are not able to give up smoking, the results add some support for the conclusion that if a mother is worried about colic, she certainly should not refrain from breast-feeding even if she smokes.
Division of General Practice, Department of Clinical Sciences Malmö, Lund University, Sweden. Catarina.canivet@med.lu.se
Catarina A
CA
Canivet
Per-Olof
PO
Ostergren
Iréne L
IL
Jakobsson
Elisabeth
E
Dejin-Karlsson
Barbro M
BM
Hagander
D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000009:adverse effects*; D003085:Colic / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016540:Smoking Cessation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires