col·ic/ˈkälik/

The word colic comes from the word colon (or large intestine) and refers to gastrointestinal pain (‘belly ache’ to you and me) experienced in the abdomen from a variety of causes. 

Most of us (especially parents with babies under four months old) are familiar with infantile colic.  It is very common and is reported to affect just two out of every 10 babies (surprising -I would have thought the incidence was much greater).  This condition is when an otherwise healthy baby cries or displays symptoms of distress (like cramping) for no discernible reason, for extended periods (usually at night, when parents are at their most exhausted). 

However, this condition isn’t just for babies.

Two high profile cases of colic reported last week drew my attention to the wider world of colic sufferers. 

First, the male giant panda at Edinburgh Zoo Yang Guang (meaning “Sunshine”) was diagnosed with colic after showing signs of discomfort.  He is expected to be resting for a few weeks away from the public eye and has been given anti-inflammatory medication to ease the problem.

Then the legendary Argentinian football player / manager Diego Armando Maradona, the incumbent coach of the Al Wasl team, was hospitalised with acute renal colic.  His club from the United Arab Emirates announced the story on its official Twitter account.  Happily, like Sunshine, Maradona is back home now and resting.

Horses, are also prone to digestive upset and colic poses a great challenge to horse owners as the actual cause varies. It is estimated that between 10-11 per cent of the general horse population will suffer from colic and about 1 in 10 horses will die as a result. I’ve experienced a horse with colic. It is very upsetting to see. You have to keep the horse walking (sometimes for hours) to help it to pass.

But back to babies.  Infantile colic isn’t as nasty as this. Often the cause is nothing more sinister than trapped wind. It typically appears within the first month of a baby’s life.   Symptoms often disappears before the baby is three to four months old, but can last up to 12 months. Usually it disappears once the baby can sit up – as being vertical helps wind to escape. (My elder daughter, Nadia continued to get it occasionally until she was 3 yrs old). It can be terribly stressful for parents, at a time when they are at their most anxious.

Breast fed babies get less colic than bottle fed babies. The so-called ‘anti-colic’ bottles do help a bit in reducing air swallowing but, in my experience, they don’t solve the problem completely and they tend to overwhelm the baby with milk. I have spent the last 5 years working hard to design a better solution to the problem, and expect to launch my new product later this year.

I would love to talk to you if you are a breastfeeding mum who has experienced difficulties with using bottles to deliver breast milk (or supplements), or if you bottle feed, and your baby is still experiencing wind and colic despite using 'anti-colic' feeders.

To make contact go to Contact Mandy Haberman or go to Twitter.com/mandyhaberman.

We had an extra special New Year's holiday with our son’s family in Toronto. We met our little granddaughter (Sadie Elizabeth) for the first time. Sadie was born on December 4^th  and she’s absolutely beautiful (I'm not at all biased). If it was possible to grin any more I would.

I'm thrilled to be a grandma again - I already have two gorgeous grandsons, aged 2 and 3 1/2.  As I've got older, I've realised that family is what life is really all about. Personal achievements and business successes are rewarding and very satisfying but nothing gives me more joy than seeing my kids with their own babies. 

I hope that the little ones might one day say to their friends:  “My grandma is cool, she’s an inventor, she’s got purple hair..... and she made your cup!”

When I’m working on a new idea for an invention, I spend a long time researching and doing my homework, before I commit to spending any money. My favorite place for researching is the British Library. It is easy to get side tracked as they have a treasure trove of information. I find the history of infant feeding particularly interesting and can spend many a happy hour just delving through the weird and wonderful.

Since the beginning of womankind, mums have breastfed their babies.  However, many “creative” breastfeeding substitutes have been used over the years to satisfy the needs of families who, for one reason or another, have needed to feed their babies by alternative means. 

In days gone by, feeding vessels were more like miniature wine jugs, oil lamps or urns, rather than the bottles we know today. 

The oldest surviving example is from 2000 BC although it is thought likely that feeding vessels were used during the Stone Age when mankind began using tools.  Other examples from Babylonian, Greek, Roman, Etruscan and ancient Judaic periods, have been found at archaeological sites.  

Pottery was employed until the Egyptians developed the ability to blow glass from hollow rods (around. 250 to 300 BC).  Later on, feeders were ceramic (but that’s another chapter). 

There are many fascinating samples in museums around world.  Here are a few very early examples.

Cup of tea darling, or a little tipple to help you sleep?

This pottery feeder (right) painted with red-brown bands with a central zone filled with vertical lines and u-shapes really looks more like a teapot, but is one of the earliest infant feeding cups (1400BC-1300BC) and is housed at the British Museum.  

I think it is a beautiful object and would happily put it on my shelf as an ornament, but I would never have guessed it was a feeder!

Below is rather lovely example of Allobrogian pottery. It is a Guttus (Roman) baby bottle from the Archeological Museum of Viuz-Faverges in Haute Savoie, France, and dates back to the 9^th century BC.

The pipe projecting from the side allowed an infant to suck small quantities of liquid.  Examples of these drinking vessels have been found in children's graves from Gallo-Roman times. This particular example was discovered in 1968.  ( Photo: http://www.histoire-du-biberon.com) 

The terracotta feeder (below) is an interesting specimen! It looks like a cross between a pig and a money-box and it dates back to 450 BC.  It was clearly designed to appeal to the child and encourage feeding, in the same way that we see characters printed on feeders today. However, I would find it more appealing if the baby sucked out of the other end!

It was suspended by chains or thongs above the cradle and used by mothers in ancient Greece to serve their little ones a mixture of wine and honey. So much for health and safety! The risk of spilling, let alone strangulation, must have been substantial. I bet they would have appreciated the Anywayup cup!

As for what they used to feed to their babies – can you imagine what it did to their teeth!

(Photo: http://www.babybottle-museum.co.uk)