In a 1998 study funded by the National Institutes of Health, scientists found that taking babies off cow’s milk infant formula resulted in "appreciable decreases" in daily colic outbreaks. Eliminating cow’s milk from the babies’ formula resulted in a 69 percent decrease in the amount of crying and a 25 percent decrease in the amount of discomfort and fussing. The study offered three different hypotheses—all pointed to cow’s milk as the cause of colic.
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Acta Paediatr
Kulczyski et al., Washington University School of Medicine, 2000
Surprisingly enough, breast milk can cause colic, too, depending on what the mother has been eating and drinking. When consumed by the mother, cow’s milk has been linked to colic in babies. A survey of 272 breastfeeding mothers found that when they ate certain foods, their babies tended to be colicky. Cow’s milk was among the most common of offenders.
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Journal of the American Dietetic Association
Lust et al., 96 (1996), 46-48
After studying babies afflicted with colic, scientists at the Georgetown University School of Medicine concluded, "Removal of cow’s milk protein from the diet eliminates colic in 30 percent of infants."
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American Family Physician
December 1989
According to a 1983 study in
Pediatrics
, "Sequential analysis showed a high correlation between infantile colic in breast-fed infants and their mothers’ consumption of cow’s milk protein. A diet free of cow’s milk is suggested for the mothers as a first trial of treatment of infantile colic in breast-fed infants."
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Pediatrics
1983
