Infantile colic and complementary medicin: a double blind randomized clinical trial

Background: Excessive crying is a self-limiting problem and disappear in a few weeks, however, can be irritating for the parents, lead to maternal depression or exhaustion, and stress in the parents. The study aimed to evaluate the effect of lavender oil inhalation on the duration of daily crying within the one week intervention in the infants who suffered infantile colic. Methods: In this double blind randomized clinical trial, the main inclusion criteria were: healthy infants, no consumption of any drugs for infantile colic, healthy mother as can take care her baby, having one crying episode ≥ 2 hours per day (prolonged crying). The intervention group received inhalation of lavender oil and the control group received sweet almond oil for seven days. Duration of crying in the four parts of day (morning, afternoon, evening, and night) was gathered by phone call. Results: At baseline, the two groups were not different in relation to infant’s crying duration. However, they were significantly different after intervention in all seven days of the study (p<0.001). Also, in repeated measures analysis, the difference between the two groups was significant (p<0.001). After intervention, there was fewer prolonged crying in the lavender group compared to the control group. In lavender group, maternal mood score was significantly lower than the control group in 7th day of intervention (p<0.001).Conclusion: The results suggest that a low concentration of the lavender oil inhalation can alleviate the colic symptoms and results in maternal mood improvement

Keywords:

infantile colic , aromatherapy , lavender oil , excessive crying