Feasibility of using kangaroo (skin-to-skin) care with colicky infants

Infant colic affects about 20% of all infants and the cause remains elusive. Healthcare providers typically view infant colic as a minor inconvenience that is harmless to the thriving infant and will go away with time; however, parents view caring for a colicky infant as a crisis situation. The purpose of this feasibility study conducted via the internet was to examine the feasibility of implementing kangaroo care at the beginning of colicky episodes. Mothers of colicky infants began the study by completing the on-line Infant Colic Scale and recording in a baseline state-of-arousal diary for 3 days. Next, they implemented kangaroo care at the beginning of as many episodes of colic as possible for 2 weeks while recording in a second state-of-arousal diary. Then, they stopped kangaroo care for 2 days while continuing to record in the second state-of-arousal diary, and lastly they were asked how kangaroo care worked for them.Seventy-five parents of colicky infants consented to participate in this study; however, only five of them actually did. Three of these completed only the baseline state-of-arousal diary, and two completed all parts of the study. This dropout rate showed that conducting such an intervention via the internet is not a feasible approach. Because kangaroo care for infants with colic is a promising intervention and because there are no other effective treatments for most of these infants, another feasibility study is warranted using different methods. Then if results are promising, a larger clinical trial should be conducted.