As a new parent, there's potentially nothing more stressful than hearing your newborn baby cry nonstop for hours on end and feeling powerless to soothe him. That's why many parents are relieved to learn there's a name for this disconcerting newborn condition, colic, and that it is only temporary.

Experts estimate between 10 and 25 percent of babies have colic, which generally clears up when a baby reaches 4 months old. To fulfill the official "Wessel" criteria for colic, a baby must cry for at least three hours a day, for at least three days a week and for at least three weeks.

Helen Neville, a registered pediatric nurse in Oakland, Calif., and author of Temperament Tools: Working With Your Child's Inborn Traits (Parenting Press, 1998), says parents should take their infant to a pediatrician to rule out the possibility the crying is related to a particular illness.

"It's very hard to start with a baby who is essentially going to cry for a number of hours each day and nothing you do seems to help," Neville says. She suggests parents with a colicky baby give themselves a break by taking a shower or turning up the music loud once in a while.

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