0 a severe but not continuous pain in the bottom part of the stomach or bowels, especially in` babies --
1 a severe but not continuous pain in the bottom part of the stomach or bowels, esp. of babies --
Excessive criers labeled as having colic are simply those individuals who show the most extreme form of an otherwise normal and universal crying curve.
Changing the reinforcement regime of colicky babies during the natural peak in colic predisposition may not be easy.
Similar to the other adaptive hypotheses, the manipulation hypothesis requires evidence that colic is effective in extracting additional parental investment.
Despite increased crying, however, infants with colic did not show any differences in heart rate, vagal tone, or cortisol secretion during the examination.
Assuming that colic does indeed have fitness costs, there are two possibilities.
For example, colic is a frequent complaint brought to pediatricians and a common reason for giving up breast-feeding.
The honest signal hypotheses assume that colic is costly to infants.
Another possibility is that colic is a conditional strategy activated by prenatal or perinatal environmental cues.
