Table 1.

The definitions of infant colic, infant dyschezia and functional constipation, according to the ROME IV criteria

The ROME IV criteria:

Infant colic

All of the following criteria are required:

• Healthy infant ≤5 months of age at the onset and cessation of symptoms

• Recurrent periods of prolonged crying, fussing, or irritability without obvious cause which cannot be prevented or resolved by parents

• No evidence of infant failure to thrive, fever, or illness

• Crying or fussing ≥3 hours during at least 3 days for a period of 7 days

• 24-hour prospective behavioral diary documenting ≥3 hours crying/fussinga

Infant dyschezia

All of the following criteria are required:

• Healthy infant ≤9 months of age at the onset and cessation of symptoms

• At least 10 minutes straining and crying before successful or unsuccessful passage of soft stools

Functional constipation

At least 2 of the following criteria are required during a one-month period:

• ≤2 defecations per week

• History of excessive stool retention

• History of painful or hard bowel movements

• History of large-diameter stools

• Presence of a large fecal mass in the rectum

In toilet-trained children the following additional criteria may be used:

• Stool incontinence at least once a week

• History of large-diameter stools that may obstruct the toilet

^aSince there is no specific infant behavioral diary recommended by the ROME foundation, a modified infant behavioral diary is adapted from Landgren et al. [34] and is used in the BABITT-study