Crying concerns during infancy

Babies cry to communicate that they are hungry, wet, tired, too warm, too cold, lonely, or in pain, and parents often recognize the different cries signaling each of these needs. Parents who respond promptly to their babies' cries give their babies confidence and teach them that they are safe. Once the source of discomfort is corrected, a baby typically stops crying. Letting a baby "cry it out" usually makes the situation worse. Infants may quickly reach a frenzy from crying, and calming them later often takes longer than if the baby had been calmed initially.

However, some babies seem to cry for no apparent reason. The average amount of time a baby cries peaks at around 6 weeks of age. Typically, babies this age have a fussy time of day, during which they are difficult to console and need extra attention for a period of up to 2 or 3 hours. Often fussy times are during the late afternoon to evening, when babies are tired and unable to relax.

In the second and third months, crying periods typically lessen or disappear as the brain matures. Also, parents usually become better at recognizing their babies' differing cries of hunger, pain, and anger and at comforting them.

Normally, in the second half of the first year crying becomes much less of a concern for parents. By then babies usually cry because they are hungry, tired, afraid, uncomfortable, or for other specific reasons. Most parents learn to quickly identify those reasons and the best way to respond to them.

For more information, see the topics Crying, Age 3 and Younger; and Colic.

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