New research challenges established ideas about infant crying: Research project at Aarhus University provides a new understanding of what can be defined as normal and excessive crying among infants, says associate professor.

When will my infant child stop crying so much?

If you are a new parent who, in a more or less sleep-deprived state, googles this question, then the answer could reassure you.

Many top google hits will refer you to an old study which concludes that infant crying normally peaks at around the age of six weeks, after which it decreases markedly and stabilises at a low level after three months.

Typically referred to as the ‘cry curve’, parents might expect their infants to cry radically less after the initial peak. However, a new study from Denmark, challenges this “cry curve” pattern, by pooling data from parents in 17 different countries.

“We’ve created two mathematical models that reasonably represent the available data. Neither of them show that the duration of crying falls so markedly after five weeks, which is what is otherwise seen in the graphs that are presented to parents. The available data shows that crying is still a significant part of many infants’ repertoire after six months,” says Christine Parsons, who is an associate professor at the Department of Clinical Medicine at Aarhus University.

Widely used cry curve

The researchers behind the study have compiled data from 57 research articles from all over the world, in which parents have registered how much their infants cry every day.

Source: Read Full Article