Health Encyclopedia

Crying - excessive (0-6 months)

Alternative Names

Excessive crying (infants 0-6 months)

Considerations

Infants normally cry a total of 1 - 3 hours a day. It is perfectly normal for an infant to cry in an attempt to communicate hunger, thirst, discomfort, tiredness, or loneliness. It is also normal for a baby to have a fussy period in the evening.

However, if an infant cries too often it may suggest a disorder that requires treatment.

Common Causes

Boredom or loneliness
Discomfort or irritation from a wet or dirty diaper, excessive gas, or feeling cold
Hunger or thirst
Pain
Major illness
Minor illness
Medications
Infection (a likely cause if the crying is accompanied by irritability, lethargy, poor appetite, or fever -- consult your baby's health care provider)
Normal muscle jerks and twitches that disturb the sleep
Teething
Colic

Home Care

Follow the provider's treatment advice, which will depend on the cause.

If the infant seems constantly hungry despite short, frequent feedings, consult with a provider about normal growth and feeding times.

If crying is due to boredom or loneliness, it may be helpful to touch, hold, and talk to the infant more and place the infant within sight. Place baby-safe toys where the child can see them. If crying is due to sleep disturbance, wrap the baby firmly in a blanket before putting the infant to bed.

For excessive crying in infants due to cold, dress the infant warmly or adjust the temperature. Typically, if adults are cold, the baby is cold also.

Always check for possible causes of pain or discomfort in a crying baby. When cloth diapers are used, look for diaper pins that have become loose or loose threads that have become tightly wrapped around fingers or toes. Diaper rashes also can be uncomfortable.

Take your baby's temperature to check for fever. Check your baby head-to-toe for any injuries. Pay particular attention to the fingers, toes, and genitalia. It is not uncommon for a hair to get wrapped around part of your baby, creating a painful "hair tourniquet".

Call your health care provider if

Excessive crying remains unexplained and unresolved for more than 1 day, despite attempts at home treatment.
Excessive crying is accompanied by other symptoms, such as fever.

What to expect at your health care provider's office

The health care provider will perform a physical examination and ask questions like the following:

Is the child teething?
Is the child bored, lonely, hungry, thirsty?
Does the child seem to have a lot of gas (flatus)?
Are the parents nervous or anxious?
What other symptoms are also present?
- Is the child irritable?
- Is the child hard to arouse?
- Does the child have a poor appetite?
- Does the child have a fever?
- Is the child vomiting?

For bacterial infections, antibiotics may be prescribed. The provider will assess the infant's growth and development.

After seeing your provider, you may want to add a diagnosis related to excessive crying to your child's personal medical record.

Review Date:11/23/2006
Reviewed By:John Goldenring, MD, MPH, JD, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital, San Diego, CA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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