Newborns cry a lot in the first 3 months of life, but when is it too much?
How much do babies cry and in which countries do they cry the most?
The baby’s crying is an event that worries new parents who are struggling for the first time with a fragile and defenseless little ball, but when it cries it seems to have inhuman power!
All of us parents have asked ourselves at least once about their crying:
- “Is it normal to cry like this? “
- “Is he sick?”
- ” How can I calm him down? “
Professor Dieter Wolke of the Department of Psychology of the University of Warwick has put black and white some tables that clarify the normal times of crying of the newborn during the first three months.
To do so, it conducted a meta-analysis involving nearly 8,700 children from several countries including Germany, Denmark, Japan, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom.
This calculated an average of the 24-hour time babies spend fussing and crying in their first twelve weeks of life.
Who are the most whiny babies?
On the podium we find the Italian, English Canadian and Dutch newborns.
Newborns who cry less are found in Denmark, Germany and Japan.
How much do babies cry in the first 12 weeks on average?
It has been seen that babies cry on average for about two hours a day in the first two weeks of life.
At 6 weeks they reach the peak of 2 hours and 15 minutes a day and then gradually the time is reduced to an average of 1 hour and 10 minutes starting from twelve weeks.
However, some babies cry for only 30 minutes, others more than 5 hours in a twenty-four hour period.
The highest rates of desperate crying, those from colic were recorded:
- in 28.8% of British newborns at 1-2 weeks of age
- in 34.1% of Canadian newborns at 3-4 weeks of age
- in 20.9% of Italian newborns at 8-9 weeks of age
The lowest rates of colicky crying were found in Denmark (5.5% at 3-4 weeks) and Germany (6.7% at 3-4 weeks).
The current definitions for determining whether a baby cries excessively and suffers from colic are the Wessel criteria, which were formulated way back in the 1950s.
According to the Wessel criteria, an infant suffers from colic if it cries for 3 hours a day, for more than 3 days a week, for more than 3 weeks starting from the second week of life and up to about 3 months.
Given that in the last 60 years the structure of the family but also the world of childhood has completely transformed, new guidelines suitable for modern parents and health professionals are needed to evaluate what actually are normal crying levels and instead what are excessive ones.
This research is very important to learn more about cultures where babies cry less and understand if this may be due to parenting or other factors related to pregnancy or genetics.
The new normality/excessive crying patterns will help healthcare professionals:
- reassure parents if the baby cries in the range considered normal in the first 3 months
- proceed for further investigation if she shows excessive crying.
Kathryn Barlow is an OB/GYN doctor, which is the medical specialty that deals with the care of women's reproductive health, including pregnancy and childbirth.
Obstetricians provide care to women during pregnancy, labor, and delivery, while gynecologists focus on the health of the female reproductive system, including the ovaries, uterus, vagina, and breasts. OB/GYN doctors are trained to provide medical and surgical care for a wide range of conditions related to women's reproductive health.