A prospective study of crying during the first year of infancy

Abstract

Mothers of ‘crying’ infants, who reported excessive crying before 3 months of age, together with mothers of matched controls who did not, were interviewed using the Crying Patterns Questionnaire (CPQ) at infant ages 4 months, 8 months, and 12 months. By 4 months of age daily amounts of crying for both groups had fallen significantly. ‘Crying’ group infants were reported to cry significantly more than controls for the whole of their first year. Both groups cried somewhat less at 12 months than at 4 months, although these age differences were found to be statistically nonsignificant. The pattern of infant crying across the day was also analysed and found to be similar for both groups. Reported hourly crying rates increased during the afternoon and evening, with morning and night-time being the periods of least crying. Closer analysis of the pattern of crying across the day suggested that further investigation of crying peaks within the afternoon and evening may be worthwhile. Overall, the study suggests that after the first 3 months, the mean amount of infant crying tends to persist across the rest of the first year of life.