Infant Crying Patterns in the First Year: Normal Community and Clinical Findings

Abstract

– To provide information about persistent infant crying, crying durations and patterns were measured at four age points (1–3, 4–6, 7–9 and 10–12 months) in normal community (N= 400) and clinical (N= 68) samples. The findings provide a range of prevalence figures and descriptive statistics which may be useful for parents and professionals faced with infant crying. A large developmental shift in crying amount, and two age-related changes of crying pattern, were found. Clinical infants showed the same crying profiles as the general community infants, but were found to cry substantially more. Although mothers of first-borns were more likely to seek clinical referral, there were no birth-order differences in crying amount or pattern. The findings’implications for studies of infant temperament and development are indicated.