The crying infant and the family

Crying is one of the first forms of communication between the baby and his#shher family. The reaction of the family to baby's crying was studied during the first six months. Twenty-eight babies entered in the study. A questionnaire and personal visits were used. Ninety-six correlations were analysed by computer.

1. A certain amount of crying can be considered physiological which seems to be independent from external stimuli.
2. The crying of an infant seems to be greatly affected by the anxiety and the tense atmosphere of the family.
3. The so-called “good baby” is cuddled significantly less.
4. If the mother considered the crying to be a normal signal of a healthy baby, she usually used only one method to calm the infant.
5. The feeding behaviour of the infant did not seem to influence the mother's response to crying.
6. The dummy was the most commonly used method to quieten a baby.
7. When either one or more methods were used to soothe a baby, they were successful in 85 per cent of cases.