My Baby Cries All The Time — Is This Normal?

Many newborns have periods of crying during the day. For many babies, this fussy period increases in duration until about 6 weeks of age, then improves and disappears around 3 to 4 months of age. Often this fussy period comes toward the end of the day. When your baby cries, try any one of the following:

1) feeding, 2) holding, 3) using a pacifier, 4) checking to see if he/she is wet, 5) singing or rocking or walking, 6) seeing if he/she is tired and wants to sleep.

Try these in any order, whichever you think is most appropriate. The more babies are held, usually, the less they cry. One study of babies who cried a lot found that their crying was dramatically by holding them an extra three hours a day, even when the baby was not crying. One way to hold your baby a lot is to buy "Snuggly" or a baby sling. Cigarette smoke has also been shown to increase infant crying, so avoid exposure to it. Some babies do well just to be swaddle tightly in a blanket and left alone in a quiet, dark room for 5 minutes.

Most of the times babies respond to one of the measures mentioned above. A car ride is another way to get your baby to stop crying. For some reason they find the vibration soothing. Some babies also like rhythmic bouncing on their stomach on your lap or arm. If you've tried soothing your baby, it's also ok to allow 5 minutes of crying followed by comforting, "they just need to cry it out a little."