• Home

Home > Medical Reference > Encyclopedia (English)

Toggle: English / Spanish

Crying - excessive (0-6 months)

• Overview
• Treatment

Alternative Names:

Excessive crying (infants 0-6 months)

Home Care:

Follow the provider's treatment advice, which will depend on the cause.

If the infant seems constantly hungry despite short, frequent feedings, consult with a provider about normal growth and feeding times.

If crying is due to boredom or loneliness, it may be helpful to touch, hold, and talk to the infant more and place the infant within sight. Place baby-safe toys where the child can see them. If crying is due to sleep disturbance, wrap the baby firmly in a blanket before putting the infant to bed.

For excessive crying in infants due to cold, dress the infant warmly or adjust the temperature. Typically, if adults are cold, the baby is cold also.

Always check for possible causes of pain or discomfort in a crying baby. When cloth diapers are used, look for diaper pins that have become loose or loose threads that have become tightly wrapped around fingers or toes. Diaper rashes also can be uncomfortable.

Take your baby's temperature to check for fever. Check your baby head-to-toe for any injuries. Pay particular attention to the fingers, toes, and genitalia. It is not uncommon for a hair to get wrapped around part of your baby, creating a painful "hair tourniquet".

Call your health care provider if:

• Excessive crying remains unexplained and unresolved for more than 1 day, despite attempts at home treatment.
• Excessive crying is accompanied by other symptoms, such as fever.

What to expect at your health care provider's office:

The health care provider will perform a physical examination and ask questions like the following:

• Is the child teething?
• Is the child bored, lonely, hungry, thirsty?
• Does the child seem to have a lot of gas (flatus)?
• Are the parents nervous or anxious?
• What other symptoms are also present?
  • Is the child irritable?
  • Is the child hard to arouse?
  • Does the child have a poor appetite?
  • Does the child have a fever?
  • Is the child vomiting?

For bacterial infections, antibiotics may be prescribed. The provider will assess the infant's growth and development.

After seeing your provider, you may want to add a diagnosis related to excessive crying to your child's personal medical record.

• Review Date: 11/23/2006
• Reviewed By: John Goldenring, MD, MPH, JD, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital, San Diego, CA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org). URAC's accreditation program is the first of its kind, requiring compliance with 53 standards of quality and accountability, verified by independent audit. A.D.A.M. is among the first to achieve this important distinction for online health information and services. Learn more about A.D.A.M.'s editorial process . A.D.A.M. is also a founding member of Hi-Ethics (www.hiethics.com) and subscribes to the principles of the Health on the Net Foundation (www.hon.ch).

The information provided herein should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed physician should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. Call 911 for all medical emergencies. Links to other sites are provided for information only -- they do not constitute endorsements of those other sites. Copyright 1997-2007 A.D.A.M., Inc. Any duplication or distribution of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited.