We all know that hearing your baby (or any baby for that
matter) cry is stressful! Stress hormones are released so that parents jump
into action to find out the reason for the crying. But what if the baby
continues to cry despite the parent’s attempts to calm him? How does this
affect caregivers? A group of
researchers had this same question and conducted a study to see whether or not maternal
depression was associated with infant crying, specifically inconsolable crying,
or “crying that cannot be soothed.”
In a group of 587 postpartum women, infant crying was
assessed at 5-6 weeks of age followed by a maternal depression assessment at 8
weeks postpartum. Total amount of crying was recorded for 4 days and the amount
of inconsolable crying was also recorded. Symptoms of depression were assessed
using a survey, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS).
So, what did the researchers find?
At 5-6 weeks postpartum, the majority of mothers (about 57%)
reported no inconsolable crying and about 13% of mothers reported more than 20
minutes per day of inconsolable crying. Mothers with “possible depression” (EPDS
score ≥9)
reported more minutes of infant distress (crying) compared to mothers with no
depressive symptoms. They also reported significantly more inconsolable crying
than mothers without depression. Mothers were twice as likely to be categorized
as having “possible depression” if their
babies had “colic” (defined as more than 3 hours of crying per day) than if
their babies did not have colic. Mothers reporting more than 20 minutes of
inconsolable crying per day were 4 times more likely to be categorized as
having “possible depression” than those that reported no inconsolable crying.
This study found that mothers who felt unable to calm their
infants (inconsolable crying) was more predictive of postpartum depression than
total number of hours of crying. This research group wondered if providing
mothers with education about normal infant crying and ways to soothe their
crying babies would be helpful in preventing depressive symptoms by reducing
reported inconsolable crying. The authors state that further research is needed
to confirm this.
Our “Baby Behavior” research has shown that caregivers need
tools to deal with the normal crying that occurs in young babies. Knowing what
to expect and that crying is not random, but is a form of communication, can
help parents feel more prepared and less stressed. Using repetition to soothe instead of trying a
variety of different soothing techniques is the key. Find what works for your
baby, such as rocking or singing and repeat it over and over until the baby
calms down. Be patient. If your baby is very upset or has been crying for a
while, it may take time for her to calm down. For more information about infant
crying basics, click here. For tools to cope with crying, click here. Some
babies cry more than others. For more information about persistent criers,
click here.
Reference
Radesky JS, Zuckerman B, Silverstein M, Rivara FP, Barr M,
Taylor JA, Lengua LJ, Barr RG. Inconsolable Infant Crying and Maternal
Postpartum Depressive Symptoms. Pediatrics. 2013;131:1-8.
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