The excessively crying infant : etiology and treatment

Excessive crying, often described as infantile colic, is the cause of 10% to 20% of all early pediatrician visits of infants aged 2 weeks to 3 months. Although usually benign and selflimiting, excessive crying is associated with parental exhaustion and stress. However, and underlying organic cause is found in less than 5% of these infants. In the majority of cases, treatment consists not of “curing the colic,” although usually it is possible to reduce crying, but of helping the parents to get through this challenging period in their baby’s development. The aims of this review are to discuss definition, etiology, and evaluate different treatment regimes in infants who cry excessively

Sleep in infancy

Schlarb A, Schneider B. Schlaf im Säuglingsalter. SOMNOLOGIE. 2018;22(4):273-284.Good sleep first needs to be learned. Not all infants manage this by themselves; some need the support of their parents. In order for this to succeed or for regulatory disorders to be intercepted, knowledge and good advice from acompetent source are required. The widely available parenting books on the subject of children's sleep, which are frequently read by desperate parents, are often not sufficient to ensure adequate information on the relationships between sleep and self-regulation. More decisive is competent counseling from medically trained specialist staff. It is important to know and be able to explain the physiological changes of sleep during the first year of life

Family Violence and Maltreatment of Women During the Perinatal Period: Associations with Infant Morbidity in Indian Slum Communities

OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of non-violent, gender-based forms of maltreatment of women by husbands and in-laws (i.e., gender-based household maltreatment; GBHM) during pregnancy and postpartum; to clarify the role of GBHM in compromising infant health, and whether this role extends beyond that previously observed for intimate partner violence (IPV). METHODS: Cross-sectional, quantitative data were collected from women (ages 15-35) seeking immunizations for their infants <6 months of age (N=1061) in urban health centers in Mumbai, India. Logistic regression models were constructed to assess associations between maternal abuse (perinatal IPV, in-law violence and GBHM) and recent infant morbidity (diarrhea, respiratory distress, fever, colic and vomiting). RESULTS: More than one in four women (28.4%) reported IPV during their recent pregnancy and/or during the postpartum period, 2.6% reported perinatal violence from in-laws, and 49.0% reported one or more forms of perinatal GBHM. In adjusted regression models that included all forms of family violence and maltreatment, perinatal GBHM remained significantly associated with infant morbidity (AORs 1.4-1.9); perinatal IPV and in-law violence ceased to predict infant morbidity in models including GBHM. CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicate that non-violent expressions of gender inequity (e.g., nutritional deprivation, deprivation of sleep, blocking access to health care during pregnancy) are more strongly associated with poor infant health than physical or sexual violence from husbands or in-laws in urban India. These results strongly suggest the need to expand the conception of gender inequities beyond IPV to include non-violent forms of gendered mistreatment in considering their impact on infant health

Child Care Health Dev

BACKGROUND: Parenting stress is influenced by many factors including maternal attachment and excessive infant crying, yet the nature of these relationships is not well understood. For example, excessive infant crying despite maternal soothing may impact maternal attachment to the child, leading to higher stress. This paper explored whether maternal perception of excessive infant crying at six months was associated with higher maternal parenting stress at 24 months, and whether maternal attachment mediated this relationship. METHODS: All families, present at 24 months in a randomized controlled trial of a five-year early intervention program targeting school readiness skills in disadvantaged area of Ireland, were included. At six months, infant crying was assessed using a maternal reported measure of duration of infant crying and maternal attachment to the infant was assessed using the Condon Maternal Attachment Scale. Parenting stress was assessed at 24 months using the childrearing stress subscale from the Parenting Stress Index. Structural Equation Modelling was used to explore the direct and indirect effects of maternal perceptions of excessive infant crying on parenting stress, controlling for infant, maternal, and environmental characteristics, focusing on the mediating role of maternal attachment. RESULTS: Reporting excessive infant crying at six months was associated with lower maternal attachment at six months, which led to higher parenting stress at 24 months. In addition, vulnerable adult attachment style, previous maternal mental health difficulties, low paternal education, paternal involvement with the child, and not being married were associated with higher parenting stress. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that the association between maternal perceptions of excessive crying at six months and later parenting stress may be mediated through maternal attachment to the infant. Interventions based on improving maternal attachment could be investigated to determine the effectiveness of supporting mothers with low attachment