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Related Experiment Video

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P50 Sensory Gating in Infants

P50 Sensory Gating in Infants

Published on: December 26, 2013

Distinguishing infant prolonged crying from sleep-waking problems.

Ian St James-Roberts¹, Emma Peachey

¹Thomas Coram Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London, 27-28 Woburn Square, London, UK. i.stjamesroberts@ioe.ac.uk

Archives of Disease in Childhood

|January 12, 2011

Summary

Most infants experiencing prolonged crying at 5-6 weeks of age sleep through the night by 12 weeks. This suggests separate causes for infant crying and night waking, rather than a general regulation disturbance.

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Area of Science:

Developmental Psychology
Pediatrics
Infant Behavior

Background:

Excessive infant crying and night waking are common parental concerns and healthcare issues.
These behaviors are often linked to a generalized infant regulation disturbance.
However, crying and night waking manifest differently across ages and times.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if prolonged infant crying at 5-6 weeks predicts night waking at 12 weeks.
To differentiate the causation of infant crying versus sleep-waking problems.

Main Methods:

Analysis of data from two longitudinal studies.
Infant crying data collected via validated behavior diaries.
Sleep-waking data gathered using standard parental questionnaires.

Main Results:

A weak, significant association between early crying and later night waking was found in only one of two studies.
The majority of infants with prolonged crying/colic at 5-6 weeks were sleeping through the night at 12 weeks.
These infants were not more prone to night waking than their peers.

Conclusions:

Most infants with significant early crying settle to sleep through the night by 12 weeks.
This finding supports the hypothesis that crying and night waking have distinct underlying causes.
Infant sleep-waking issues likely stem from the maintenance of signaling behaviors, not a generalized regulatory problem.