31st May 2024
We are delighted to announce the launch of an updated Good Practice Point (GPP) on Understanding Babies Who Cry a Lot.
Most Babies Cry and Some Cry A lot – This Good Practice Point was written in collaboration with experts in this topic, Professor Ian St James-Roberts and Maggie Fisher. It summarises what is known about infant crying and its development. It provides evidence-based guidance for health visitors and skill mix teams to support their everyday practice of working in partnership with families, particularly during the period when their babies cry most.
Infant crying is a universally important communication signal that provides parents and carers with information about their infant’s physical and emotional state. It is intended to bring them into closer proximity to their infant to provide safety and comfort which, in turn, supports infant wellbeing and development.
Ian St. James-Roberts, PhD; CPsychol; FBPsS. Emeritus Professor, Thomas Coram Research Unit, UCL Institute of Education, University College London, UK:
Ian St. James-Roberts, PhD; CPsychol; FBPsS. Emeritus Professor, Thomas Coram Research Unit, UCL Institute of Education, University College London, UK
“Around 10-20% of 1–4-month-old infants cry for prolonged periods without an apparent reason.
“Historically, this was called ‘infant colic’. More recently, it has become known as ‘excessive infant crying’ – reflecting a shift in the clinical focus towards understanding the impact of the crying on parents, and helping them to cope.
“This Good Practice Point: (1) summarises what is known about infant crying and its development, including ‘excessive’ infant crying and ‘colic’; and (2) provides evidence-based guidance on ways to support parents and carers whose baby is crying a lot.”
Maggie Fisher RGN, NDN, RHV, BSC (Hons) Ed, PG Dip Infant and Child Mental Health, PG Dip Social Innovation, FiHV:
Maggie Fisher RGN, NDN, RHV, BSC (Hons) Ed, PG Dip Infant and Child Mental Health, PG Dip Social Innovation, FiHV
“It was a pleasure to work with Ian St James-Roberts on this Good Practice Point and tap into his extensive knowledge and research on infant crying.
“I hope health visitors and their teams will find the evidence and evidence-based strategies useful when supporting families of babies who cry excessively.”
The iHV extends its thanks to Ian and Maggie for their contributions in developing this important resource to support everyday health visiting.
This GPP complements other iHV resources for health visiting when supporting parents with responding sensitively to their baby’s needs please see links below:
Please note that GPPs are available to iHV members only.
If you’re not a member, please join us to get access to all of our resources.
The iHV is a self-funding charity – we can only be successful in our mission to strengthen health visiting practice if the health visiting profession and its supporters join us on our journey. We rely on our membership to develop new resources for our members.
So do join us now!
