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Infant and Toddler Crying To Soothe or Not to
Soothe?

• Josh Thompson
• Lydia Leeds

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Texas Association for the Education of Young
ChildrenAnnual ConferenceOctober 9, 2004
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A survey of knowledge about Infant Toddler
Crying

• 1. At what age does crying peak?
• 4 weeks
• 6 weeks
• 16 weeks
• 24 weeks

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A survey of knowledge about Infant Toddler
Crying

• 2. How much time per day does the normal 3 month
  old spend crying?
• 15 minutes
• 30 minutes
• one hour
• three hours

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A survey of knowledge about Infant Toddler
Crying

• 3. At what time of day do infants cry the most?
• morning (6am 12pm)
• afternoon (12pm 6pm)
• evening (6pm-12am)
• late night (12am-6am)

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A survey of knowledge about Infant Toddler
Crying

• 4. At what age is crying related to language
  development?
• 15 months
• 18 months
• 24 months
• 36 months

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A survey of knowledge about Infant Toddler
Crying

• 5. Choose the best phrase to complete this
  sentence Picking up a three-month-old every
  time she cries
• is likely to spoil a child.
• teaches the child to be demanding.
• reduces frequency of crying.
• teaches the child to trust.

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• 1. At what age does crying peak?
• B. 6 weeks
• 2. How much time per day does the normal 3 month
  old spend crying?
• C. One hour
• 3. At what time of day do infants cry the most?
• C. evening (6pm-12am)
• 4. At what age is crying related to language
  development?
• B. 18 months
• 5. Rate the following behavior "Picking up a
  three-month-old every time she cries
• D. teaches the child to trust

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The Normal Crying Curve
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The Nature of Crying

• Neonatal crying is a species-specific behavior
  which achieves its likely evolutionary function
  (infant survival) by reliably eliciting responses
  from caregivers. (Gustafson 1990 p.45)

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The Nature of Crying

• Three primary functions
• Sign
• Symptom
• Signal

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The Nature of Crying

• Sign
• Neurological organization
• Normal
• Natural
• Cyclical patterns

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The Nature of Crying

• Symptom
• of disequilibrium
• of state of being
• This shift is common, predictable, and
  independent of caretaker.

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The Nature of Crying

• Temperament is innate Its not a product of the
  environment, your responses, nor of your childs
  attempts to elicit some response from you.
  (McKay (1996) When Anger Hurts Your Kids p. 38)

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The Nature of Crying
colic
hunger

• Crying is a Signal that something is not okay

pain
discomfort
boredom
distress
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Back to the Curve
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Off the curve

• Colic Rule of 3
• A three month old infant who, otherwise
  healthy and well-fed, had paroxysms of
  irritability, fussing, or crying for a total of
  three hours a day and occurring on more than
  three days in any one week (Wessel, et al, 1950)
  for more than three weeks.

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Off the curve

• Trauma physical or emotional, which has
  resulted in prolonged disequilibrium

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Off the curve

• Disability neurological disruptions, chronic
  pain, or genetic abnormalities

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Observation Assessment

• Observer/participant
• Become fluent in the language of crying
• Competent secure care

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Observation Assessment

• Sign note its a good thing
• Neurological organization

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Observation Assessment

• Symptom not personal, it just is, a state of
  being
• Disequilibrium

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Observation Assessment
colic
hunger

• Crying is a Signal that something is not okay

pain
discomfort
boredom
distress
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Observation
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Goodness of fit
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Soothing strategies

• Assisted self-soothing
• Caregiver assisted soothing
• Unassisted self-soothing

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Soothing strategies

• Assisted Self-soothing
• Pacifiers
• Swing
• Blankets
• Music
• Teddy bears

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Soothing strategies Caregiver Assisted soothing

• Holding
• Swaddling
• Infant massage
• Singing (to)

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Soothing strategies

• Unassisted self-soothing
• Thumb-sucking
• Rocking
• Self-stroking
• Humming

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Toddler Strategies

• Describe
• Distract
• Disengage

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Caregiver coping strategies (Brazelton, 2003, pp
19-20)

• ID the cry
• Try the obvious
• Speak softly, bring the pitch and volume down
• Hold his arms and body to avoid startles
• Swaddle him

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Caregiver coping strategies (Brazelton, 2003, pp
19-20)

• Pick him up to cuddle
• Try massaging his back and limbs gently
• Sing to him
• Walk with him
• Use white noise or motion
• Use a football hold.

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Caregiver coping strategies

• Caregiver self check
• Excessive exposure to crying may tip the
  motivation from a concern with the infants
  distress to a desire to alleviate your own
  discomfort in listening to the cry.

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Caregiver coping strategies

• Competent secure care walk away

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Questions MORE Questions

• When is it appropriate to soothe a crying child?
• When do we let them cry it out?

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• Lydia Leeds MA
• SNLLeeds_at_yahoo.com
• Josh Thompson PhD
• Assistant Professor Early Childhood Ed
• Texas AM University-Commerce 
• Josh_Thompson_at_TAMU-Commerce.edu
• Presentation Website
• Faculty.TAMU-Commerce.edu/ JThompson/Resources/Inf
  antCry.htm

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