PEDIATRICS Vol. 95 No. 3 March 1995, pp. 381-388
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by St. James-Roberts, I.
Right arrow Articles by Barr, R. G.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by St. James-Roberts, I.
Right arrow Articles by Barr, R. G.

Supplementary Carrying Compared With Advice to Increase Responsive Parenting as Interventions to Prevent Persistent Infant Crying

Ian St. James-Roberts PhD1, Jane Hurry PhD2, Josephine Bowyer BSc, RSCN2, and Ronald G. Barr MDCM, FRCP(C)3

1 Department of Child Development and Primary Education, Thomas Coram Research Unit, London University Institute of Education
2 Thomas Coram Research Unit, London University Institute of Education
3 Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry, McGill University-Montreal Children's Hospital Research Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Objective. To compare two interventions (supplementary carrying, increased parental responsiveness) introduced from birth for their effectiveness in reducing the amounts of crying in general community infants at 2, 6, and 12 weeks age.

Design and participants. Mothers and infants in newborn wards of maternity hospitals were assigned to carrying intervention, responsiveness intervention, or control groups. Follow-up measures were used to confirm that the interventions were implemented and to determine their effects on infant crying.

Setting and measurements. Diary measurements completed in the home were employed to measure the aspects of parental behavior targeted by the interventions. Audio recordings, diaries, and questionnaires assessed the amounts the infants cried and the impact of the crying on their mothers and the health services. Sample sizes at 6 weeks of age were 59 (carrying intervention), 57 (responsiveness intervention), and 94 infants (control group).

Results. The carrying intervention successfully increased the amounts the infants were carried, particularly while settled, to the target levels. The responsiveness intervention led to more limited increases in carrying and to a modest increase in feeding frequency, but did not affect measures of parental interactiveness and play. No differences in amounts of crying and fussing were found between the three groups of infants on any of the measures. Subsidiary analyses confirmed that the dependent variable (infant fuss\crying) and main independent variable (carrying while settled) were not significantly correlated.

Conclusions. It is not, at present, possible to recommend either supplementery carrying or increased parental responsiveness as primary, preventative interventions to reduce infant crying.

Submitted on January 5, 1994
Accepted on June 29, 1994




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 PediatricsHome page
I. St James-Roberts, M. Alvarez, E. Csipke, T. Abramsky, J. Goodwin, and E. Sorgenfrei
Infant crying and sleeping in London, Copenhagen and when parents adopt a "proximal" form of care.
Pediatrics, June 1, 2006; 117(6): e1146 - e1155.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 PediatricsHome page
W. Stening, P. Nitsch, G. Wassmer, and B. Roth
Cardiorespiratory Stability of Premature and Term Infants Carried in Infant Slings
Pediatrics, November 1, 2002; 110(5): 879 - 883.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J Child Health CareHome page
T. long
Review : Excessive infantile crying: a review of the literature
J Child Health Care, September 1, 2001; 5(3): 111 - 116.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Arch. Dis. Child.Home page
I. S. James-Roberts; and J R HARPER
What is distinct about infants' "colic" cries? • Commentary
Arch. Dis. Child., January 1, 1999; 80(1): 56 - 62.
[Abstract] [Full Text]