Crying, colic & the 6-week peak

This is a phase with a name

Healthy babies cry more from about 2 weeks, peak around 6 to 8 weeks (up to 2 or 3 hours a day is within normal!), and ease off a lot by 12 weeks. Researchers call it the Period of PURPLE Crying:

• Peak of crying · Unexpected · Resists soothing · Pain-like face · Long lasting · Evening clusters

The crucial part: this crying is not a sign you are doing anything wrong. Often nothing “fixes” it, and it passes on its own schedule.

Colic, defined

The classic “rule of threes”: crying 3+ hours a day, 3+ days a week, for 3+ weeks in an otherwise healthy, feeding, growing baby. It affects up to 1 in 4 babies, usually vanishes by 3 to 4 months, and causes no long-term harm.

The soothing toolkit (work through it calmly)

• Rule out the basics: hunger, dirty diaper, too hot or cold, a hair wrapped around a toe or finger.
• Motion: rocking, a walk in the carrier or stroller, gentle bouncing on a gym ball.
• Sound: shushing, white noise, a fan in the next room, your humming.
• Contact: skin-to-skin on your chest, a warm bath together, gentle tummy massage or bicycling the legs.
• Sucking: a feed or a pacifier.
• Less input: sometimes the problem is overstimulation. Dim the lights, quiet the room, do less.

Nothing working? That happens a lot at this age. If baby is fed, clean and safe, carrying them while they cry is enough. You are not doing it wrong.

Protect the parents too

• Tag-team: hand the baby over before you reach your limit, not after.
• It is always okay to put the baby down safely on their back in the crib and step out for a few minutes to breathe.
• If the crying is grinding you down day after day, tell your pediatrician, midwife or health visitor. Many places have crying clinics and parent helplines for exactly this.