Baby Colic - Effect On The Family

Effect On The Family

Infant crying can have a prominent effect on the stability of the family. Crying and the fatigue that typically accompanies it can inflict enormous emotional strain causing parents to feel they are providing inadequate care, triggering anxiety, stress, resentment and low self-esteem.

Persistent infant crying has been associated with severe marital discord, postpartum depression, Shaken Baby Syndrome, SIDS/suffocation, early termination of breastfeeding, frequent visits to doctors, maternal smoking and over a quadrupling of excessive laboratory tests and prescription of medication for acid reflux.

Parents are at especially high risk of experiencing a serious reaction to their infant's crying; at-risk parents include teens, drug addicts, foster parents, parents of premies and parents of multiples. Families living in dense housing projects, such as apartment blocks, may also suffer strained relationships with neighbors and landlords if their babies cry loudly for extended periods of time each day.