Purple crying
Also called PURPLE crying, the Period of PURPLE Crying, period of purple crying
Purple crying is the long, hard-to-soothe crying that many healthy babies go through in the early months. It usually starts around 2 weeks of age and ends around 3 to 5 months.
How it's said
I found the concept of "purple crying", I think it's called, where your baby just cries a lot even though there's no medical problem.
I'm slightly worried, though, that the website says purple crying can last until 3 to 4 months!
...the purple crying is off the charts at times.
Does anyone know about the period of purple crying?
She starts screaming, purple crying, and often won't stop for the entire journey home (30 to 40 minutes on average).
Who says it
Not to be confused with
- Colic is the older word for the same long, hard-to-soothe crying in a healthy baby. Some experts avoid it because it sounds like an illness, and the word period in the program's name says the crying has an end.
- The witching hour is the fussy part of each day, usually the evening. Purple crying names the whole run of weeks when that crying peaks.
Where it came from
Dr. Ronald G. Barr, a developmental pediatrician at the University of British Columbia and an expert on infant crying, introduced the phrase the Period of PURPLE Crying. He built it into a program with the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome, based in Utah, to help prevent shaken baby syndrome by teaching parents what normal crying looks like.
In 2004 the center announced a $1.5 million project to test the program, and it has been available since 2007. Each letter names a feature of the crying: Peak of crying, Unexpected, Resists soothing, Pain-like face, Long lasting, Evening. The word period is there to say the crying has a beginning and an end.
The center says the program is now used at over 2,000 sites, with materials in English, Spanish and French. Despite the name, it has nothing to do with a baby turning purple.