In plain words
The crying curve describes how much babies cry over the first months. Crying is low in the first two weeks. It rises through the first month and peaks around six weeks of age. Then it falls, usually by about three to four months. This pattern appears across many cultures and countries. Most babies follow it, and most cry for some part of each day. Knowing the curve helps mothers see that a fussy stretch is common and temporary. Crying that is much longer or harder than the curve suggests can be a sign to talk with a provider. The curve also helps explain why is not a single condition but may be the far end of normal crying.
The deeper version
Brazelton (Pediatrics, 1962) first described the typical crying pattern, with crying peaking around the second month, and Wessel and colleagues (Pediatrics, 1954) defined paroxysmal fussing with the rule of threes. Barr's developmental framework treats the curve as a product of immature self-regulation and sleep-wake organization. Cross-cultural datasets show a peak near six weeks in mean daily crying time, typically around two hours in the observed samples. Because the curve is continuous, colic is best seen as the upper tail of the distribution, which is why diagnostic criteria remain disputed. Some researchers argue that the curve obscures a subset of infants whose crying is driven by gastrointestinal or other conditions, a point that remains open.
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Sources
- Brazelton TB — Crying in infancy. Pediatrics, 1962
- Wessel MA, Cobb JC, Jackson EB, Harris GS, Detwiler AC — Paroxysmal fussing in infancy, sometimes called colic. Pediatrics, 1954