Abstract of Ian St. James-Roberts presentation

Managing the Crying of 1-3 Month Old Infants in Western Cultures
Ian St James-Roberts PhD, Thomas Coram Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London.

In Western societies, about 10-15% of parents seek professional help because their baby cries repeatedly, for prolonged amounts of time, without apparent reason. As well as distressing parents, this phenomenon is expensive for health services. As yet, there are no agreed policies on how to manage the crying.
For many years, this phenomenon has been known as 'colic', a term which implies gastro-intestinal disturbance and pain. However, research in the last 10 years has questioned this explanation and provided new evidence about the crying, its impact on parents, and its causes. This talk will summarise the evidence and propose guidelines for health service management in this area.

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