Abstract
“Colic” is an ill-defined but common complaint typically thought to be a sign of an underlying disease process or a clinical entity distinct from the crying that characterizes normal infants. In this paper, an alternative hypothesis is suggested. The general argument is that colic represents the upper end of the spectrum of the crying activity of normal infants. However, it is not the case that all aspects of crying will be increased; rather, that the “excessive” crying in colic is due specifically to prolonged bouts of otherwise normal crying. The results of three studies in normal infants are presented to support this argument. Together, the results support the concept that the crying typical of normal infants reflects a biological predisposition to cry, which is nevertheless affected by sufficiently large changes in the caretaking environment, and that these caretaking changes preferentially affect bout length. If so, then the key to “colic” may be in understanding how biology and behavior interact to produce, not just crying, but prolonged crying bouts.
Published Version
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