Crying Baby Less Than 3 Months Old (Includes Colic)

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Symptom Definition

• A child less than 90 days of age has the sudden onset of unexplained crying.
• The younger the child, the harder it is to identify the cause of the crying.

Causes

• Main cause of recurrent crying: normal fussy crying. When this occurs > 3 hours/day, it’s called colic.
• Gas does not cause crying. All crying babies pass lots of gas and their intestines make lots of gassy noises. The gas comes from swallowed air. The gas is normal and it does not become trapped nor cause any pains.

See More Appropriate Topic (instead of this one) If

• Age older than 3 months old (not colic), see CRYING CHILD OLDER THAN 3 MONTHS OLD.
• FEVER or any symptoms of an illness, see that topic.
• Crying from hunger, see BREASTFEEDING or BOTTLE FEEDING QUESTIONS