The Period of Purple Crying
All babies cry – it’s their way of communicating. Their crying could mean they are hungry, need a diaper change, are cold and need to be swaddled, have gas (colic) and are uncomfortable, or they could be sick. But there is also a time in an infant’s life where you’ll see a period of increased crying during the first few months. This is said to be normal. Usually, the increased crying begins around two weeks of age, will escalate during the second month of life, and begins to taper off during the third and forth month. ALL infants cry more during this period of time and some infants cry more than others.
The letters in the word PURPLE, which PURPLE is an acronym used to help those caring for infants to recognize the characteristics of normal infant crying:
To enlarge – hold Ctrl key and press + key – Image courtesy of http://www.clicksforbabies.org
This Period of Purple Crying can often bring about frustration in parents and caregivers. And this frustration is the number one cause of shaking or abusing a baby. Shaking a baby can leave them with devastating brain damage and leave them with what is called the Shaken Baby Syndrome. Take the time to educate yourself on what the Period of Purple Crying is all about. Make sure caregivers understand what this period of crying is about. However, whenever in doubt, consult a physician.
There’s no excuse for abusing an innocent baby out of frustration – there’s always someone that can be called upon to help. Call 911 if you must. Call a friend. Call the hospital. Call relatives. Call a neighbor. Just never shake a baby! Never take the frustration felt out on the infant…you can damage them for life.
To learn more about the Period of Purple Crying visit: https://www.dontshake.org/purple-crying
To see how you can help spread awareness – visit:
//www.clickforbabies.org
18 Responses to “What is the Period of Purple Crying”
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This is a great post! I’m sending it over to my friend that just had a baby.
Loving the post looking good
I can remember my son going through this. It was tough but we got thru it.
This is a great post.I have never seen it explained this way.
Thanks for all the advice.
Thanks for the good info! 🙂
My “babies” are in their 30’s now but this sure would have been helpful to know when they were babies!
I have never heard of this and am sharing with my brother as he has a new little one that craves a lot. My son had issues with Colic and cured the first few months and my daughter was a breeze and never cried 🙂
This was very informative!
this is a wonderful idea its a great reminder to be educated and alert. babies need us i mean who else do they have but their parent or caregiver. check it out to recognize normal or abnormal breathing.
First time I have heard of this. I don’t have kids but now I’m aware of this if I ever do. Thanks for posting!
This was helpful information! With the heightened amount of baby/child deaths, babysitters and parents alike need to understand PURPLE.
Great post! Thanks for the info!
I have never heard of this before. Sounds interesting.
This is so helpful to know!
I am a great grandma and I have never heard of the period of purple crying. I know each letter stands for something that the baby is going through. I still never heard it called this. A mom should always have a friend or someone they can count on. I will pin this and share on other Social Media sites. I have never shook my babies! I hope that no one else does! To me that’s like attempted murder! Please be kind to your babies! They need you!
This is something everyone needs to read, there’s definitely no excuse to abuse babies and kids
Good information that people can learn from.