A randomized, controlled trial of a behavioral intervention to reduce crying among infants.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the efficacy of videotaped instruction of a behavioral intervention to reduce crying among newborns. METHODS Mothers of healthy, full-term newborns were recruited from the postpartum unit of a large community hospital for a prospective, randomized, controlled trial of an intervention to reduce infant crying. Mothers participating in the intervention viewed a videotape with instructions involving swaddling, side positioning, white noise, jiggling, and sucking. Mothers in the control group viewed a videotape with instructions for normal newborn care. Intervention was assessed by mean hours per day of infant total crying (fussing, crying, and unsoothable crying) and sleeping as recorded in a diary 3 days a week during the 1st, 4th, 6th, 8th, and 12th weeks of age; the Parenting Stress Index was also used during the 6th and 12th weeks. RESULTS Fifty-one mother-infant pairs were recruited; 35 completed the study (18 intervention and 17 controls). Sixteen were lost to follow-up. There were no statistically significant differences between the groups in the hours of mean daily total crying or sleeping during the 1st, 4th, 6th, 8th, or 12th weeks of age. For example, during the 6th week of age mean daily total crying was 1.9 hours for infants in the control group versus 2.2 hours for infants in the intervention group (P = .4); sleep was 14.5 hours for infants in the control group versus 14.4 hours for infants in the intervention group (P = .8). During the 12th week mean daily total crying was 1.2 hours for infants in the control group versus 1.8 hours for infants in the intervention group (P = .8) and sleep was 14.1 hours for infants in the control group versus 14.0 hours for infants in the intervention group (P = 1.0). There was no difference between the groups in the Parenting Stress Index during the 6th week of age. CONCLUSION The behavioral intervention, when provided via videotape, does not seem to be efficacious in decreasing total crying among normal infants.