Dear all,

Last  Monday, I was in a meeting, again dealing with the guideline on excessive crying, now being turned into a multidisciplinary one (which it should have been from the very beginning... :-s).
During the meeting, we talked about the differences between excessive crying and perceived excessive crying.
Much of many discussions is a definition-matter, as we have so often discussed here on Lactnet.
So: when is it normal crying that parents (due to the wrong expectations) perceive as excessive and when is it excessive indeed?
What kind of behaviour (on the baby's or the parents' side) causes excessive crying and when is excessive crying the cause of certain behaviours?
And, very importantly: is there a difference (evidence based!) that different cultures have different experiences with regard to excessive crying?
And are those experiences due to different expectations or to different behaviours, different handling of the babies?
There were several sentences in the new texts, claiming that crying freqencies don't differ among cultures, that only durations may differ.
Well... that, of course, can constitute a PRETTY BIG difference when it comes to whether you label a child as excessive crying or not.
Ten or fifteen times a day a couple of minutes is very different from ten or fifteen times an hour or more.
Intuitively, I'm not fully convinced yet, though, that there really is no difference in frequency.
Another point: the text said that carrying/babywearing might reduce crying in *normal* babies, but *not* in excessively crying babies.
"Therefore, parents ought to be instructed that carrying their excessively crying baby has no effect and should not be encouraged."
Good grief... as if the carrying and wearing is only 'effective' if the crying baby is silenced, and not if it keeps crying, but is at least not alone!!

So, now that the process is on to a different route, where new people are trying to set up a clear context with regard to crying in general, I could do with your help.
Can you send me, either on or off list, either links or articles that elaborate on the cultural differences with regard to crying.
Especially interesting are facts about effects of responsive behaviour and carrying.
There must be a lot, but I often get totally lost in the overdose and never seem to be able to find the most convincing stuff.
I have to give my feedback on over hundred pages as far as wording, assuptions and conclusions in the text are concerned, so help with references would be more than welcome.
Those of you who have already dealt with this and know that certain studies are really relevant... please forward them to me.
I really hope we will be able to give the guideline a different character and inform hcp's about the importance of closeness.
Thanks very much in advance!

Warm regards from the tropically hot Netherlands where the semi-finals in soccer were reached yesterday ;o) ,

Marianne Vanderveen IBCLC (hoping to catch a few deadlines before leaving for the summer holiday on 13th July...)

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