Your Fussy Baby

One of the nation’s most trusted experts on children’s sleeping habits offers a soothing balm for sorely tired parents—a thoughtful, compassionate guide to understanding and comforting their newborns without disrupting their own lives If your new baby cries inconsolably for many hours a day, take heart. The help you need is here. Renowned pediatrician Dr. Marc Weissbluth knows firsthand how stressful life can be for a sensitive, fussy newborn—not to mention the child’s frantic, exhausted parents. His own firstborn, like more than a fifth of all babies, was a colicky child, causing him and his wife to suffer many sleepless nights. Even extreme fussiness, Dr. Weissbluth says, is not dangerous and usually stops when the child is about four months old. In the meanwhile, however, life can be tough for the whole family. But whether your baby cries for as long as eight hours a day, suffers from gas, refuses to sleep, or all of the above, Your Fussy Baby will gently guide your little one—and you—through this mysterious phase of infant growth. Inside you will discover: • Why your baby cries so much: The most up-to-date research, including some fascinating possibilities that researchers are just beginning to explore. • Dangerous myths about fussiness: Facts and fiction about diet, mothering, proper medications, and much more that even your pediatrician may not know. • The emotional effects: Avoiding the guilt, anxiety, and frustration that having a fussy baby so often stirs up. • What to do when your baby fusses: Specific recommendations for what parents can do to minimize the distress that prolonged crying causes the whole family. • Expert, step-by-step advice on establishing healthy sleep habits for your baby. With this reassuring, down-to-earth guidance, you can help your fretful, fussy newborn to become the sweet, happy baby they were meant to be.