text: Babies cry more in Britain, Canada, Italy and Netherlands than in other countries – proved for first time by new research by the University of Warwick. 
   
   Psychologists have created world’s first universal charts for normal amount of crying in babies during first three months 
   
   in babies during first three months On average, babies around the world cry for around 2 hours per day in first two weeks, peak at 2 hours 15 mins at six weeks - and crying reduces to 1 hour 10 minutes by week twelve 
   
   In Denmark, Germany and Japan, parents deal with the least amount of crying and fussing 
   
   Babies cry more in Britain, Canada and Italy, than the rest of the world – according to new research by the University of Warwick. 
   
   Professor Dieter Wolke in the Department of Psychology and the Warwick Medical School has formulated the world’s first universal charts for the normal amount of crying in babies during the first three months. 
   
   In a meta-analysis of studies involving almost 8700 infants – in countries including Germany, Denmark, Japan, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK – Professor Wolke calculated the average of how long babies fuss and cry per twenty-four hours across different cultures in their first twelve weeks. 
   
   On average, it was found that babies cry for around two hours per day in the first two weeks. Crying generally peaks at around two hours fifteen minutes per day at six weeks – and reduces gradually to an average of 1 hour 10 minutes by the twelve week mark. 
   
   However, some infants were found to cry as little as 30 minutes - and others over 5 hours - in twenty-four hours. 
   
   Babies cry the most in the UK, Italy, Canada, and the Netherlands – and the lowest levels of crying were found in Denmark, Germany and Japan. 
   
   The highest levels of colic – defined as crying more than 3 hours a day for at least 3 days a week in a baby– were found in the UK (28% of infants at 1-2 weeks), Canada (34.1% at 3-4 weeks of age) and Italy (20.9% at 8-9 weeks of age). 
   
   In contrast, lowest colic rates were reported in Denmark (5.5% at 3-4 weeks) and Germany (6.7% at 3-4 weeks). 
   
   The current definitions for determining whether a baby is crying too much and suffering from colic, are the Wessel criteria, which were formulated in the 1950s. 
   
   As childcare and the family unit has largely transformed over the last half century and across different cultures, new universal guidelines were needed for modern parents and health professionals to assess normal and excessive levels of crying in babies. 
   
   Professor Wolke comments on what the research will lead to: 
   
   “Babies are already very different in how much they cry in the first weeks of life – there are large but normal variations. We may learn more from looking at cultures where there is less crying and whether this may be due to parenting or other factors relating to pregnancy experiences or genetics. 
   
   “The new chart of normal fuss/cry amounts in babies across industrialised countries will help health professionals to reassure parents whether a baby is crying within the normal expected range in the first 3 months or shows excessive crying which may require further evaluation and extra support for the parents.” 
   
   The research, ‘Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis: Fussing and Crying Durations and Colic Prevalence in Infants’ is published in The Journal of Pediatrics. 
   
   3 April 2017 ||||| Professor Dieter Wolke, who led the research, said: “German and Danish parents are much less likely to get worked up and they will wait a little bit before they intervene to see if the baby can self-sooth. 
   
   “They don’t get all worried about it.” 
   
   Across all the countries examined for the survey, babies cried for an average of two hours per day in the first two weeks after birth. 
   
   Crying peaked at about two hours and 15 minutes each day at six weeks of age, before gradually reducing to an average of one hour and 10 minutes. 
   
   Previous research has indicated that around 40 per cent of infant crying is inconsolable, and Professor Wolke said many new mothers and fathers are unduly stressed by some “unscientific” parenting books which offer bogus solutions. 
   
   Concern in Britain over crying babies costed the NHS an estimated £70 million each year, he said, with stressed-out parents less more likely to reinforce a pattern of crying. 
   
   “It’s the same principal as going on a plane,” he said. 
   
   “You are told to put your own oxygen mask on before helping others. 
   
   “If you are not relaxed you are not going to be any use to your baby.” 
   
   But he added that adult well-being surveys consistently put Denmark as one of the happiest countries in the world and that Danish babies may enjoy some “genetic bias” whereby they cry less. 
   
   “The new chart of normal fuss/cry amounts in babies across industrialised countries will help health care professions to reassure parents whether a baby is crying within the normal expected range in the first three months or shows excessive crying which may require further evaluation and extra support for the parents,” he said.
target: – New research into the amount of time that infants in various countries spend crying found that the littlest ones in usually placid Canada were the most colicky. British babies came in second, followed by Italy. The most tranquil tots, meanwhile, live in Denmark and Germany. Writing in the Journal of Pediatrics, psychologists at the University of Warwick analyzed 28 previous studies of some 8,700 infants to measure colic—a harmless, if nerve-jangling, condition—by gauging crying times during the first 12 weeks. The longest crying jags were clocked in Canada, reports the Guardian, where 34.1% of babies wailed more than three hours a day, at least three days a week. In the UK, the tally was 28% and in Italy 20.9%. Relatively blissful Danish babes scored 5.5%, with Germany at 6.7%. The first-of-its kind analysis found that babies the world over cry around two hours a day for the first weeks, peaking at two hours and 15 minutes at six weeks. Happily for stressed-out new parents everywhere, crying time is halved by week 12, per a press release. Lead researcher Dieter Wolke says parents in countries with low colic scores are less likely to intervene when baby starts crying, allowing the infant to self-soothe. "They don’t get all worried about it," Wolke tells the Telegraph. Then again, he notes, Danish babies may enjoy a bit of "genetic bias" since their country consistently ranks at the top of wellness surveys. In any case, new parents should learn to chill. "If you are not relaxed you are not going to be any use to your baby," Wolke says. (Crying saved this baby's life.)