Why Is My Baby Crying? Understanding the Period of PURPLE Crying

Key takeaways: Crying increases from about 2 weeks, peaks around 6 to 8 weeks, and improves by 3 to 4 months. It can happen even when nothing is wrong. Try one soothing technique at a time. If you feel overwhelmed, put your baby down safely and walk away. Never shake a baby.

Few things are as stressful as a baby who won’t stop crying. You’ve fed them, changed them, rocked them, and they’re still screaming. Is something wrong? Are you doing something wrong? Usually, the answer to both is no. Understanding normal infant crying can help you get through the hardest weeks.

How Much Do Babies Cry?

Researchers who have tracked infant crying find a consistent pattern in healthy babies around the world. Crying tends to increase starting around 2 weeks of age, peaks around 6 to 8 weeks, and decreases by 3 to 4 months. At the peak, some healthy babies cry for several hours a day, especially in the late afternoon and evening.

The Period of PURPLE Crying

The National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome uses the acronym PURPLE to describe this normal phase:

• Peak of crying: your baby may cry more each week, peaking around 2 months.
• Unexpected: crying can come and go without any obvious reason.
• Resists soothing: your baby may keep crying no matter what you try.
• Pain-like face: your baby may look like they’re in pain even when they aren’t.
• Long lasting: crying can last 5 hours a day or more.
• Evening: crying often happens in the late afternoon and evening.

The word “Period” matters most: this phase has a beginning and an end.

What About Colic?

“Colic” is a label often used for crying more than 3 hours a day, at least 3 days a week, for at least 3 weeks, in an otherwise healthy, well-fed baby. Colic isn’t a disease. It’s best understood as the far end of normal crying, and it ends on its own.

First, Rule Out the Basics

Before assuming crying is “just crying,” check:

• Is your baby hungry? (Newborns eat often.)
• Is the diaper wet or dirty?
• Is your baby too hot or too cold?
• Does your baby need to burp?
• Is there a hair wrapped tightly around a finger, toe, or penis (a “hair tourniquet”)?
• Is clothing too tight or scratchy?
• Is your baby overtired or overstimulated?

A Soothing Toolkit

No single technique works every time, and what works one day may not work the next. Try one approach at a time for a few minutes:

• Hold close: skin-to-skin contact or a soft carrier (face visible, chin off chest).
• Motion: rocking, swaying, bouncing gently on an exercise ball, walking, or a stroller ride.
• Sound: steady white noise, shushing, humming, or a fan, at a moderate volume and not right next to your baby’s ear.
• Sucking: feeding, or a pacifier once breastfeeding is established.
• Swaddling: for young babies who aren’t yet trying to roll, placed on their back.
• Less stimulation: dim lights, a quiet room, fewer people.
• A change of scene: step outside for fresh air.
• A warm bath for some babies.

What about remedies? Simethicone (gas drops) hasn’t been shown to reduce colic in studies, though it’s generally safe. Some evidence suggests a specific probiotic may reduce crying in some breastfed babies with colic, but results are mixed. Talk with your pediatrician before trying any remedy or changing your diet or formula.

When Crying Might Mean Something More

Call your baby’s doctor if crying comes with:

• Fever (100.4°F or higher rectally in a baby under 3 months).
• Vomiting, especially green or forceful vomiting.
• Poor feeding, fewer wet diapers, or poor weight gain.
• Blood in the stool or a swollen, hard belly.
• A weak, high-pitched, or unusual cry.
• Unusual sleepiness, floppiness, or trouble breathing.
• A sudden change in your baby’s usual crying pattern.

Also call if you’re worried. You know your baby best.

Never Shake a Baby

Inconsolable crying is the most common trigger for abusive head trauma (shaken baby syndrome). Shaking a baby, even for a few seconds, can cause bleeding in the brain, blindness, permanent disability, or death.

Feeling frustrated, angry, or helpless when your baby won’t stop crying is a normal human reaction. What matters is what you do with it. Make a plan now:

1. Check that your baby’s basic needs are met.
2. If you feel yourself losing control, put your baby on their back in a safe crib.
3. Walk away. Close the door. Breathe, drink water, step outside, or call someone.
4. Check on your baby every 5 to 10 minutes.

It’s okay to let your baby cry in a safe place while you calm down. Share this plan with every person who cares for your baby.

Take Care of Yourself

• Take shifts with a partner or helper so each adult gets a break.
• Earplugs or noise-canceling headphones can take the edge off the sound while you stay with your baby.
• Remember that crying isn’t a reflection of your parenting.
• If you feel persistently down, anxious, or hopeless, reach out to your provider or call or text the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline at 1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262).

The Bottom Line

Crying is how babies communicate, and some crying has no fixable cause. It peaks around 2 months and gets better. Use your soothing toolkit, watch for warning signs, and have a calm-down plan for when you need a break.

My book From First Breath to First Birthday includes a full chapter on soothing, crying, and caring for yourself during the hardest weeks.

Related Articles

• Cluster Feeding: Why Your Baby Wants to Eat Constantly (and How to Cope)
• Gas and Fussiness in Formula-Fed Babies
• Understanding Your Baby’s Temperament

Sources

1. National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome. The Period of PURPLE Crying. https://www.purplecrying.info
2. Barr RG, Rivara FP, Barr M, et al. Effectiveness of educational materials designed to change knowledge and behaviors regarding crying and shaken-baby syndrome in mothers of newborns: a randomized, controlled trial. Pediatrics. 2009;123(3):972-980.
3. Wolke D, Bilgin A, Samara M. Systematic review and meta-analysis: fussing and crying durations and prevalence of colic in infants. J Pediatr. 2017;185:55-61.e4.
4. Wessel MA, Cobb JC, Jackson EB, Harris GS Jr, Detwiler AC. Paroxysmal fussing in infancy, sometimes called colic. Pediatrics. 1954;14(5):421-435.
5. Sung V, D’Amico F, Cabana MD, et al. Lactobacillus reuteri to treat infant colic: a meta-analysis. Pediatrics. 2018;141(1):e20171811.
6. Biagioli E, Tarasco V, Lingua C, Moja L, Savino F. Pain-relieving agents for infantile colic. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016;9(9):CD009999.
7. Narang SK, Fingarson A, Lukefahr J; Council on Child Abuse and Neglect. Abusive head trauma in infants and children. Pediatrics. 2020;145(4):e20200203.

This article is for general education and is not a substitute for individualized medical advice. Always talk with your baby’s health care provider or your own provider about your specific situation. If you think your baby or you may have a medical emergency, call 911.