Crying and Comforting Questionnaire

This activity and the Crying Diary may help you understand your baby's cries and the responses that work best to comfort her. Each time your baby cries and you are able to comfort her you may feel good about taking care of your baby and your baby may learn that her needs can be met. This is part of building a strong bond with your baby. You may also learn that sometimes your baby just needs to cry and can't always be comforted. Bring this information about crying with you to your child's next well child visit. You may want to call your doctor if your baby's crying seems unusual or too long.

Sometimes I recognize my infant's signals for:

discomfort	distress
hunger	being tired
being overloaded

My baby usually moves from fussing to loud crying:

slowly

quickly

When my baby cries I feel:

frustrated	concerned
helpless	angry
anxious	able to find reason
other_____________________________________

When my baby cries I am usually:

able to handle it

easily overwhelmed

When my baby cries I can comfort him/her by:

talking softly	gentle touching
holding or carrying	swaddling
nursing/feeding	changing
other_____________________________________

I worry about my baby's crying because:

it lasts for such a long time	I don't want to spoil him/her by picking him/her up
he/she seems so distressed
I can't make him/her stop

Other people who can comfort my baby are:
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________

I would like to learn more about my baby's crying by:

talking to other parents	reading
talking to my baby's doctor

BUSM©. Department of Pediatrics, Boston Medical Center.