Most babies cry the most between 2 and 6 weeks of age, peaking around the second month of life before gradually tapering off. A large meta-analysis of crying data across multiple countries found that the average infant cries or fusses for about 2 hours per day at the 5-to-6-week peak, and some perfectly healthy babies cry for 5 hours a day or longer during this stretch. If your baby seems to cry nonstop, you’re likely in the thick of a normal, temporary phase, though there are a few medical causes worth knowing about.
The Normal Crying Curve
Infant crying follows a predictable arc that pediatricians sometimes call the Period of PURPLE Crying. It typically starts around 2 weeks of age, climbs week over week, peaks in the second month, and tapers off by 3 to 5 months. The name isn’t about color. It’s an acronym: Peak of crying, Unexpected timing, Resists soothing, Pain-like expression, Long bouts, and Evening clustering.
At the peak (around 5 to 6 weeks), the average baby cries and fusses for roughly 126 minutes per day. By 11 to 12 weeks, that drops to about an hour or less, and by 4 to 5 months many babies are down to around 30 to 40 minutes of total daily fussing. These are averages. Your baby might fall well above them and still be completely healthy. The key markers of a normal crying phase are that your baby is gaining weight, feeding well, and has stretches of calm, alert behavior between crying bouts.
When It Might Be Colic
Colic is essentially a label for the far end of the normal crying spectrum. The classic definition, known as Wessel’s Rule of Threes, describes a baby who cries for 3 or more hours a day, at least 3 days a week, for 3 or more weeks, with no obvious medical cause. The crying tends to cluster in the late afternoon or evening, and the baby often looks like they’re in pain: clenched fists, drawn-up knees, a red face.
Colic affects roughly 1 in 5 babies. It follows the same timeline as the PURPLE crying period, appearing in the first few weeks and resolving by 4 to 5 months. There’s no single proven cause, which is part of what makes it so frustrating. The gut microbiome, an immature nervous system, and temperament all seem to play a role. Despite decades of research, the most honest answer is that some babies simply cry more, and it resolves on its own.
Reflux and Silent Reflux
Many babies spit up. When a baby spits up frequently but doesn’t seem bothered by it, pediatricians call them “happy spitters,” and no treatment is needed. Reflux only becomes a concern when it causes pain, feeding refusal, poor weight gain, or prolonged crying after meals.
Silent reflux is harder to spot. Stomach contents rise into the esophagus but never come out of the mouth, so you don’t see the telltale spit-up. Instead, your baby swallows it back down. Clues include arching the back during or after feeds, gagging or choking sounds, a hoarse cry, and fussiness that worsens when lying flat. If your baby cries most intensely during or shortly after feeding and seems uncomfortable when placed on their back, reflux is worth discussing with your pediatrician.
Cow’s Milk Protein Sensitivity
About 2 to 3 percent of infants react to proteins in cow’s milk, and the symptoms overlap heavily with colic: intense crying, irritability, sleep disruption, and feeding difficulties. The reaction is usually not the classic allergic response (hives, swelling) but a slower, gut-based sensitivity that causes persistent regurgitation, fussiness, and sometimes mucus or tiny streaks of blood in the stool.
This affects both formula-fed and breastfed babies. In breastfed infants, the proteins pass through the mother’s diet into breast milk. If your pediatrician suspects cow’s milk protein sensitivity, the typical approach is a 2-to-4-week elimination trial: removing all dairy from the breastfeeding parent’s diet, or switching to a specialized formula. Improvement usually becomes obvious within that window. If nothing changes, dairy probably isn’t the culprit, and you can reintroduce it.
Other Reasons Babies Cry
Before assuming your baby’s crying is unexplained, it helps to rule out simpler causes. Hunger is the most common, especially during growth spurts around 2 to 3 weeks, 6 weeks, and 3 months, when your baby may want to feed far more often than usual. Overtiredness is another major trigger. Babies who have been awake too long get wired rather than sleepy, and an overtired baby can be almost impossible to soothe. At 6 to 8 weeks, most babies can only handle about 60 to 90 minutes of awake time before needing to sleep again.
A quick physical check can also catch things that are easy to miss. A hair or thread wrapped tightly around a finger or toe (called a hair tourniquet) causes sudden, inconsolable screaming. An uncomfortable clothing tag, a diaper rash that stings, or being too warm or too cold can all drive extended crying. Ear infections, which often follow a cold, tend to cause crying that worsens when lying down.
What Actually Helps
No single soothing method works for every baby, but a few strategies have the strongest track record. Rhythmic motion, like rocking or swaying, mimics what your baby felt in the womb. White noise or shushing sounds serve the same purpose. Skin-to-skin contact regulates your baby’s heart rate and temperature and can shorten crying bouts. Swaddling with arms snug (only until your baby starts rolling) helps many newborns settle by reducing their startle reflex.
For babies with suspected reflux, keeping them upright for 20 to 30 minutes after feeding and offering smaller, more frequent feeds can reduce discomfort. Paced bottle-feeding, where you hold the bottle more horizontally and allow pauses, limits the amount of air swallowed.
Probiotics have shown modest benefit in some studies, particularly for breastfed babies with colic, but results are inconsistent. Gripe water and gas drops have little evidence behind them, though some parents report they help. What clearly doesn’t help: letting frustration build until you’re at a breaking point.
Protecting Yourself When the Crying Won’t Stop
Inconsolable crying is one of the most stressful experiences of early parenthood, and it’s the single most common trigger for caregivers to shake an infant. Shaken baby injuries peak between 2 and 3 months, the exact same window as peak crying, and carry a mortality rate around 25 percent. This isn’t something that only happens to “bad” parents. It happens to exhausted, overwhelmed people who hit a breaking point.
If you’ve checked that your baby is fed, dry, and safe, and nothing is working, it is completely okay to put your baby down in their crib on their back, close the door, and walk away for 5 to 10 minutes. Your baby will not be harmed by crying alone in a safe space for a few minutes, but they can be harmed by a caregiver who has lost control. Step outside, take deep breaths, call someone, or put on headphones. Come back when you’ve reset. This is not failure. It is the single most important safety skill of early parenthood.