Crying infants ‘at higher risk of child abuse’

BABIES who cry a lot are at higher risk of child abuse, particularly shaken baby syndrome according to an expert in infant mental health.

Dr Linda Gilkerson, executive director of the US-based Fussy Baby Network, said parents are consumed by what it is that makes their baby cry and it is one of the most common questions asked of public health nurses.

Dr Gilkerson, a professor at the Erikson Institute in Chicago, was speaking at a national conference organised by the Health Service Executive South, entitled Baby in Mind.