Understanding Your Crying Baby
Sheila Kitzinger
In Understanding Your Crying Baby, Sheila Kitzinger explores the emotional and physiological needs behind infant crying, reframing it not as a problem to be fixed but as a vital form of communication. With her trademark empathy and deep respect for the parent-baby relationship, Kitzinger supports parents to respond confidently and compassionately, while challenging the cultural narratives that promote detachment or dismissal of infant distress.
Why It’s Included
This book aligns perfectly with the principles of responsive, attachment-based parenting. Kitzinger draws from both science and lived experience, reminding us that babies cry to express real needs and that parental intuition is a valid and valuable guide. Her work helps to dismantle myths around spoiling, self-soothing, and rigid routines, offering reassurance to parents who choose connection over control.
Who It’s For
Ideal for expectant and new parents, doulas, birth workers, and anyone supporting families in the early months. It is especially valuable for those feeling overwhelmed or anxious about crying and looking for gentle, research-informed reassurance.
“Crying is how infants alert caregivers of their needs. It is the fundamental communication, present from birth. While parents cannot always identify why a baby is crying, hey are compelled to always respond and reassure the baby they are not alone, they are heard and they are safe. In the face of prescriptive routines denying the infant’s right to be heard, Kitzinger explains how and why responsive care is vital to infant security.”
Further Reading
The Social Baby by Lynne Murray and Liz Andrew
How Babies Sleep by Helen Ball
100 Ways to Calm the Crying by Pinky McKay
