A fussy new baby causes well-meaning parents plenty of distress. This is the baby that often frets more than three hours a day, acts irritable, won't sleep, and can't be soothed easily. Babies that cry inconsolably, despite parents' best efforts, may disturb neighbors, too. Such crying most often occurs in evening hours, suggesting a possible link to immature body clock regulation of waking and sleep.

Fussiness, sometimes called colic, occurs in healthy babies, pediatrician Marc Weissbluth notes. If there's a medical reason for the baby's crying, the baby does not have colic. Weissbluth views fussiness as a developmental stage rather than as an illness, an attitude he urges parents to adopt. Parents who understand what's going on, he asserts, will feel less anguish. They'll be calmer, and baby may be happier, too.

About one in five babies is fussy, chiefly in the first three months of life. First-born children and those born later develop this problem with equal frequency. It's also equally common in boys and girls.

Some people blame fussiness on coffee and other foods in the modern diet consumed by breast-feeding mothers. That's not likely, says Weissbluth, who cites the first pediatrics textbook in English, published in 1553, which includes a classic description of baby "colicke." Breast- and bottle-fed babies are equally likely to be fussy. No well-designed studies show that diet alters fussiness, Weissbluth says. But a mother's belief that she must be doing something wrong may prompt her to stop nursing, avoid certain foods, switch formulas, or even avoid seeking help.

Most physicians, Weissbluth contends, don't appreciate how devastating this problem is to parents. They may advise new mothers to "just relax." When Weissbluth gives talks on the topic, he sometimes plays a tape of a fussy baby crying. Doctors, he reports, beg him turn it off after just a minute or so.

Most episodes of fussing begin while the baby is awake, and end when the baby falls asleep. Cranky babies often simply are tired, Weissbluth says. He provides an overview of infant sleep behavior and tactics for fostering good nighttime sleep and daytime naps. Like pediatrician Richard Ferber, author of the best-seller, Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems, he maintains that sometimes it's necessary to let the baby cry a little after being put to bed, so that the baby eventually will learn strategies for self-comforting.

What if you have an extremely fussy baby? Weissbluth suggests several time-honored tactics. These include rhythmic motions: use a cradle, rocking chair, baby swing, or simply walk around with the baby. Swaddling or gentle wrapping is comforting, he says, as is sucking, whether for food or all by itself. Crying doesn't always mean that the baby wants or needs to be fed. Stimuli such as gentle massage and singing and other auditory stimuli, even running a vacuum cleaner, may be soothing. Beware of herbal remedies and medications you can buy without a prescription, Weissbluth cautions. Some are dangerous.

Extreme fussiness occurs in all cultures, despite wide variations in diet and baby care practices. Folk names reflect its time-limited course: the Chinese call it "100 Days Crying," the Vietnamese, "3 Months plus 10 Days Crying," and the Japanese, "Evening Crying." The bottom line is this: "Most of what you will be doing about the extreme fussiness," Weissbluth says "is waiting it out."

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