Question

An infant of 57 days old experienced a fever after prolonged crying, accompanied by symptoms of the head tilting back and limbs stiffening. How should this situation be understood?

Answer

  1. Allowing infants to cry for extended periods is not a good strategy. Infants cry as a signal to seek adult assistance, and if their crying is ignored without investigating the cause, it may lead them to feel helpless, sad, lonely, and lacking in security, which can cast a shadow or cause trauma to their young minds.
  2. However, for children who often use crying to resist adults and achieve their goals, letting them cry without attention can make them realize that crying is ineffective. Such crying has its characteristics; children will secretly observe whether anyone is paying attention to them while crying. When they find that their goal cannot be achieved, they will stop crying and start playing on their own.