Babies who cry excessively or have problems sleeping and eating may be more likely to develop behavioral problems as children, according to a new study published in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood.
Researchers in the U.K., Switzerland and Germany reviewed 22 studies totalling almost 17,000 children. Of the 1,935 children showing severe problems in infancy, researchers then followed up to see if they were linked to problems in later childhood.
Those who had been the most difficult as infants – crying for more than three hours a day even after three months of age, or persistent sleeping problems in children over eight months of age – were about 40 percent more likely to have behavioral problems as children, especially attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and misbehavior.
Dieter Wolke, one of the study’s authors, recommends giving fussy babies more routine in their young lives. "We have evidence that it works," he told the Daily Mail.