Comforting babies is better than letting them cry and ultimately results in fewer tears, at least during the first few weeks of life.
British researchers who compared the benefits of soothing bawling babies or letting them settle themselves found that holding and comforting them minimized the crying.
"The hands-off approach appeared to backfire: babies fussed and cried 50 percent more at two and five weeks," New Scientist magazine said on Wednesday.
"And they were still crying more after 12 weeks," it added.
Ian St James-Roberts, of the University of London's Institute of Education, examined the benefits of different approaches used by British, Danish and American parents who kept a diary of their baby's behavior and their own responses.
Some parents held their babies for up to 16 hours a day and quickly answered their cries while others had them in their arms much less and left them crying for awhile.
St James-Roberts said comforting the baby on demand, rather than a very high level of comfort and care, minimized the tears.
"But it makes no difference to the unsoothable bouts of crying that are the core of colic," he told the magazine.
