The parent of a two-month-old infant informs a nurse that they heard that picking the infant up immediately upon crying will "spoil the baby." What would be the nurse's best response?
The parent of a two-month-old infant informs a nurse that they heard that picking the infant up immediately upon crying will "spoil the baby." What would be the nurse's best response?
A. "Let your baby cry a while before picking the infant up."
[5%]
B. "Babies need to be cuddled and comforted, as this does not spoil the infant."
[86%]
C. "You need to feed the infant right away because crying means the infant is hungry."
[8%]
D. "You can just let your infant cry, as the crying will cease once the infant tires."
[1%]
Statistics
Subject/Lesson
Subject
Maternal & Newborn Health
Lesson
Newborn
Client Need
Test Plan
Health Promotion and Maintenance
Related Topic
Development Stages and Transitions
Item Type
Item Type
Analysis
Explanation
Choice B is correct. Infants need to have their security needs met by being held and cuddled.
Choice A is incorrect. Not picking up the baby after she has cried does not meet the baby's need for security. A parent or other caregiver cannot "spoil" an infant by holding them during infancy upon the onset of crying.
Choice C is incorrect. Crying during infancy occurs for various reasons, including, but not limited to, a variety of reasons (e.g., soiled diaper, hunger, physical contact). Simply assuming that the infant is hungry and providing a feeding each time the infant cries may cause overfeeding-related problems (such as obesity).
Choice D is incorrect. Studies have demonstrated that parents/caregivers who are less responsive to crying infants, such as not picking up the infant immediately upon crying, resulted in infants who cried more than those of parents who responded promptly to crying.
Learning Objective
After the parent of a two-month-old infant informs you, a nurse, that they heard that picking their infant up immediately upon crying will "spoil the baby," correctly identify the best response by the nurse as, "babies need to be cuddled and comforted, as this does not spoil the infant."
Related Videos
2 Key Topics
Infant Growth and Development
14.7 Infant Growth and Development
Additional Info
- Crying is a social event that affects the development of the parent/caregiver-infant relationship.
- The infant's first means of verbal communication is crying, which conveys various messages of urgency and signals displeasure, one of which is hunger.
- Crying, either by its absence, which usually has a positive effect on parents, or its presence, may evoke a negative response or persuade parents to minister to the child's physical or emotional needs.
