ICON Week 2022: Raising awareness of infant crying and how to cope

ICON logo - "babies cry, you can cope. Speak to someone if you need support such as your family, friends, midwife, health visitor or GP"

“Babies cry, you can cope!” that’s the message from NHS Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board, local authorities, and healthcare organisations from across the country who have come together this September to promote lifesaving messages to parents.

Research suggests that some parents and caregivers can lose control when a baby’s crying becomes too much. Some go on to shake a baby with devastating consequences.

Abusive Head Trauma (AHT) is a head or neck injury it is a form of a physical child abuse. It happens when someone shakes a baby or hits the baby against something hard it can cause catastrophic brain injuries, which can lead to death, or significant long-term health and learning disabilities. 

ICON is a programme adopted by health and social care organisations in the UK to provide information about infant crying, including how to cope, support parents/carers, reduce stress and prevent abusive head trauma in babies.

The second annual ICON week, from Monday 26 September to Friday 30 September 2022, aims to raise awareness of infant crying and how to cope in a bid to support parents/carers and prevent serious injury, illness and even death of young babies a result of these incidents.

Lincolnshire will be celebrating its first anniversary of ICON, which was successfully launched in the County on 4 October 2021. There has been lots of great partnership working to achieve this which will continue as ICON becomes embedded across the system.

The evidence-based programme consists of a series of brief interventions that reinforce the simple message making up the ICON acronym:

I – Infant crying is normal and it will stop

C – Comport methods can sometimes soothe the baby and the crying will stop

O – It’s OK to walk away for a few minutes if you have checked the baby is safe and the crying is getting to you

N – Never ever shake or hurt a baby

Most babies start to cry more frequently from two weeks of age, with a peak usually being seen around 6-8 weeks. Organisations coming together from 26 September – 30 September, aim to spread the messages to help normalise infant crying and share coping techniques to help parents to deal with the stress it can cause.

Martin Fahy, Director of Nursing at NHS Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board said:

“We are really pleased to be continuing supporting this important message that abusive head trauma can occur in any environment when a parent or carer is on the edge due to infant crying.

“The continued pressure that families are under is only being added to by the pressures of the cost-of-living increase and this impact can be far-reaching and have devastating consequences.

“ICON is about sharing the message that babies do cry and some aren’t easily soothed and we want to share information far and wide about what to do in these situations and how to stay calm.  There is help available if you are struggling, you can contact your midwife, health visitor or your GP Practice.  There is also a wealth of information on-line at the ICON website www.iconcope.org