Stopping Your Baby's Cholic

The authors' ambitious goal here is to ``relieve most infants' persistent crying in 3-7 days.'' But to find the brass tacks of the Comfort Training Program, parents must wade through a repetitive, poorly organized text (colic, a rhythmic and violent screaming that begins shortly after birth and lasts three months or more, isn't even defined until the second chapter). The simple plan to stop babies from bawling consists of playing music on a cassette recorder when infants are ``quiet and alert,'' shutting off the music when they cry, then turning it on again after they calm themselves. The authors present many success stories to fill out the slim volume (`` `She's an entirely different baby,' '' one mother testifies, `` `She's happy now--she doesn't have that look of anguish anymore.' '') and explain how to set up a ``cry diary'' that will help parents appreciate the dramatic difference between the before and after scenarios. Although the evidence in its behalf is largely anecdotal, the technique requires no expensive gadgets and, therefore, parents of colicky babies have nothing to lose by reading the book. Ayllon wrote The Token Economy and Freed is a freelance writer. (May)