Challenges to Infant Health Care in the Social Media Era: Misinformation and Medicalisation

Cry-fuss problems, breastfeeding difficulties and sleep issues commonly prompt parents to seek help for their infants. Many families turn to social media, where they encounter diverse service providers, conflicting advice and health misinformation. This may encourage medicalisation, treating normal developmental variation as a medical problem and paramedicalisation, the use of non-evidence-based therapies. Global search trends for non-evidence-based therapies and national registry data on diagnostic shifts (gastro-oesophageal reflux, allergic colitis, ankyloglossia) illustrate how paramedicalisation and medicalisation shape infant care. Addressing medicalisation and paramedicalisation requires understanding their drivers, recognising potential harms and focusing on how clinicians can better support families.