Babies never cry without a reason. Baby crying – is a way to declare the discomfort and drive the attention to the problem. We made a list of the most common causes for “sudden” baby crying to help you understand what is that baby wants to tell you. So what are they – the most common reason for baby crying?
Baby Crying: “Takes This Sweater Off Me!”
The majority of parents keep the baby too warm, when he gets hot, he shows his displeasure with the only available way.
How to help your baby? A child should be wearing one layer of clothing more than you do. If you want to check whether your child is hot or, conversely, frozen, put a hand on her tummy or her back. Mind that the baby’s legs or cheeks are often cooler even at a comfortable temperature. If the child is hot, the back of his head is perspiring, hands and feet are hot and moist.
Baby Crying: Guys, Let’s Live In Peace!
Infants don’t understand the meaning of words, don’t understand why mom and dad are in conflict, but they instantly catch the tone of irritation, aggression, and grievances, and they don’t like it. They reply to it with a loud cry. Infants feel exactly the moments when the tense atmosphere reigns in a family.
How to help your baby? Of course, from time to time spouses have quarrels. But try to express your emotions calmer, to keep the atmosphere of peace and harmony in your family, and never sort things out in the presence of the child, even when he sleeps. Most conflicts, however, appear in the first year of parenthood, because the new pattern of the relationship had not yet been set. It takes time and knowledge.
Read more on a similar issue: Husband vs baby
Baby Crying: I Am Stressed!
The noise, bustle, and bright lights in the mall, crowded cafe, or family celebration – all these can cause a baby to cry. Kids are extremely sensitive, the excess of impressions and emotions can get them to the edge when everything irritates: even the favorite jumpers and toys…
How to help your baby? Each baby has its own “boiling point”, so watch carefully how the child responds to the hustle and bustle around. Reduce the time spent in the bustling commercial center, go to the restaurants in the hours when there are fewer visitors, and get a baby acquainted with the new toys gradually. After “going out” plan an hour of silence – the time that the baby can spend in a quiet and peaceful atmosphere.
Baby Crying: I Have A Tummy Ache!
There are a lot of reasons why the baby may experience discomfort in the abdomen. The main of them – are colic and constipation. The children who are bottle-fed may suffer from a sensitivity to cow’s milk protein or be allergic to it. Both cause spasms. It also happens that the child suffers from reflux – the belch, during which a part of the stomach’s contents is thrown back into the esophagus.
How to help your baby? A gentle massage of the abdomen in a clockwise direction will help to cope with colic. It’s useful to bend the baby’s legs in his laps, pressing them to the tummy. Also, the child should be often laid on his stomach. If you are breastfeeding, try to give to baby one breast per feeding. In the “front” milk that comes first, the lactose content is much higher than in the “back” milk. Do you feed your baby from a bottle? Use a “slow flow” pacifier, then the child will swallow less air.
If nothing helps, take the kid’s feces for the examination, check whether it has lactose deficiency or dysbiosis. Do not panic if a baby burps from time to time. It is useful to hold a baby vertically (column) after feeding to make the swallowed air come out. If regurgitation is too abundant and occurs after each feeding, it’s necessary to address it to a doctor.
Baby Crying: Oh! Something is Prickly!
Look, maybe some hair or thread is tangled around the baby’s finger and clamping it, so it becomes swelled and painful. These things happen more often than you think. It is important to notice in time and help your child as soon as possible! And suddenly the skin can be rubbed by clothing labels or zipper-lock? Or the seat belt in the car is too tight?
How to help a baby? Undress the baby and check the fingers and toes. Don’t forget to check if the baby is not interfered with by fasteners on clothing; loosen the straps from the wheelchair or seat belts that are too tight.
Baby Crying: I Feel Lonely Here…
At the age of 6-9 months, your baby will realize that he – is an individual which lives separately from you, which is good. But now he cries every time when you just leave the room because he misses you. This is neither good nor bad – this is natural…
How to help your baby? It’s great when you have the opportunity to leave the kid messing around on the playing mat or in the arena to put the dirty laundry in the washing machine. But if you notice that each separation leads to the hail of tears, put off your affairs for some time and show your child that you love him. Sometimes a child needs simply to see you, to stop crying, mother’s embrace can instantly drain the bitterest tears. Make your baby a gentle massage or just pat his back, to ensure him that if you leave – you’d come back in a while.
If you have already tried all the recommendations – swayed the baby, turned on music, gave him a favorite toy – and nothing helps, perhaps it would be easier to take the baby with you? By one and a half years, your baby will outgrow this fear.
Baby Crying: I Am Hungry!
The kid just ate an hour ago, and you are sure that the time for the next feeding has not come yet. Or not? If now a baby is experiencing a period of a growth spurt, his tears could mean: “Waiter, bring in the next dish!” These growth spurts usually occur between the ages of 2, 3, and 6 weeks, 3 and 6 months, and last for about 2 days. But the truth is, kids rarely verify with the calendar and schedule, so these spurts can happen at any time.
How to help a baby? Is the baby hungry? Don’t worry: it’s impossible to overfeed a baby with breast milk. In accordance with the recommendation of WHO (World Health Organization) and the best pediatricians, the baby should be latched on demand.
Baby Crying: “I’m Tired Of Looking At The Wall”
Imagine yourself sitting all day in a tiny office space. Your baby has the same feeling, forced to spend an hour in the same chair in the same corner of the same room. Of course, there are kids who are more tolerable of the need to spend a long time in the same place, but every child likes to change places and the “decorations.”
How to help a baby? Stimulate your child’s interest in natural research – take the baby out of the room, go for a walk in the park, go see the nearest attractions. Don’t you have time to explore the surroundings? Trust me, the conversation with the child, and other types of communication – are the perfect remedy against boredom. Small children are very sociable. They enjoy spending time with you, listening to you, to be taught by you.
Baby Crying: I’m Getting Sick, Probably
If you’ve “checked” all the possible causes of crying and the baby continues to sob, then the probability that the child is becoming ill is very high. Whims, whining, irritability – are the first signs of a child’s illness. It’s time to think about what can be done to prevent the baby from getting sick.
How to help a baby? Such a state can last from several hours to several days. Don’t let your child become ill!
Baby Crying: I Am Sick – 5 Preventive Steps Against Disease
- Make sure that the baby gets enough sleep
- Don’t let your child become too cold or hot – keep the temperature balance
- Set your baby free from excessive excitements
- Do the baby massage of the upper back. Scrub, massage the shoulder blades until the skin in this place turns pink. The massage of this area stimulates acupuncture zones that are responsible for the immune system. It’s better to do it after bathing.
- Start giving preventive homeopathic medicines (available at pharmacy), such as chamomile (daisy), Arnica, Belladonna. Calculation of dose – is one grain per year of life.
Respiratory diseases can’t always be prevented, but preventive measures are taken in time to help the child to recover without any complications. After all, the correct formation and development of the immune system require that baby should get sick from time to time and, of course, recover. Learn to listen and to hear your child, it will strengthen your bond.
Born in Belarus, 1985, a pedagogue and family psychologist, mother. Taking part in procedures of social adaptation of the foster children in new families. Since 2015 is a chief editor of the motherhow.com project, selecting the best and up-to-date material for those, who are planning, expecting, and already having babies.