What does your baby’s crying mean?

If this is also your first child, then this question will be of particular concern to you. The child grows, and you will become more experienced. You will be able to find out from the nature of crying what your child needs, and he himself is becoming less and less reason to cry.

If the baby is crying, you think to yourself: “Is he ill ? Is he hungry? Is it wet? Does he have a tummy ache or is he just being naughty?” You forget the most important reason of crying of fatigue. As for the above questions, they can be answered.

 

It is true that the crying of a child can not always be explained by these reasons. It turns out that after 2 weeks, newborns (especially first-born babies) have daily periods of crying, which can be called anything, but it is very difficult to explain. If your child regularly cries at the same time in the afternoon or evening, we say that the child has colic (this means he has pain, gas and his stomach is heaving) or a period of irritable crying (if his tummy is not heaving).

If your child cries both day and night, we sigh and say that he is a very restless child. If he is extremely irritable, we say that this child is overexcited .

But we do not know the reasons for different types of behavior of newborns. We found that this behavior is typical for newborns and is gradually corrected usually by 3 months. Perhaps all these behaviors are variations of the same state. You can only vaguely feel that the first 3 months of your child’s life are a period of adjustment of their imperfect nervous and digestive systems to the outside world. For some children, this period passes easily, for others it is difficult.
Most importantly, remember that the constant crying of your child in the first weeks after birth is a temporary phenomenon and does not mean that the child is sick.

 

If you feed your child on a relatively strict schedule or “on demand”, you will soon find out what time they are particularly hungry, and what time they just woke up early. If the child drank very little milk during the previous feeding and woke up 2 hours earlier than the prescribed time, then most likely he is crying from hunger. But this is also not necessary.

Often the baby drinks much less milk than usual, and sleeps all 4 hours until the next feeding.
If a child has drunk the usual amount of milk and wakes up crying after 2 hours , it is likely that the reason for his crying is not hunger. (If he wakes up screaming just an hour after the last feeding, the most likely cause is gas in his tummy.) If he wakes up immediately after 2.5-3 hours, try to feed him first,and then resort to other measures.

When a baby cries from hunger, you first think that you do not have enough breast milk or, if the baby is artificially fed, that it does not have enough of its portion of cow’s milk or formula . But it doesn’t happen all of a sudden, in one day. It usually begins with the fact that the child within a few days completely drinks all the milk and looks for more with his mouth.

He starts to Wake up crying a little earlier than usual. In most cases, the baby begins to cry out from hunger immediately after feeding only after he woke up a few days earlier for the next feeding. But it turns out that in accordance with the growing nutritional needs of the child, your supply of breast milk also increases. You should be more fully and frequently engaged in breast emptying, which encourages even more milk production. However, it is likely that due to fatigue or your anxiety for a short time, the amount of breast milk may decrease dramatically . You should rest and organize proper nutrition with the consumption of a large amount of liquid.

It should be remembered that various medications , alcohol, and even the smell of onions, garlic, etc. penetrate into the milk. When the mother smokes, a large amount of nicotine is detected in the milk, which negatively affects the development of the newborn.
To sum up, if your child has been crying desperately for 15 minutes or more, and if more than 2 hours have passed since the last feeding, or even less than 2 hours, and the child has drunk very little milk in the previous feeding, then he is hungry-feed him. If he fell asleep satisfied, then you guessed his desire. If he started crying less than 2 hours later, after drinking the usual portion of milk in the last feeding, it is unlikely that he is crying from hunger.

Let him cry for 15-20 minutes, if, of course, you can stand it. Try calming him down with a pacifier. And if he cries more and more, then try to feed him. It won’t do him any harm. (You should not transfer your baby to artificial feeding as soon as you think that you have not enough milk. If he cries from hunger, still give him a breast.)

Maybe your child is sick ?

The most common diseases in infancy are colds and intestinal diseases. Here are their signs : runny nose, cough, or loose stools. Other diseases are extremely rare. If you notice that your child is not only crying, but also looks unusual, take his temperature and consult a doctor. Please read  Family coordination.

Does your baby cry because it is wet or dirty?

Very few children are bothered by wet or dirty diapers. It turns out that most children simply do not notice this. However, it doesn’t hurt your child to change the diaper once more when they cry.

Does your child’s tummy hurt?

Try to help your child regurgitate air, even if they have done it before. You should lift the child and hold it to yourself a little hold it in an upright position until it burps.

Perhaps your child is tired?

If your child is awake for too long, or if he is among strangers or in an unfamiliar place for a long time, or if you have played with him for too long, this can cause him nervous tension and irritation. You expect him to get tired and fall asleep soon, but instead he can’t sleep.

If you or strangers try to calm the child down by continuing to play and talk to them, it will only make things worse.
Some children are so arranged that they can not sleep peacefully. They are so tired by the end of each waking period that their nervous systems strain, creating a kind of barrier that children must overcome before falling asleep. And perhaps your child needs such a cry.

Some children cry at first loudly and desperately, and then either suddenly or gradually the crying subsides and they fall asleep.

Some children fall asleep better when they are left alone in the crib; this should be taught to all children. But other children are more likely to calm down when they are gently rocked in a stroller or their crib is moved back and forth (if it has wheels), or carry them in their arms, preferably in a darkened room. You can help your child fall asleep this way from time to time when they are particularly tired, but not every day.