Why is my baby crying?
Why is my baby crying? Babies will cry a lot! So how do you keep calm and handle this situation? Sometimes, the crying will get really loud and inconsolable if you ignore them. Being a new mother who has no experience in dealing with situation like this, can be a little frustrated especially you are sleep deprived and feeling tired after a long day.
Babies can’t tell you what they want, “crying” is the only way to communicate with their parents. Some babies cry more than others. It is a must-learn lesson for new parents to identify the cause of baby’s distress. Once you have successfully identify your baby’s need, he will definitely stop crying. The mother’s instinct will tell you what’s wrong with your baby. Usually you will pick up this baby’s language and it gets better with experience.
Recent studies shown that if an infant’s need are not met, the crying tends to get louder and harder to console. Shall you immediately pick him up and console him or let him cry it out for a bit before attending to his need? This is quite difficult choice for you. Some parents will intervene immediately to his need. Some parents will let him cries it out before attending to his need. Which method you are up to?
There is recent study showing letting your baby cries it out for a bit will not harm his development later on. In this study, it also showed that babies who are let to cry it out, will cry less when they reach 18 months old because they learned how to self-regulate better than those babies whose parents respond immediately to their need. However, there is no differences in terms of the baby’s growth and development whether or not parents intervene or not to crying.
There is still a strong debate about this issue – “let your baby cries it out”, no matter which method you use, trust your mother’s instinct! It is important biological cues when your baby cries, your natural instinct will tell you how to calm your child. Respond fast in the first few months of life to show that you’ll always be there to care for his need. When your baby grows older, parents need to teach your child to self- sooth and get used to being themselves from time to time.
Why is my baby crying?
Crying is the only method babies use to tell you something is not right or he misses you and needs to be carried. Usually, you can tell by listening to the crying tone. Excessive and wailing sound to soft cries accompanied with other signal like rubbing eyes, clenching fists and passing gas etc.
Why is my baby crying? We have listed 5 main reasons. In this article, we will not touch on baby’s cry due to health issues. You need to consult with your doctor if you find your baby is having an abnormal crying with high fever, or other underlying conditions.
Adjusting to new environment
Babies especially newborn cry a lot. Babies need comfort as it take times to help them learn and adapt to new environment. That’s why we swaddle our newborn to sleep as they will find it comfortable, feeling like staying inside the mummy’s womb. Swaddling during their first few months will help to soothe them and therefore, less crying.
Check your baby whether he is too hot or too cold. It can be distressing if he is not feeling comfortable. Check from head to toe. Sometimes, in an airplane, an infant’s crying is to help to deal with the change of air pressure in the plane and crying help to balance the pressure in the inner ear.
Basic needs– food, sleep & diapers change
Babies need to be fed every 1-2 hours especially infants as they stomach are really small and need to be fed frequently. Babies cry when they are hungry, sleepy or overtired and when nappy is wet.
Baby will generally wake up hungry and crying for food with a short low-pitched cry, and the cry becomes louder and more intense if you don’t respond fast enough.
Babies also cry when they get overtired and sleepy. They may get cranky cry if they have been awake for few hours, accompanied with rubbing eyes, and you better prepare them to sleep earlier before they get too tired. Some babies need to be comforted to help them fall asleep and some babies learn self-soothing themselves and fall asleep independently.
When the diaper is soiled and make him feel discomfort, he cries too. After replacing his dirty nappy will usually make him smile again after that.
Intolerance with Formula milk
It could be due to milk allergy or lactose intolerance. Some babies will develop eczema or other skin condition such as hives and passing stool after consuming certain brand of formula milk, they are likely to have cow’s milk protein allergy.
Baby’s digestive system is still developing and the food or milk that he consumes may make him feel discomfort or gassy. If you are using formula milk, sometime worth a try, by changing to different brand of formula milk will help to solve the issue. Certain formula milk will change your baby’s stool texture and your baby is prone to get nappy rash. Your baby will not like it and get cranky more often. In both cases, breastmilk is the best solution. Consult your doctor if you have concern about formula milk that make your baby feeling discomfort after feed.
For breastfed babies, some people say, maternal diet which consists of certain foods transferred through breastmilk may not agree with your baby’s digestive system. A study has shown that infants rarely react with a food that their mothers eat. So, nursing mothers do not need to restrict certain foods so do not worry about what you eat will make your baby gassy or stomachache. Whatever it is, it is important to monitor your child’s condition as it may be due to other factors. If your child is gulping too much air during the feeding or excessive crying will also make him gassy too.
Colic
If babies basic needs are all met – they have just waken up from a nap not long ago, well-fed, feeling nice and clean, usually they will be no other reasons for long wailing cry. If babies cry really loud with clenching fist, scrunching up their face, pulling their knees to the chest almost everyday for few hours during the evening, for weeks, it may be due to colic or inner discomfort.
How do you differentiate between colic and normal crying? This spell usually happens three hours a day for more than three days a week, for 3 weeks (3,3,3), and usually it happens in the evening. You will notice that he has high-pitched crying or screaming, that’s very hard to soothe, then it might be colic. Colic usually starts when babies are about two weeks old and usually stays until they reach their third or fourth month.
There is no set cause or treatment for colic but luckily it will go away and it does not pose any adverse effect to the baby’s growth and development. However, we have come out with “Infant colic remedies” & “best colic drops for babies” to help you learn how to deal with a colicky baby and reduce the crying episode.
Do consult with your doctor if you have concern about colic.
Emotional need
Babies will go through a lot of time, emotion and feeling that they themselves do not know how to handle and have much control over them. If you child need a cuddle, please do not put him down. They want to be loved and they will feel safe and secure when they are with their parents. By giving him enough security and love, it will eventually build up his self-esteem.
Babies need to stay with their mother most of the time for comfort. It is a common phenomena, if you leave your baby for awhile, your baby will start to wail and he will stop crying when he sees you again. Separation anxiety is common especially when your child is big enough to enter nursery or daycare center. Leaving your baby with a bunch of strangers will definitely freak him out. Fortunately, babies will eventually learn how to self-regulate, knowing mummy will come back for him when the time comes.
Conclusion
You may think it is difficult and frustrating dealing with a distress baby. Sometimes, you get bombarded with all kinds of ideas that are conflicting with your opinion. I think it is a skill that you learn through experience, and it will get better when you and your baby get to know each other better. No worries mummies, you will get the hang of it to understand the baby’s need and act accordingly.
Read more ” Temper tantrum in toddlers“
Leave a comment