A baby's way of communicating hunger, thirst, discomfort, pain, loneliness, boredom, anxiety... If cause of crying is not understood, parents become angry and worried and their feelings communicate themselves to the baby, who reacts by crying more - the classic vicious circle. If you cannot work out why your baby is crying, talk to your medical doctor or health visitor.
Generally speaking, the more lustily a baby bawls, the more healthy he or she is; a healthy newborn baby may spend waking hours crying, but by age of six months a lot of waking time is spent gurgling and playing. So if crying is feeble or infrequent, especially in a newborn baby, or if a six-month old baby does nothing but cry when he or she is awake, something may be wrong. Other danger signs are Fever, runny nose, Cough, Diarrhoea, Vomiting, and Slow Weight Gain. An unusually high-pitched cry, coupled with vomiting, a bulging fontanelle (soft spot on top of head where bones of skull meet), and intolerance of light, may be a sign of brain infection, possibly Meningitis; appropriate action is to contact Emergency Medical Services.
Most frequent cause of crying is hunger; if baby stops crying when fed, increase frequency of feeds; if baby starts crying less than 2 hours after being fed, increase size of feeds. Feeding Problems can also cause crying. If a few sips of water between feeds relieve crying, cause may be thirst.
Babies also cry because of Colic (screaming attacks in evening, especially around age of three months), Teething (usually from six months onwards), or Nappy Rash, or because nappy pins are sticking in, or bath water is too hot, or fingers get caught in shawls, or because they get worried by too much noise, very bright lights, too much laughter, too much hugging, too much tickling... Crying when passing water is quite normal; if observed closely, a baby usually cries just before passing water, which helps to raise pressure in bladder and so expel urine. Excessive crying may also be an early sign of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
If baby stops crying when picked up, he or she may simply be feeling bored or excluded; even if you cannot give your undivided attention, place the cot where he or she can watch what you are doing. Babies are very accurate sensors of tension in the family, especially of tension and tiredness in the mother; crying then becomes a way of expressing emotional discomfort and asking for reassurance.
Self-help: Only a parent who has had to care for a constantly crying baby knows how exhausting it is. For the sake of her health and sanity, the mother should try to rest while the baby is sleeping, even if that means letting the housework slide. She also deserves an evening out and a good night's sleep at least once a week; if she is breast-feeding, milk can be expressed beforehand and left in a bottle. For suggestions about how to get a good night’s sleep for both self and baby, see Sleep Problems and Sleep Problems in Infants. Parents who feel ragged from loss of sleep might also benefit from constitutional homeopathic treatment.
A crying baby often responds to rhythmic sounds (a tape recording of mother's heartbeat, for example), or to being rocked. Sucking a dummy or a thumb also has a soothing effect; dummies should be changed every week or so as they quickly become germ-ridden. Try swaddling the baby tightly, or turning on the vacuum cleaner - the sound can be soothing!
Only a very thin line separates parents who manage to cope with a continually crying baby and those who don't. If you have ever battered your baby, or feel that you might, seek help immediately, and don't be afraid to do so; talk to your medical doctor, health visitor, or the Social Work Department of the NSPCC. CRY-SIS also offers support. If you have good reason to believe that someone is battering his or her baby, tell one of the agencies mentioned above; you will be helping both baby and parent in the long run. A word of caution, however; some cases of 'baby battering' have been found to be due to copper deficiency, which produces X-ray images very similar to those seen in genuine cases. |
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