Experiencing Discomfort Due To Gas Troubles
Babies are prone to having gas troubles and may need to be burped or pass gas to feel relieved. Your baby might swallow air when breastfeeding or sucking from a bottle, and burping soon after a feed can provide him with relief. Placing your baby down on his tummy and gently massaging his back can also prove helpful.
Needing A Diaper Change
Alright, so you may think this one is easy. However, because a newborns poop doesnt have a distinct smell yet, it can be tricky . So, how can you tell when theyve done the deed in their diaper?
Your baby might look uncomfortable, restless, or even irritated. Having a dirty diaper can make them cranky and moody.
If your little one falls asleep while wearing a soiled diaper, they may wake up suddenly. Another clue is if its been a while since the last diaper change then its probably time to check.
What To Do About Colic
Pediatricians may be sympathetic and recommend Mylicon drops or gripe water, but often doctors will tell parents to just be patient, because colic is not harmful and will go away on its own. Of course, in the midst of all that crying, having someone tell you to be patient may seem impossible to consider. In order to make it through, you will have to develop some great self-care strategies and enlist support.
Focus on one day at a time .
Ask your doctor to consider the possibilities of food allergies or acid reflux , which can be remedied. If you are breastfeeding, you can try adjusting your diet to see if that affects your babys crying spells.
Ask for helpsupport from your spouse, family, friends, and a babysitter or nanny will be essential to getting through the first few months of your babys life.
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Getting Help With A Crying Baby
You can talk to a friend, your health visitor or GP, or contact the Cry-sis helpline on 08451 228 669, open 9am to 10pm, 7 days a week. You’ll be charged for your call.
Cry-sis can put you in touch with other parents who have been in the same situation.
You can also visit the Cry-sis website for information on coping with crying babies.
If you decide to talk to your health visitor or GP, it can help to keep a record of how often and when your baby cries.
For example, this might be after every feed or during the evening. This can help your health visitor or GP to work out if there’s a particular cause for the crying.
Keeping a record can also help you identify the times when you need extra support. You could think about possible changes to your routine.
There may be times when you’re so tired and angry you feel like you cannot take any more. This happens to a lot of parents, so do not be ashamed to ask for help.
If you do not have anyone who can take care of your baby for a short time and the crying is making you stressed, put your baby in their cot or pram, make sure they’re safe, close the door, go into another room and try to calm yourself down.
Set a time limit for example, 10 minutes then go back.
Causes Of Unexplained Crying
- Hungry Baby. The most common reason babies cry is because they are hungry. They stop crying at the onset of feeding. By the end of the feeding, they are happy.
- Sleepy Baby. The second reason babies cry is they need sleep. They need their parent to put them in a comfortable position. It may be swaddled and on their back. Then they fuss a little and fall asleep.
- Fed Too Much. Some babies cry because of a bloated stomach from overfeeding. Unlike gas, too much milk can cause discomfort that lasts a short time.
- Caffeine. Caffeine is a stimulant that can cause increased crying and trouble falling asleep. Breastfeeding mothers need to limit their caffeine intake.
- Clothing. Being too hot or too cold can make a baby cry. So can clothing that is too tight.
- Dirty Diaper. Stool is very irritating to the skin. If not cleaned off, it can cause pain and burning.
- Colic. Colic is the main cause of recurrent crying during the early months. All babies have some normal fussy crying every day. When this occurs over 3 hours per day, it’s called colic. When they are not crying, they are happy.
- Pain . Painful causes include an earache, mouth ulcers, or a raw diaper rash. An ulcer on tip of penis may also cause pain and crying. These babies cry a lot and are not happy when they are not crying. They need to see a doctor to make a diagnosis. Fever in this age group is serious until proven otherwise. Shaken baby syndrome is a concern.
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Notice Your Babys Tells
There are other, subtler, cues that offer a peek into what your baby needs, and reading these can prevent crying spells.
A few are clear, like rubbing their eyes or yawning when theyre tired.
Others are less obvious, such as averting their gaze when theyve had enough stimulation. Watch your baby closely their body movements, positions, facial expressions, and vocal sounds at various times of day to learn these cues.
Remember, every baby is unique. Just because your first baby sucked on their hand when they were hungry doesnt mean your second one will. Instead, this action may say, I need to calm down.
Why Do Babies Cry
All newborns cry and get fussy sometimes. It’s normal for a baby to cry for 23 hours a day for the first 6 weeks. During the first 3 months of life, they cry more than at any other time.
New parents often are low on sleep and getting used to life with their little one. They’ll quickly learn to find out if their crying baby:
- is hungry
- has a wet or dirty diaper
- is too hot or cold
Often, taking care of a baby’s needs is enough to soothe a baby. But sometimes, the crying goes on longer.
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When Should I Call My Child’s Healthcare Provider
Before assuming your child has colic, look for other signs of illness. These may include:
- Not sucking or drinking a bottle well
- Drinking less milk than usual
- Vomiting
- Becoming more irritable when held or touched
- Having a strange-sounding cry
- Having a change in breathing rate or using extra effort to breathe
- Being more sleepy or sluggish than normal
- Fever of 100.4°F or higher, or as directed by your child’s healthcare provider
Know When Crying Is Normal And When It Isn’t
Newborns will typically cry for as much as two to three hours of the day. According to Tranter, you can expect your baby’s crying to peak between their sixth and eighth week of life, and from there it should taper off.
Older babies may have different reasons for crying. For example, at around 6 months old, they could be experiencing teething or struggling to adapt to a change in routine.
“As babies mature, they may start crying for developmental reasons such as stranger anxiety or frustration with not being able to communicate their needs,” Tranter says.
Most babies will cry until they get their needs met. However, if their crying is accompanied by other symptoms, such as a fever, continued cold symptoms, bloody diarrhea, or vomiting, they need to be seen by a doctor for treatment.
Some babies cry a lot because they have colic, when a baby cries for more than three hours a day, for more than three days a week, and more than three weeks straight. If you think your baby has colic, the advice is the same as before â take them to a pediatrician for an examination.
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Is This Really Normal
If you feel like your baby cries a lot, for a long time, and you find it hard to soothe them, youre far from alone. In fact, between a third and a fifth of babies cry for long stretches, without an obvious reason, during the first three to four months of age .
Long stretches of crying can start when your little one is around two weeks old and continue until they reach three to four months. Inconsolable crying that can last up to five hours a day is a perfectly normal stage of development called the period of PURPLE crying. PURPLE is not about the colour its short for: Peak of crying Unexpected Resists soothing Pain-like face Long lasting and Evening .
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How Will I Know If My Babys Poorly
A feverfevertake your baby’s temperature
- under three months with a temperature of 38 degrees C or more
- three to six months with a temperature of 39 degrees C or more
A rash
- on the soles of her feet
- on her palms
- on her tummy
- rubella
A cough
- Croup, with a cough that sounds like a bark.
- Bronchiolitis, with a rasping and persistent dry cough.
- Whooping cough, with the distinctive “whoop” sound.
- Pneumonia, when a cold worsens and causes a cough with thick yellow, green, brown or blood-stained mucus .
Runny or blocked noseEar infection
- pulling, tugging or rubbing his ear
- irritability
- not noticing quiet sounds
Vomiting and diarrhoeaDehydration
- dry lips, mouth and eyes, with tearless crying
- a sunken fontanelle
- fewer wet nappies than usual
- dark yellow wee
Weight loss or faltering growth
- once a month between the ages of two weeks and six months
- every two months between the ages of six months and 12 months
- no more than once every three months over the age of one
Identify Your Babys Cries
Generally, a sudden, long, high-pitched shriek means pain, while a short, low-pitched cry that rises and falls indicates hunger. But to say a particular cry means one thing for all babies isnt possible.
Crying is individual from baby to baby, and has much to do with temperament. If your first child was super chill, and this newborn is, well, not so much, you may wonder if theres something wrong with them.
Theres probably nothing wrong, says Hill. Some babies just have a more sensitive temperament and, therefore, are more dramatic in their crying.
If you observe and listen to your infant every day, youll start to distinguish the different sounds of their cries. If your baby screams when theyre hungry, listen to that cry and how its different from the others.
It helps to imagine youre learning a foreign language. If you really pay attention to those cries, over time, you and your baby will develop your own vocabulary.
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Understanding And Responding To Your Newborn Babys Behaviour
Your newborn baby is working out what the world is like. The way you respond to your babys behaviour, especially crying, tells your baby a lot about the world.
For example, your baby might find out that when they cry, someone comes to give them what they need. This might be a nappy change, a feed or a cuddle. If that happens, baby will learn that the world is a pretty OK place.
When you respond quickly to comfort your crying newborn, your baby might cry less often overall. Its absolutely fine to pick up your newborn baby when they cry. It helps your baby feel safe and know that youre nearby.
You cant spoil a newborn. If your newborn is crying, its because they need you to comfort them. If you respond calmly and consistently, it helps your baby learn that the world is a safe and predictable place.
Why Do Babies Cry At Birth
The first cry of triumph that you hear when your baby takes their first breath may well be the highlight of giving birth.
Although most babies are born head first, they cannot take a breath as soon as their heads emerge because there is still too much pressure on their chest. Once you deliver the baby and the pressure eases, your babys breathing reflex kicks in.
Your little one will cough or sputter as they expel the fluid that is blocking their airway and fill their lungs with air. As the air speeds past their vocal cords, voila, that first cry rings out.
Recent research shows that studying these initial crying patterns could serve as markers between healthy infants and those with respiratory distress syndrome.
Enjoy these first wondrous cries they signal that your babys respiratory and circulatory systems are making a successful transition from life inside your womb to life outside it.
Newborns may continue to cry because theyre shocked by the transition to the outside world. Skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding will offer them the comfort theyre asking for.
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How Colic Affects New Parents
Although it’s not harmful in itself, colic can still take its toll. For starters, it puts terrible pressure on new parents. “It sent my husband and me into therapy,” confesses Catherine McManus, a mom from Oviedo, Florida. Excessive crying is also associated with giving up breastfeeding, overmedication of babies, postpartum depression, and shaken-baby syndrome.
Colic is nerve-racking, but it’s helpful to remember that it’s also temporary. “Colic is not your baby’s defining personality trait,” says Laura Jana, M.D., coauthor of Heading Home with Your Newborn . “Once the colic is gone, your child can have a completely different personalityspunky, sensitive, crabby. But colic is not going to tell you which, because it doesn’t carry over.”