How to soothe a crying baby?
We all know that babies can't talk. Crying is just a method to express their needs and troubles. They will cry for many reasons: want to be held, want to get down, feeling warm, feeling cold, before passing urine, after passing urine and so on...
So, crying comes naturally to them as a sign of communication. What, we as parents need to do is spend time with them and understand why they are crying. The pitch of a hunger cry is different from a painful cry. The pitch of cry before passing urine is different from that after passing urine. So, tune yourselves to that.
"Crying is not always due to less milk output"
So, why do babies usually cry?
The causes of crying of your baby extend from simple reasons to life threatening conditions. Remember a simple rule: Don’t ignore crying if excessive, continuous and simple interventions are not working.
The common causes are:
Hunger
Soiling and wetting
Needs sleep
Needs cuddling
Heat and cold
Something painful like tight clothing, mosquito bite, bug bite, ant bite
Colic
Earache
How to soothe a crying baby?
Try to understand why your little one is crying. Act accordingly, some tips which might be handy but not necessarily fool proof.
Hunger: Watch for signs like lip smacking, putting hands to mouth, fussing. Increase feeding frequency and if persistent, consult your pediatrician or lactation consultant
Soiling or wetting: Check for any evidence of soiled diapers due to urine or stool. Wait for a while as baby might be in the process of passing urine or stools. Babies cry before passing urine or stools as they are horizontal most of the time and crying is a way of creating pressure
Sleepy: Sometimes, babies can't put themselves to sleep and hence get irritated. Common sign is that they sometimes pluck on their ears. Hold them, swaddle them, sing to them, if required sway them gently. Avoid loud noises or bright lights as some babies are very sensitive to them
Need cuddling: Some babies start crying the moment they are kept down and stop when held or breastfed. Its not always that they are hungry. They just want to be with you. Try and understand their body language
Too hot or too cold: Parents usually tend to overdress their little ones making them uncomfortable or put on airconditioners leaving their babies cold. They will obviously react by crying
Pain: Pain anywhere, whether ear pain or rash pain or due to an insect bite will give rise to crying. The pitch of cry is usually different-high pitched, shrieky and inconsolable. A trial of pain killers like paracetamol in right doses may help
Colic: Babies may cry due to gas trapped inside baby's tummy. When it is for more than 3hours a day, 3days in a week, 3 weeks in a row it is defined as colic. Simple methods like burping, swaddling, etc... may help. Refer to our section on Colic
Fever: Fever of the mildest degree or impending fever can make your baby irritable and cranky. A trial of handy emergency medicines like paracetamol may help till you reach your pediatrician
We all know that babies can't talk. Crying is just a method to express their needs and troubles. They will cry for many reasons: want to be held, want to get down, feeling warm, feeling cold, before passing urine, after passing urine and so on...
So, crying comes naturally to them as a sign of communication. What, we as parents need to do is spend time with them and understand why they are crying. The pitch of a hunger cry is different from a painful cry. The pitch of cry before passing urine is different from that after passing urine. So, tune yourselves to that.
"Crying is not always due to less milk output"
So, why do babies usually cry?
The causes of crying of your baby extend from simple reasons to life threatening conditions. Remember a simple rule: Don’t ignore crying if excessive, continuous and simple interventions are not working.
The common causes are:
Hunger
Soiling and wetting
Needs sleep
Needs cuddling
Heat and cold
Something painful like tight clothing, mosquito bite, bug bite, ant bite
Colic
Earache
How to soothe a crying baby?
Try to understand why your little one is crying. Act accordingly, some tips which might be handy but not necessarily fool proof.
Hunger: Watch for signs like lip smacking, putting hands to mouth, fussing. Increase feeding frequency and if persistent, consult your pediatrician or lactation consultant
Soiling or wetting: Check for any evidence of soiled diapers due to urine or stool. Wait for a while as baby might be in the process of passing urine or stools. Babies cry before passing urine or stools as they are horizontal most of the time and crying is a way of creating pressure
Sleepy: Sometimes, babies can't put themselves to sleep and hence get irritated. Common sign is that they sometimes pluck on their ears. Hold them, swaddle them, sing to them, if required sway them gently. Avoid loud noises or bright lights as some babies are very sensitive to them
Need cuddling: Some babies start crying the moment they are kept down and stop when held or breastfed. Its not always that they are hungry. They just want to be with you. Try and understand their body language
Too hot or too cold: Parents usually tend to overdress their little ones making them uncomfortable or put on airconditioners leaving their babies cold. They will obviously react by crying
Pain: Pain anywhere, whether ear pain or rash pain or due to an insect bite will give rise to crying. The pitch of cry is usually different-high pitched, shrieky and inconsolable. A trial of pain killers like paracetamol in right doses may help
Colic: Babies may cry due to gas trapped inside baby's tummy. When it is for more than 3hours a day, 3days in a week, 3 weeks in a row it is defined as colic. Simple methods like burping, swaddling, etc... may help. Refer to our section on Colic
Fever: Fever of the mildest degree or impending fever can make your baby irritable and cranky. A trial of handy emergency medicines like paracetamol may help till you reach your pediatrician
