Once upon a time, before we even considered having children, my husband told me, "babies only cry when they are hungry, need a diaper change, or if they're sick".
Fellow parents, you can stop laughing now.
I actually believed him and I'm pretty sure he believed himself. So maybe it wasn't an intentional lie, but a lie for sure.
Yes, under normal circumstances newborns do only cry over a dirty diaper or because they're hungry. That's because they're still sleeping 20+ hours a day. But eventually that sleep time lessens and a lot of other elements come into play.
Hence, I've learned infants cry because...
- They've pooped.
- They can't poop.
- They've peed out of their diaper. (Didn't know the whole "point the weenie down" rule for boys until a month or two of changing Noah's clothes 10 times a day.)
- They're tired.
- They aren't tired enough.
- Or they're over-tired. Yeah, that's a thing.
- They're cold.
- Maybe they're too warm.
- They're sick.
- They're teething.
- They're hungry.
- They're hungry but don't want to eat because teething hurts.
- They bit their tongue or their finger with those new teeth.
- They're just not feeling bath time today.
- They have reflux.
- They've realized you can walk away or aren't always there. (I never expected separation anxiety to kick in until a few years down the road. Surprise! It starts at 6 months.)
- They just had shots.
- They had shots a day ago and now they have a fever and their leg hurts.
- Something in their clothing is irritating them.
- The creepy-looking polar bear in the book freaked them out. (Okay, maybe that one is only my son.)
- They have gas pains. (Definitely the scariest cry we've encountered so far.)
- They aren't getting enough attention.
- They're bored. (This one was a shocker to me. I didn't know my 2-month-old would actually get annoyed by my repetitive game of peek-a-boo.)
- They're overstimulated.
- They're going through a developmental phase or growth spurt.
- Two words. Stranger danger.
- Their favorite show ends and something else less appealing comes on TV. (I swear, babies think they should control the world!)
- They have to burp. (Noah is famous for this one. You would think someone is chopping his leg off when he has a burp stuck.)
- They sense you're upset. (Babies are mood magnets. If I'm having a rough day, you can bet Noah is usually having a rough day, too.)
- They want to be held.
- They don't want to be held.
- The sun is too bright and their sunglasses no longer fit their chubby face. (This is possibly just another Noah problem.)
- They woke from their nap too soon.
- They don't want to take a nap.
- They're scared.
- And occasionally, I'm convinced, they just cry to cry. You won't find a reason.
Seriously, the list goes on and on...
If you're one of those women lucky enough to be able to decipher your child's cries, I salute you. Noah is now almost 8 months old and I still can't tell his cries apart. So when it's your job to determine the problem and the only person who can tell you can't speak, well, it can be a little frustrating.
But eventually the laughs outweigh the cries...and then at some point they can talk and actually tell you the problem. I'm still anxiously awaiting that day. But like the rest of baby milestones, that day will come with a whole new set of challenges. Hopefully, a more quiet set of challenges :)
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