When parents have no experience in understanding what ‘whaaaaaa’ means, they feel a great deal of stress . In short, when their bub cries they freak out… HELP! Let's talk about why babies cry and how you should respond to their cry.
In my experience crying is how babies communicate. It’s their way of letting those around them know they have an issue. A baby’s cry is best appreciated when they are born… what a relief! The baby is alive! The hard part starts when the baby comes home and the parents are left alone to cope.
Babies cry for a number of reasons; hunger, dirty nappy, pain, cold, attention seeking, tired and overtired. I get asked alot, how LONG should or can a baby cry? The answer is that they can cry for a VERY long time. Indeed, if left unattended, they can outlast our coping ability. It is far better to assess HOW and WHY, and then deal with it appropriately. HOW a babies cries means listening to and learning the difference between a whingy, tired and a painful cry. Yes, guessing is the name of the game and with practice, you will get very good at interpreting the cry.
Once you've decided how they are cring, you then need to find out WHY. For example, do they need their nappy changed? Do they need a feed? Are they teething? The best thing to do is Stop-Assess-Act.
Experience is a great teacher. In time you will learn to distinguish the different cries of your baby. Remember it is human to show how we feel and crying is part of that.
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