Understanding Baby’s Cry

Understanding your baby’s cry

How many different types of baby’s cry are there?

There are five main cries for babies, however each child will sound different.

Hunger cries

This type of cry usually starts quiet and gradually gets louder. It may take some time to settle your baby when you eventually do feed them as they get themselves worked up.

High pitched cries

More often that not means your baby is feeling pain. Usually high pitched, it could be due to having wind but your baby will not stop until the pain has gone.

Soft cries

Usually when a baby is fed up or tired they will have a soft cry. They may use it to settle themselves to sleep but you will learn to know your baby’s cry.

Loud angry cries

When your baby is over tired they will cry very loudly and abruptly. It can be hard to settle your baby in this state so the best thing to do is to remove them from others and shush them to sleep.

A low moaning baby’s cry

Usually happens when your baby is poorly.

If you’ve tried all the obvious things to settle baby, feeding, winding, nappy change, sleep and all have failed, what’s next?

Most of the time your baby just needs to be reassured they are safe. The world is a brand new place for them so they may be scared. It is also good to know that it is ok for your baby to cry sometimes.

You could try swaddling them and shushing them to sleep, comforting them by stroking their nose or belly.

Take them into a different room, sometimes they may feel too hot or too cold in a certain room and may settle better in another room.

If you’re baby is crying in pain, and you’ve given medicine, what do you advise to help baby settle while medicine takes effect?

They do not know how to cope with pain and it is new to them so they are going to cry until the pain has gone. Walking around with them, rocking them softly could soothe them. The best thing to do is hold them, let them know you are there for them.

If baby is crying for no obvious reason, what can you do?.

Go through everything first. Change their nappy, see if they’re tired, have they got wind, are they the right temperature, are they hungry or poorly?
Check they are comfortable, their nappy could be rubbing and they might not like socks on etc. Sometimes they do just cry.

Is holding baby continuously while crying the best advice?

As a new parent you will want to hold your baby all the time. However, you must remember that you need time for yourself too as holding a crying baby is very tiresome. You need to get your baby used to settling themselves or they will take advantage. they will depend on you for every little thing and will not go to anyone else to settle them which can be frustrating when you’re busy.