Parenthood has its highs and lows. Watching your child grow each day and helping them along the way bring up some of the best feelings in the world. Yet once you flip the coin over, the same bundle of joy in your arms will push all of your buttons. It’s only a matter of time until every cry or tantrum they make causes you to break down, especially if you’re a new parent.
Babies are born into a world of newness day in and day out. One thing they’re still getting the hang of is communication. Unfortunately, they’re not as articulate as adults just yet. So, for now, all they can do is cry. However, as they relay specific information, all you can hear is noise.
Admittedly, hearing your kids cry is one of the most stressful things in the world. Anyone would get burnt out and long for a well-deserved self-care session after listening to that day after day. Regrettably, that can only happen once your baby grows old enough to learn how to speak. While that’s in progress, all you can do is know how to set your baby’s cries apart from each other.
- ‘I’m Hungry!’
Your baby needs all the nutrients it can get to grow strong and healthy. Therefore, you must make it a top priority to identify which of their cries is for hunger. If a baby’s starving, they typically have hunger cues that are easy to spot. Their hands might search around for your breast when you’re holding them. Lip-smacking and jamming their fingers in their mouth are other signs of hunger.
However, not all parents are around their babies 24/7. So, as obvious as their gestures are, always keep your ears peeled once you hear them crying. The cries they make are often rhythmic and repetitive if they’re hungry. It sounds like pleading; except they don’t use any words for it. What makes the sound tricky is how it either takes a high or low pitch. Once you hear them crying like this, it’s time to feed them from your breast or via formula from Serenity Kids and other trustworthy brands.
- ‘It Hurts!’
No parent ever wants to hear—or watch—their kids getting hurt. Hence, aside from hunger, another cry you should pay careful attention to is when something’s stressing them out. Sadly, it’s easy to stress them out that they’ll cry from the slightest pain.
Be that as it may, myserenitykids.com and other parenting guides claim that the most common reason babies cry is when they’re gassy or colic. This could happen right after feeding or during late afternoons or evenings. One sign of gas pain is when the baby brings their knees up to their chest. Arching their backs and thrashing around are other ways to show they’re in pain. While doing those, their cries will be piercing and grating (i.e., intense screaming or wailing).
Although it’s a test of patience, calming down a gassy baby is doable. For starters, try putting them in comforting positions. Lay them on their stomach along your forearm or across your knees before you rub their back. Ensure you support their head the entire time. If that doesn’t work, put them on their back and push their knees up to their stomach. Hold that position for 10 seconds before releasing, and repeat the process. Be gentle when doing this to (hopefully) coax out the gas.
However, if both positions don’t work, give the baby a pacifier. Sucking on something is another one of their reflexes; hence, it’s a comforting gesture during stressful circumstances, such as getting vaccinated. Still, if none of these remedies work, you may visit their doctor.
- ‘I’m Tired!’
Even though you’re doing all the work, babies get tired much more quickly. Yet despite how exhausted they are, some instances might leave them feeling restless. You can tell they want to sleep if they frequently rub their eyes until they get red or puffy. Another sign is when their eyes are closed, but they keep moving around.
Because sleep’s nowhere to be found, their crying will sound breathy and helpless. In some cases, they might make a whiny, nasal cry. Both instances could happen intermittently or continuously. Thus, it’s better to rely on their gestures more.
- ‘I’m Sick!’
Whether they’re new or veterans, there’s no rest for parents, especially with their kids still a few months old because that age is susceptible to all sorts of things. Therefore, it’s only natural for babies to get sick sometimes. Besides having symptoms, babies are too exhausted to do anything else but whimper and cry weakly. If that’s not alarming enough, they often have a lower pitch, making it easy to miss unless you listen to them properly.
Takeaway
Being a parent is one of the most stressful experiences in your lifetime. Because your baby is still new to the world, they depend on you to keep them alive. So, it’s crucial that you understand their limited ways of communication. Although you’re bound to undergo numerous trials and errors, deciphering your baby’s cries will be the best tool in your arsenal as a parent.
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