Crying is the only means of expression available to the baby when it wants to connect with parents and adults. Not infrequently, it will be real deficiencies that the mother wants to eliminate quickly in the interest of her child. Although crying is quite a good respiratory gymnastics for the infant, it also, if prolonged, consumes energies that the child cannot well do without.
Causes of baby crying
Crying is the only means of expression available to the baby when it wants to connect with parents and adults. Thus, it is necessary that the mother does not simply try to put the baby to sleep by rocking him in the carriage, but that she calmly considers what is probably the cause of the dissatisfaction of the crying infant. If the fixed break between two meals is approaching its end, hunger is of course the reason for the loud commotion, and the crying simply means: “But now I really need something to eat!”. Every healthy baby is reminded in this way of the impending meal and will not rest until he is full and satisfied and can again devote himself to sweet idleness or sleep. But if the mother means too well and allows the child, who is fed partly or even entirely by bottle, more than is good for the infant, if she allows herself to be softened into the belief that crying in any case means hunger, to increase the ration, only harm can result. The baby’s gastrointestinal tract is excessively strained and causes it pain, the agony of which it draws the mother’s attention to by its crying. Superfluous air, which was either swallowed when drinking too hastily or was created by the digestive activity in the body, also gives the infant a hard time. This can be remedied by very simple means. The mother lets the child burp on her arm to expel the air, or puts a cool, moist compress on the baby’s body. Regularly before meals, the baby is freshly swaddled. But even in the meantime, it will be necessary to change the diapers at least once, a fact that the child, in turn, will make known to the mother on its own will, as soon as damp or even soiled diapers become uncomfortable for it. Otherwise, there would be a danger that the delicate skin would quickly turn red and painful eczema would make the child really sick. Similar feelings of discomfort are caused by wrinkles in the diapers or shirt. They squeeze the little body as well as too tightly wrapped. An infant wrapped up too warmly, perhaps in addition in stale air or in bright light that blinds the eyes, will hardly feel comfortable and energetically give vent to his heart. Fresh should be the air and light the Zudeckbettchen, but the child must not freeze of course in any case, and if everything is fine, but the little hands feel quite cold or the back is exposed, then certainly the freezing is to blame if the baby does not give rest and cries.
Soothe crying baby
In the past, the opinion prevailed that the passage of the little teeth was associated with considerable discomfort for the child, and one was easily inclined to explain his crying from the outset with this event in the existence of the child, and thus came into danger of omitting the elimination of any grievances. Today we know that teething takes place almost without pain as a completely natural process, and the mother must look for the reason of the crying in one of the discussed possibilities. Nature equips every little baby from the very beginning with the ability to take its food by sucking. It will soon teach the experience that after this mouth movement with the satiety a state of most intimate well-being occurs for the child. So it tries to suck on everything that can be reached, one prefers the little fingers, another puts the end of the bed into its mouth, while a third may even be given a pacifier as a sedative. But if it doesn’t find the familiar comforter right away, it won’t be able to sleep either and will continue to scream until the thumb or something else slips into its mouth for sucking. The mother or father, who feel so closely and directly connected with their child, will usually soon succeed in finding their way around the scale of baby crying.They will hear from their child’s wailing whether he is only remembering his right to food, or whether something serious is tormenting him, and into their hands it is placed to turn the roaring little infant back into a gently slumbering little angel.
