Chapter from the training manual for nursing staff “Successful breastfeeding and psychological unity of mother-child”, written by order of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation with the support of WHO/UNICEF
During the first three months of life, all babies cry a lot. Crying is the only way a newborn can tell his mother that he feels bad. In order for a child to form a favorable impression of the world, not a single request for help should be left unattended. Moreover, the mother’s reaction should be lightning fast. The faster the mother comes to the child’s aid, the less his nervous system suffers and the more favorable his impression of the new environment.
Interestingly, a mother's attitude toward a child's crying is dictated by her intellectual level and cultural background. Children of Americans and natives of Western Europe cry much more often and longer, and this is due to the mother’s reaction to the baby’s inviting cry. Cornell University anthropologist and author of Our Children, Ourselves, Meredith Small, says: “In the West, a mother responds to her baby’s cries in an average of one minute—usually by picking him up and soothing him. Children born where the primitive civilization of hunters and gatherers still survives (in Botswana, for example) cry just as often, but for half as long. The African mother’s response occurs after 10 seconds and consists of bringing the baby to the breast: there the children are fed about 4 times an hour, and without any schedule, no matter how crazy it may seem to our regime-obsessed mothers...
Nowadays, all over the world, attitudes towards infant crying are changing - they have begun to recognize the child’s right to demand attention.
What does a baby's cry mean?
Crying is a powerful mechanism for an infant’s adaptation to extrauterine conditions. Moreover, human cubs scream not only often, but also with numerous intonations. After all, before the baby learns to put his feelings and desires into words, only with the help of crying can he express fear, pain, hunger, fatigue, and in some cases, joy.
What does a young mother who has just gone through the throes of labor do when she hears the cry of her newborn baby? Of course - smiling happily! After all, a loud cry marks the birth of a healthy baby. In this case, inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly promotes effective opening of the lungs, rapid absorption of excess fluid from them and prevents the development of congestive pneumonia.
How do you calm a baby in the delivery room? That's right - they apply it to the mother's breast. The baby quickly calms down and, busily snoring, actively sucks. As a rule, after feeding, the baby is washed, weighed, dressed and left in the children's ward or next to the mother. Tired from the abundance of new impressions, he sleeps soundly for several hours until he gets hungry again.
A way to communicate with the world
Everyone looks forward to the first cry of a newborn and listens with a smile, because it is known: if a newborn screams right away, this is a good sign, everything is fine with him.
But when the baby starts screaming again and again, young parents begin to worry. Maybe there's something wrong with him, he's not feeling well? In fact, crying is a normal phenomenon; for a baby it is still the only way to communicate with the world. How else can a child tell his mother that he is hungry or cold, that his tummy hurts, that he is tired and wants to sleep, or that he is simply in a bad mood?
Gradually, you will learn to distinguish all shades of crying: from demanding, persistent when the child is hungry, to “whining” when the baby is tired.
Let's figure out what can make a baby cry in the first month of life.
Baby cries while feeding
So, the most common reason for a newborn’s cry is a feeling of hunger. At the same time, the crying is with demanding intonations and the louder the longer you have to wait for feeding. Why, after calming down during sucking, can he cry again?
1. Incorrect breast placement. Well, how can you not get offended and angry if the milk is very close, but due to a violation of the breastfeeding technique, you can’t eat?
2. It's hard to suck. In the first days after birth, not only the mother, but also the child has to get used to breastfeeding and possible problems: flat nipples, thick colostrum and lactostasis. In this case, children may have swelling of the nasal passages or a short frenulum of the tongue, which also makes sucking difficult.
3. There are painful elements of the rash in the oral cavity (thrush, microbial aphthae). During the morning and evening toilet, the mother needs to examine the mucous membrane of the tongue, gums and cheeks so as not to miss the appearance of red pustular elements or white fungal plaque. Herpetic stomatitis is especially dangerous for infants. In this case, delay in active treatment threatens not only health, but also life.
4. Ear hurts. As a rule, in newborns, acute otitis media occurs as a complication of intrauterine infection or, less commonly, due to a runny nose. The crying is loud, shrill, with painful intonations. The baby, having barely swallowed the first portion of milk, abandons the breast and refuses to start eating again for a long time. If you suspect ear pain, your child should be seen by a doctor.
5. Tummy hurts. In the first month of life, colonization of the baby's intestines by microorganisms is often accompanied by clinical symptoms, combined into the concept of dysbiosis. It is manifested by intestinal colic, loud rumbling, changed color and consistency of stool. The child begins to cry suddenly, while he presses his legs to his stomach, bends his whole body and strains, and after passing gas or stool he immediately calms down.
What can help the baby? Gently stroking the tummy clockwise, constant relaxing warmth (for example, a woolen scarf tied as a sash), placing it on the stomach. Skin-to-skin contact is very effective: the baby is carried on the arm in a face-down position so that the mother’s palm constantly warms the long-suffering tummy, or the baby is put to sleep on the adult’s chest. A lot of useful information can be found in the article “Colic in newborns.” In agreement with the pediatrician, it is possible to use adsorbents (Disflatil) and biological products (Lactobacterin, Linnex, Lacidofil).
A child cries in his sleep
In addition to a feeling of hunger or intestinal colic, the cause of crying may be an uncomfortable position, prolonged pressure on the skin from folds of clothing or linen wrapped around a finger of hair. In the first month of life, it is especially important to choose the right clothes for your baby, level the bed and protect him from string threads. To prevent it from resting on its side or ear, turn it over approximately every 30 minutes.
The baby may be hot. Signs of overheating will be not only a loud cry, but also red skin color, perspiration on the forehead and back. Diaper rash easily occurs on vulnerable and delicate skin. Even short-term contact of the inflamed macerated surface of the epidermis with feces causes cutting pain, to which the child reacts with painful crying. But newborns can have up to 25 urinations per day! How to prevent diaper rash and treat it - see the special article.
If the child is cold, then the crying will be quiet and plaintive. And the first signs of hypothermia will be pale skin and the red border of the lips, cold hands and feet. How to properly dress a child and protect him from hypothermia during a walk - read our articles.
A common cause of premature awakening and displeased screaming is fear. It will take many weeks before the baby stops being afraid of his own movements, especially with his hands. But fingers with sharp nails strive to scratch the sensitive skin of the eyelids, cheeks and wings of the nose. Even if parents are ardent opponents of tight swaddling, timid and easily excitable children in the first months of life before bed can be wrapped in a swaddle so as to limit their movements. Perhaps this alone will be enough for the whole family to sleep peacefully. Anti-scratch mittens are also useful.
Baby cries while bathing
There may be several reasons for this:
- fear of one’s own movements and the feeling of parents’ strong hands holding the baby on the water;
- uncomfortable water temperature - hot or cold;
- painful reaction of areas of skin with diaper rash to exposure to water.
What will calm the child? Firstly, he should not be hungry. Secondly, you need to lower the baby into warm water and slowly, while gently holding him under the back and head and talking to him tenderly. You need to give time to get used to bathing as well as to all other routine moments. How to bathe correctly - see the article “Bathing with pleasure and benefit.”
Completely manual
Often young parents have a question: should they rock their baby to sleep? There are different opinions on this matter.
Rhythmic rocking helps him calm down and fall asleep. Motion sickness promotes the development of the vestibular apparatus. On the other hand, it can become a habit that makes it difficult for your child to fall asleep, so it's up to you to decide.
Is it worth picking up a child often? Will he get spoiled? This question also arises among young mothers. Don't be afraid to spoil your baby. He should feel the warmth of his mother, hear the beating of her heart and the gentle voice that is familiar to him even before birth. The biological bond between mother and child remains very strong in the first year of life. It is no coincidence that it is in the arms of the mother that the baby calms down the fastest.
“Studies have shown that babies who maintain constant contact with their mothers during the first year of life are more able to cope with separation from them when they get older,” say American pediatricians William and Martha Serz. – The fact that the mother is always there and ready to help gives confidence and helps the baby rely on his own strengths, leading to the development of independence.
A child who feels good and behaves well. The signals he sends resonate. He feels a constant connection with his parents. He feels their love. He trusts. This internal sense of well-being means that the child has nothing to worry about.
Why else can a newborn baby cry?
Contrary to popular belief, in the first month of life a baby cries much less often than in subsequent months. Due to the immaturity of the nervous system, only strong stimuli (pain, hunger and fear) can provoke a cry. The task of parents is to provide their child with such living conditions in which he could sleep, eat peacefully and gradually get used to the world that is new to him. Bright light, sharp loud sounds (screaming, knocking), constantly working TV or radio are contraindicated. Otherwise, the baby may cry, experiencing fatigue, difficulty falling asleep, or not being able to get enough sleep.
If the reason is psychological discomfort
Babies may cry not only because they are in pain or uncomfortable, but also because, in particular, they are scared. For example, in a dream I jerked my pen sharply - and I was scared by it. Therefore, some mothers swaddle their babies up to six months (or buy special sleeping bags in which the baby cannot disturb himself).
Another baby may shed tears from overexcitement - if the whole day or at least the evening has been eventful, emotions need to be thrown out somehow. Why don't we cry? We understand that there is no point in moping for any reason, and for a baby this behavior is quite natural, it helps to get rid of stress and relieve stress.
Sometimes a crying baby can simply attract attention - this is how he asks to be approached, held in his arms, and played. This is not always convenient for mom. It is worth considering baby carriers, lounge chairs and rocking centers - if you place them around the apartment, you can take the baby with you to any room. He will watch his mother’s actions and he definitely won’t be bored.
And closer to 8 months, babies begin to fear that their mother will leave and not return. Therefore, as soon as the mother disappears from sight (even while remaining in the same room), the baby begins to sob bitterly. You need to talk to the baby, sing songs - so that he can at least hear his voice. This will let him know that mom is nearby, even when she is not visible.
How to calm a newborn depends on why he is crying. A loving mother quickly learns to understand why the baby sheds tears and knows how to help him smile again.
The child cries constantly
If parents are sure that the baby does not have any of the above reasons for monotonous or very loud crying, and it takes a long time to calm him down, you need to seek help from your pediatrician. He will be able to examine the child and recommend correction of the identified deviation in health status. What is most often detected: agitation syndrome against the background of perinatal damage to the central nervous system, changes in liquor dynamics with the development of intracranial hypertension and hydrocephalic syndrome, cysts in the brain. We must not forget that even newborn children can have acute surgical pathology (intestinal volvulus, strangulated hernia, appendicitis), various tumors that compress nerve endings and cause pain, as well as congenital structural abnormalities accompanied by pain.
What other reasons for crying can a grown-up baby find - read the article “What are you crying about, baby?”
Category: Tips for caring for a baby Topics: crying, useful tips, causes of crying Link to material: Crying of a newborn: causes and types of crying in newborns
Save us from these babies!
Everyone who works with a baby knows from their own experience that sometimes a foolish baby can injure himself or hurt an adult. How to avoid this?
Trim your child’s nails in a timely manner if you don’t want to walk around with scratches.
The movements of infants are very impetuous, this must be kept in mind when you are holding a baby in your arms. A sharp turn of the head and you can get a noticeable blow to the face.
An ordinary rattle can also be a source of danger. The baby likes to bang it on anything, so when you pick up the baby, it is better not to give him a rattle.
When the baby starts teething, the calmest baby can turn into a little robber who strives to bite you at every opportunity. It’s still useless to say “you can’t”; it’s better to just move away when you see what he’s going to do.
Some babies enjoy pulling mom's hair. Parting with long hair is not an option, don’t rush to the hairdresser: short locks are also under attack. It is better to pin up your long hair at the back of your head, so you will always have a neat look, and a frolicking child will not be able to turn your curls into a toy.
