How To Translate Your Baby’s Tears
Facebook 
Get Our Newsletter! 
Print
By Nancy Gottesman
Of all the changes that new parenthood brings, your little bundle’s howls and shrieks may be the hardest to adjust to. Your immediate reaction, of course, is to staunch the tears for both your baby’s happiness and your peace of mind. Being unable to do so may feed any new-mom insecurities you may feel and even leave you questioning your parenting abilities. But we’ve got news for you: Crying is not only natural, it’s your baby’s only means of communication!
“Pediatricians need to educate parents that crying is developmentally normal,” explains Karen St. Claire, a pediatrician at the Duke University Medical Center for Child and Family Health in Durham,
N.C. “We [medical professionals] think of it as a neurological phase that babies go through.” A baby’s peak crying period usually occurs at 4 to 8 weeks old and tapers off by 12 weeks. Until that quieter time arrives, the following steps can help soothe both baby and parents.
Translate the tears
“Crying is the way a baby attracts the attention of the parent,” says Kathleen G. Nelson, M.D., professor of pediatrics at the University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham. “You need to respond and figure out what’s going on.” Often, that’s not easy. First, experts say, address the obvious. Try to feed the baby, burp her, put her down for a nap, change her diaper, pick her up and hold her. If those responses fail—they often do!—give these a shot:
› Rock baby in a chair or cradle.
› Sing a sweet song.
› Give a warm bath.
› Gently rub baby’s belly.
› Offer a pacifier.
› Place baby in an infant wind-up swing (one with head support for newborns).
› Stroll around the neighborhood.
› Put your baby in the car seat and take a drive.
› Walk around the house cradling your baby.
› Use the football hold (with baby’s body on your forearm).
› Make sure no thread or strand of hair is wrapped around baby’s toe or finger.
Remember, these aren’t guaranteed to work. If baby keeps crying, it’s no reflection on your parenting skills!
Just gotta try this Creamy Avocado Dip recipe via Momables.com - love how you can spread it on a sandwich in lieu of Mayo! 
Comment by Kathy on Dec 31 2009 09:08:27:
Seriously, the crying does get imbearable at times and wears on both you and your spouse. My husband is a firfighter and a stay at home dad.HE enjoys being home, but its rough. Our little guy who is four months now, has been a real crier for the last month. When I come home my husband is waiting for me at the door with open arms. I can normally calm the baby, but there are times where he continues to cry even when I try to console him. What has been working is being consistent with a sleep schedule, making sure he isnt too hot in his clothes, that he eats regulary ( he eats every 3-4 hours for sure ), he sleeps in the same spots everyday with white noise, and we have introduced rice cereal into the nightly feedings only. All these ideas have helped to some degree. I hope that they work for you. Good Luck.
Kathy
“Resident Mom”
Comment by Maureen on Jan 18 2011 09:27:46:
What do you do when it is a 7 month old who now cries a lot? We have our LO in daycare three days a week. According to the caregivers, she has begun to cry pretty much anytime she is not being held by someone at the center. I have noticed her wanting more (and more) constant attention at home. She only wants to play by herself if someone is an arm length away. I think she is about to be kicked out of the daycare. How do you encourage the baby to play by his or herself (i.e. in an exersaucer, bouncy seat, swing, play gym, or on a floor mat….) so you can use the restroom without the neighbors think you are torturing the poor LO?
Comment by Monica Strobel on Aug 23 2011 04:09:01:
After two week of non- consolable crying from my 3 week old, I tried the “vacuum cleaner” sound, sitting in a room with a running vacuum cleaner. hard on my, the mom, but worked like a charm to calm my daughter who’d fall asleep to the noise.
For a few months after that, I carried a hair dryer around in my diaper bag, for emergency “vacuum sound” fixes on the road. Folks always asked why I had that in there. If none of your excellent suggestions works above, you might give it a try.
Comment by Baby Stroller Consultant on May 07 2012 05:35:42:
It took my wife and I many weeks to figure out why our daughter was crying. We finally figured out she has different cries for different situations. She has a hungry cry, tired cry, gas bubble cry and they are different. As new parents it took us weeks to figure them out, but once we did it was easier to meet the needs of our baby.