How To Translate Your Baby’s Tears
Facebook 
Get Our Newsletter! 
Print
Take a break
Although her face is bright red and she seems deeply distressed, remember that crying won’t hurt your infant! However, an exhausted, frustrated, stressed-out parent isn’t optimal for the Herculean task of caring for a baby. This is why every pediatrician we talked to recommends you take a break from the crying. Ideally, call a family member or friend to relieve you for an hour. If this isn’t an option, swaddle your crying baby, put her in the crib and take a 15-minute herbal tea break. Check occasionally to make sure she’s okay.
Continuous crying can result in an overly irritated, impatient parent. In fact, in America, an estimated 1,400 babies are shaken each year, generally in response to continuous crying. So before you’re at your wit’s end, take a break!
Keep in mind, too, that there’s light at the end of this teary tunnel: Crying decreases when a baby is 8 weeks old.
Call your doctor when…
If your infant’s crying is accompanied by any of these symptoms, seek the counsel of your pediatrician:
› A change in crying (for example, a listless moan instead of the usual lively bawling)
› A fever
› Unusual vomiting or spitting up
› Sleeping more or less than normal
› A red or swollen scrotum (for boys)
› Diarrhea or bloody stools
› Feeding issues (as described in Step 3)
› Congestion or noisy breathing while baby is sleeping
You’re caring for a person who can’t tell you what’s wrong. So, if you’re
worried, don’t hesitate to call your pediatrician, who will be happy if she can reassure you that all is well.
Writer Nancy Gottesman, of Santa Monica, Calif., recalls singing Grateful Dead songs to her son, Robby, now 13, when he was an inconsolable infant.
Need a little boost of new-mom confidence? Here's our feel good after pregnancy guide 
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.