Why do babies cry? For the same reason anyone cries, which is for about a million different possible reasons. But with a newborn, you’re handicapped as a mom: you aren’t yet communicating in spoken language, so for you it becomes a guessing game, hourly and daily and even minute by minute. Since babies often cry non-stop for up to two hours at a shot, it can often feel overwhelming, like you’re losing the guessing game. But there are ways to cut down the possibilities and help get to the ideal position of returning your child to a happy gurgling bundle of joy, all momentary needs addressed.
Just try to put yourself in the situation of your baby. First and foremost a baby will communicate by fussing and crying is she is hungry. Remember that the feeding for a newborn is constant, every few hours. If you are convinced your baby is crying for reasons of hunger, address the situation quickly. If the baby becomes TOO hungry then chances are that she will take the bottle too eagerly and gobble up a lot of air along with everything else. This will lead to spit-ups and probably more fussing and crying. If the baby is attacking the bottle with too much gusto, back away and try to feed her little by little.
If the baby doesn’t seem to be hungry, go directly to plan B: check your baby’s diaper right away. There’s nothing like a full diaper to get those tears flowing. Remember here that an incomplete or absent burping after the bottle can produce an upset tummy, which will lead to crying and eventual full diaper, so don’t forget: ABB! (Always Be Burping).
If the above reasons don’t seem to be the case, don’t forget that the average newborn sleeps just like an old cat – sometimes up to 18 hours a day. The child may be crying for the simple reason that her sleep was disturbed in some way. This is a time to remember that a quiet environment must be created and maintained for the child at all times. So turn down the music, turn up the listener-speaker and pay attention!
Finally, sometimes a baby, just like an adult, will become frustrated with her sleep position, or any waking position she happens to be in. In that case you just need to move her around, rock or carry her here and there, and you’ll see this can work wonders to quiet and soothe your crying child.