Newborn babies do only two things at first: they sleep or they cry. This is what most people know even if they don’t have children of their own yet. But why do they scream all day long as soon as they are awake? Perhaps the following report will help you to understand this better.
When the baby cries – If your newborn baby does not come to rest, this could have the following causes:
- baby needs to be held
- Hunger
- Don’t go to sleep
- Three-Month Colics
- Too hot, too cold, too sore bottom
- Toothache pain
- Cold / illness
- Problems falling asleep
- Boredom or developmental thrust
In the following we will go into the causes further.
First language is shouting
Right after birth, babies already do what will be the main reason in the near future, what the new parents will think about, it screams. Why it screams, nobody knows exactly. Not only the parents, who stand helplessly and think about whether it is hungry, the diaper is full or it is tormented again by stomach ache. Even the baby itself does not know why it is actually crying. It just feels “strange” and wants to be helped. Mummy should turn off the feeling that is plaguing the little worm so much. Whether it is hunger, tiredness, a wet diaper or simply the desire for closeness and security, the child cannot yet feel what is so unpleasant. Something is just different. Until the child itself and the parents know what the reason could be, all possibilities must be tried out to eliminate the reason. But there is a small worry: after a few weeks, parents and child get to know each other so well that the needs of your child are no longer a closed book.
Baby needs to be held
After the birth it is mostly the feeling of security in mum’s stomach that the baby lacks. Around the little body, there is no longer the familiar demarcation it felt in the belly.
So in the beginning, it helps best if parents react immediately to the baby’s crying and take the baby in their arms and give him or her close up so that he or she can calm down quickly. This also gives the child the confidence that it can rely on its parents.
Hunger
Placing the baby on the breast or feeding him or her with bottles can usually already help to calm the baby. As babies are often hungry, this can be the most common reason for crying in the beginning.
Don’t go to sleep
Many babies are simply tired, but they cannot find the solution themselves by simply trying to fall asleep, but rather they make their discomfort known again by crying. Just help your baby to find his or her way to sleep in the first few minutes by placing him or her on the breast again, holding him or her in your arms, lying down next to him or her, rocking in the cradle or just stroking him or her to sleep. Some children fall asleep when they hear the hum of the vacuum cleaner or the noise of the dishwasher or washing machine. The child just has to learn that sleep sometimes helps.
Three-Month Colics
If your child suffers from three-month colic, the best solution is to calm him down and carry him on your arm, preferably in the so-called airplane handle, where the child is placed belly down on the forearm and the head in the elbow of the adult. A gentle massage of the tummy with warm baby oil can also help to relieve abdominal cramps.
Too hot, too cold, too sore bottom
If your child is dressed too warmly, because he or she is wearing rompers and a jacket under the blanket in the pram, or if he or she is too cold, because he or she is not yet able to regulate his or her own body temperature, your child will certainly scream loudly. Touch his forehead to feel if he is hot and sweaty or feel if he is freezing on his hands and fingers. Eyes covered by a slippery cap or even a full nappy, which is certainly not very pleasant on the skin in the long run, can also be the reason for long-lasting crying. These external reasons can be quickly identified and solved.
Toothache pain
If your child often cries after the fourth month of life and has hot cheeks and swollen teeth, it is possible that the first teeth are already pushing through the gums. Of course this hurts and the child cannot help itself. Mom or dad can help a little bit by applying tooth gel to the baby’s gums to numb the pain a little, giving him or her something cold to drink or giving him or her homeopathic pellets available at the pharmacy to reduce the pain a little. A cold teething ring or a clean, wet and cold washcloth for the child to bite on can also help.
Cold / illness
When your child has his or her first feverish cold, gets diarrhoea and is plagued by stomach ache or similar illnesses, it is more than understandable if he or she makes himself or herself known by crying. In this case, you should see your paediatrician, who will examine your child and suggest the right treatment. Mummy or daddy’s closeness is additional help for the sick child.
Problems falling asleep
If your child screams mainly in the evening when you take him to bed, it may be that he simply cannot rest because the day was very exciting and exhausting. Babies are not able to process experiences so well and find it difficult to sleep on exciting days because of the sensory overload. Try to spend the time before going to sleep as calmly as possible, even if the father does not come home until the evening, for example. It is better to cuddle and caress than to play wild flying games before going to bed. Otherwise, your child will turn up the heat and you won’t be able to think about sleeping for a while.
Boredom or developmental thrust
In your baby’s life there are days when a lot is going on and the child is constantly busy with himself or herself or parents and siblings, and some days when it is just boring. In these moments, children cry out because they want attention and to be occupied.
But you’ll soon hear this from the kind of screaming that sounds more whiny than tormented. However, if your child is just starting to develop again and learns something new like crawling or walking, he or she will process these experiences when falling asleep, which in turn can lead to crying. Then a little cuddling and reassuring words from mum or dad will help best.
Every child is different
There are of course also differences in character. Some children simply scream more than others, which often pushes parents to their limits. Having a screaming child strains nerves and patience. Especially when your child is screaming like a banshee, which also keeps them under constant stress, you as parents are desperately looking for a solution.
Midwives recommend feather cradles
This is as simple as it is ingenious: midwives recommend a feather cradle for writing babies. This sleeping environment is guaranteed to calm your baby. Even though the principle is thousands of years old, manufacturers have only been bringing cradles from the Amazonian rainforest to the European continent for a few decades – with incomparable success.
What gently lulls Brazilian babies to sleep in a baby hammock has been just as effective since the development of the feather cradle. The secret of the spring cradle is its three-dimensional oscillations, which make the cradle swing back and forth but also up and down. These are exactly the movements that the baby knows from its time in the womb.
The precision spring also ensures that the natural rhythm of the mother’s heartbeat is simulated at around 70 vibrations per minute – also a familiar environment for your baby. This construction of the spring cradle therefore imitates the safe and secure environment that your little one knows from the time before birth. An environment that will instantly soothe your baby as it will feel as safe and secure as it did before the birth.
This way it can relax and the typical cramps in the gastrointestinal tract, which can occur due to tense sleep, are over. This gentle sleep also helps against three-month colic. Here the babies suddenly stop breathing, which makes them wake up and cry. The rhythm of the feather cradles, on the other hand, ensures that even crying babies can breathe easily and strongly. Use the feather cradle directly after birth and you will see how peacefully your baby can sleep – without screaming.
You can also place the feather cradle directly next to the parents’ bed. Should your baby then become restless while sleeping, just a little nudge is enough to calm him down again.
Beitragsbild Quelle: pixabay / joffi