Newborn crying

The first days after a baby arrives in the family are the most difficult for parents. You will quickly learn to recognize your child's needs and respond to them. In the beginning, create a checklist of things that need to be checked in order to find a solution and go step by step:

• Hunger is the most common reason for crying, and the younger the baby, the greater the chance that he/she wants milk.  So try feeding first. If you are breastfeeding, put the baby to the breast as often as possible in the first days, to stimulate lactation. Of course, this doesn't mean that a crying newborn is always hungry! First remember when the last breastfeed was; if less than an hour has passed, consider another reason for crying. If you always try to calm the newborn by breastfeeding, you will create a confused, insecure baby who will find it difficult to separate from the breast.  

• The baby may need a diaper change. Some babies do not immediately react when they fill the diaper, and some want to be changed immediately. In any case, always take a look at the diaper because it is worth trying changing him/her.

• The baby is cold or too hot. Be careful not to warm the baby too much; the rule is: the baby needs only one layer of clothes more than you. If the back of the baby's neck is hot and wet, he/she is probably too warm and you need to make him/her comfortable and check if the room is overheated.  If the baby is cold, the fastest and best way to warm up is the mother's body, preferably skin-to-skin.

• The baby wants his/her mom, because every baby needs mother's love, attention and closeness. Maybe your baby just wants you to cuddle and hold him/her and hear your voice. Sometimes it is enough to just hold him/her close to feel your heartbeat and your smell.

• Infantile colic usually occurs after the second week of life.

• Your personal mood can also be a reason why your child is agitated. Maybe it’s evening and you’re tired; you may be annoyed by your child's sensitivity. Knowing that your child often just reacts to your mood can help you be calmer with him/her.

• Excessive engagement with the child can sometimes make an upset child cry even harder. If you hand him/her over to each other, if you change his/her diapers when it is not needed, if you offer him/her to eat over and over again, if you discuss his/her crying in a worried tone, you can upset him/her even more, and it will lead to even more crying.

If your baby cries persistently and inconsolably and you can't calm the child down, check:

• If the nose is congested - cleaning the nose - rinsing with saline solution - can be of great help.
• Ear inflammation can also be accompanied by sudden and inconsolable crying, but it is a much rarer cause of crying than previously thought.
• If the baby has a rash in the diaper region.
• Check the boy's scrotum and groin area in both sexes. A pinched hernia is manifested by swelling that is hard, red and extremely painful. This is a condition that requires urgent surgical intervention. Babies tolerate these surgeries very well, stay in the hospital for a short time and recover quickly.

When should you take a child to the doctor immediately?

• The baby's persistent crying and agitation are accompanied by difficulty breathing or rapid breathing, pale or blue lips, vomiting, diarrhea, or the appearance of blood in the stool.
• Unusual, monotonous crying or screaming, high-pitched cry, accompanied by a change in behavior.
• When a baby cries painfully and you cannot comfort him/her in any way that worked previously, or you do not understand the reason for crying.

React to the baby's crying. When you do that, you are teaching your baby that he/she is precious, that the world can be trusted. Don't be afraid that you will spoil your child. The amount of love you give to a baby cannot be too great. It is the foundation for your child to grow into a person who will realize all his/her potentials, who will be self-confident and satisfied, capable of giving love to his/her partner and children.