Thursday, 6 February 2014

Why Babies Cry

As some of you may know my husband is starting a writing career.  What you may not know is that he employs me to do research.  This means I get to read on all sorts of subjects that I usually wouldn't read about.  For those of you who really know me, you probably know that my interest in babies is zero to none.  In fact when my husband asked me out for the first time, I asked him if he wanted children and if he liked cricket.  He said "no", to both which is why we are together now.  (He lied about the cricket tho!!)  However I had to read about babies for one of Nige's ideas.  What I found out was amazing and I bet more than 85% of mothers don't get to read this stuff.  I, like many others thought that if a baby cries it either needs food or it needs a change of nappies - right?  WRONG!  oh so very wrong.

A baby first communicates by acting happy, angry or surprised.  It does this by changing the tone of its murmuring, gurgling and crying and by using body language.  They can only clearly see to a distance of 20-25cm (8-10”), at 5 weeks after its first growth spurt this increases to 30cm (1ft).  It reacts well to music and bright colours (red, black and white together hold their attention best).  Newborns are sensitive to smells and flavours and temperature changes, reacting sharply to pungent smells and preferring sweeter flavours.  A baby experiences their world in terms of boredom, hunger, hot, wet, tired or tastes good.  It cannot, like adults, distinguish between its senses.

A baby will go through these phases at certain times during the first year.
§  1. Clingy  at 5 wks, 8 wks, 12 wks, 15 wks, 23 wks – [roughly]
§ 2.  Uncomplicated
§ 3.  Happy
§ 4.  Irritable behaviour (cries more often, sleeps less, is clingy and more demanding, eats less, more fussy etc.)

Those phases indicate the baby is having a growth spurt.  Something changes in their brains which enables the baby to perceive things differently. The clingy periods can last from 1 day up to 7 days. They need lots of hugs at this time. 

Imagine what it would be like to wake up and suddenly find yourself on a strange planet where everything was different from the one you were used to.  You can’t say I’ll eat something and I’ll feel better or I’ll shut my eyes and it’ll all go away.  You would try to find something to attach to or hold on to where you feel safe.  This is what babies do when they have their first growth spurt.  Babies become clingy and possibly more demanding as they have a need to attach themselves to the mother to feel safe.

After the growth spurt the baby will start noticing shapes and simple patterns for the first time.  Like the slats in their cot, they may start to recognise their arms and legs. It will look at things longer and more often, is more aware of being touched, of smells, may smile for the first time or smile more often.  From a physical perspective the baby may vomit, burp and choke less, breathing more regularly.  The baby becomes less jumpy and expresses their likes and dislikes more often.

Each big change is unique – babies learn a new kind of perception which allows it to learn a new set of skills.  When a baby is happy and content, this is the calm before the storm.

Some babies are born with pyloric stenosis (an over tightening of the passageway between the stomach and the gut).  This causes projectile vomiting and can be fixed with minor surgery).

8 Weeks
Another big growth spurt happens around this time, between 7 and 9 weeks a storm gathers.  The baby might cry more often, become more demanding, loses it’s appetite, sleeps badly, can start sucking its thumb and demand more and more of your time.  This is another period where the baby is feeling different and needs something safe to cling on to. 

The baby starts to notice lights, shadows, its own body appendages – fingers, toes, patterns and motifs.  A personality starts to emerge now and the baby becomes more adept to expressing its own preferences.  It will hold its head upright when its very alert and consciously turns its head towards interesting things.  Will start to consciously kick its legs, roll around, wave its arms and allows people to pull them into a sitting or standing position.  It ‘toys’ with its face and pulls all sorts of faces and experiments more with its voice.

At 10 weeks there’s a breather, a lull period where baby is content and happy.

 11-12 Weeks
The baby will enter another new world.  It goes from being a puppet like Pinocchio into a ‘real boy’.  The circumference of its head increases. It will attempt to use its body more, communicate more, exactly when your baby does what depends on its preferences and opportunities available to it.  The baby develops an interest in a variety of things and responds to people more.  This child will suddenly gain its place in the family unit.

13-14 Weeks
A lull period.

19 Weeks
18-20 weeks – another growth spurt.
The baby’s ability to understand the world around him becomes more developed.



Amazing eh!  Who knows this stuff.  It was from a book I read called Why They Cry.
Every new mother should read this book.   These stages are all predictable within 1-2 weeks.

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