Getting Past the Tears
Throughout our lives, humans cry to express physical and emotional pain. From the first yelp out of their mothers’ wombs, newborns communicate through crying for up to three hours a day.
Crying can be due to anger, confusion, frustration or an inability to express needs and wants. Common causes of crying in the first six months of life include:
- boredom
- colic
- discomfort—too hot or too cold
- gas
- hunger
- loneliness
- overstimulation
- teething
- tiredness
“We recommend the five S’s from Dr. Harvey Karp’s The Happiest Baby on the Block,” says Kathy Hotard, RNC, Answer Line nurse at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. “Parents should try shushing, swaddling, swinging, holding their babies on the side or belly, and letting them suck on a pacifier first. If crying continues, check all over for other signs of irritation and take the infant’s temperature, calling the pediatrician if it’s 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher when he or she is younger than 3 months old.”
Encourage Use of Words
As children mature and become able to express themselves verbally, parents can guide their children to react appropriately by praising calm responses to stressors and asking children to “use their words” to explain what is wrong.
“It can be hard to ignore a tantrum, but parents should remember there is no such thing as bad attention,” says Josh Madden, MD, PhD, pediatrician and medical staff member at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. “By yelling at your child for the tantrum, you are rewarding the outburst. The other half of the better-behavior equation is praising your child when he or she is acting appropriately. Praise your children for their efforts—not necessarily the end goal—to ensure they learn good behavior and the value of persistence.”
For help knowing whether your child’s crying is normal for his or her age, call 314.454.KIDS (5437) or toll-free 800.678.KIDS.
