9 reasons newborn babies cry. Read about these common reasons for crying and what you can do about it to help your newborn stop crying. Your routine will go a long way to help you narrow down the cause for crying and address it quickly.
A crying baby can be a little paralyzing. You want to do what you can to stop your little one from crying, but you are not sure exactly why the baby is crying so you aren’t sure how to help calm your baby down.
If you do not address the WHY for your newborn’s crying, your newborn will continue to cry.
Post Contents
- Reasons Newborn Babies Cry
- Baby is Crying from Hunger
- Baby is Crying from Discomfort
- Baby is Crying from Boredom
- Baby is Crying from Overtiredness
- Baby is Crying from Overstimulation
- Baby is Crying from Gas Pain
- Baby is Crying from Reflux Pain
- Baby is Crying from Witching Hour
- Baby is Crying from Colic
- Conclusion
- Related Posts:
Reasons Newborn Babies Cry
There are very common reasons newborns cry. It can be hard in the moment to figure out the why. Knowing the most common reasons for crying will do a lot to help you quickly work through the possibilities and narrow down to the reason your baby is upset.
Having a routine will do a lot to help you narrow things down quickly because you know what your baby’s needs should be. Is it time for food? There is a good chance it is hunger. Is it time for a nap? There is a good chance it is overtiredness.
In The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems, Tracy Hogg lists several factors to consider when your 0-6 week old baby starts to cry (page 24). She points out that if baby is on a routine, it is much easier to determine the reason for the crying because activities happen in a particular pattern. Here are some possible reasons to consider from Hogg and from me:
Baby is Crying from Hunger
Is it close to time for a feeding? If so, there is a good chance your baby is crying out of hunger. If your baby is crying and it isn’t close to feeding time, you still want to consider the possibility of hunger because it could be that your baby is in a growth spurt. Keep in mind that growth spurts happen often during his period (every 3-4 weeks!).
>>>Read: Baby Growth Spurts: Everything You Need To Know
You always want to feed a hungry baby. If baby is hungry and it seems like baby should not be hungry, you feed first and troubleshoot later. Feed your hungry baby and THEN work to figure out why your baby is hungry early.
>>>Read: Hunger Cues: How To Know if Baby Is Hungry
Baby is Crying from Discomfort
Your baby might be crying because of some sort of discomfort. Does your baby have a dirty diaper? Most babies in this age range tend to soil their diaper during or soon after a feeding. Your baby could be crying from being bothered by the dirty diaper.
>>>Read: Ultimate Guide to Stopping Baby Poop at Night
Your baby could also be too hot or too cold. You will want to know what is the best temperature for your baby to sleep well and also how to dress your baby for sleep.
She might be hot or cold. Either the room could be too hot or cold, or she could be under or overdressed. If your baby is crying, consider if she is overdressed or if the room temperature is good or not.
I had one baby who WOULD NOT SLEEP if she had socks on her feet. She hated socks when she slept (and still does). Consider all of the angles.
If your baby is swaddled, the swaddle might not be right. If your newborn is getting on the older side of newborn weeks, it could be time to drop the swaddle.
Your baby can also be uncomfortable during awake time. The clothes your baby is wearing could be uncomfortable, socks could be bothersome, and you could even just have a piece of hair wrapped around a baby’s finger.
Baby is Crying from Boredom
Has your baby been sitting in the same place or position for too long? While babies in this age range can become easily overstimulated, that doesn’t mean they want to sit in one spot for their entire playtime. Your baby could be crying because she needs a change of scenery. See my favorite baby toys and activities for this age range here.
Baby is Crying from Overtiredness
If your newborn baby has been awake for a total of 30 minutes or more (including feeding time), she might be crying because she is ready for a nap. You really want to work to get that waketime length down correctly. Putting baby to bed too late will lead to baby crying, whether that be before you start nap time or after. Read my post on Optimal Waketime Length to figure things out.
Newborns do not need to be awake for very long. Do not make the mistake of keeping your newborn awake too long hoping the next nap will be longer. That does not work and actually creates the opposite result–your newborn takes a short nap.
>>>Read: How Long Should a Newborn Be Awake Between Naps
Baby is Crying from Overstimulation
It is very easy to overstimulate a newborn baby. If your baby has had a lot of visitors or if she has been watching her older brother jump around the room, she might be overstimulated. An overstimulated baby will cry.
This is also common when the schedule is thrown off at all or if you are out and about with baby.
This doesn’t mean you can’t ever go out with your baby. This is just a really good clue if your baby is crying and has had a lot of stimulation.
To calm an overstimulated baby, you want to remove the baby from the action. Get your baby into a calm, quiet, and even dark space. Read more on how to calm an overstimulated baby here.
Baby is Crying from Gas Pain
If she is making faces and pulling her legs up, she might have gas. Gas can cause a lot of pain and lead to a crying baby. If your baby is crying from gas pain, you will want to help soothe it. The good news is this can be really easy to solve! Read up on how to help a baby with gas pain here.
Baby is Crying from Reflux Pain
If she is crying and/or spitting up a lot after feeds, she might have reflux. Reflux is uncomfortable for a baby and it is common for a reflux baby to cry. A lot. If the baby arches her back a lot and seems uncomfortable, talk to her doctor to see if it might be reflux. There are things you can do to help! My second baby had reflux. It was hard, but we were able to make it through.
>>>Read: Signs Your Fussy Baby Might Have MSPI
Baby is Crying from Witching Hour
Witching hour is a time when baby just cries. There isn’t anything wrong with your routine, your baby, or your schedule; it is just a rough time of day. Witching hour happens in the evening into night hours. Your baby will just seem like a different person. Read about Witching Hour here.
Baby is Crying from Colic
Colic is somewhat similar to witching hour, but it can happen any time of day and all day. If you feel like your baby is always crying and hard to console, definitely look into it and ways to help it.
>>>Read: Helpful Tips to Survive the Colicky Newborn
Conclusion
When you have a consistent routine, you tend to address issues babies often cry for before the need to cry even arises. Crying is a “late” cue for many issues. Your baby will communicate hunger in many ways before crying. Your baby will show she is tired in several ways before crying. The routine addresses many issues before they lead to crying.
Related Posts:
- How To Go Out with Your Babywise Baby
- Signs Your Fussy Baby Might Have a Milk Soy Protein Intolerance
- Understanding Baby Hunger Patterns
This post first appeared on this blog in April 2009
What are your thoughts on the “witching hour”? My 3-week-old seems hungry soon after her early evening feeding, staying fussy for an hour, and we don’t know whether she’s hungry or gassy or just a baby.Thanks.
There are a few things to consider. One is that yes, that is a time of day babies are usually fussy. Babywise says that if your baby has a hard time for that nap to consider having her sleep some other way (not on her own). So long as it is for that one nap and doesn’t start to affect other naps, it is just fine. This could include a swing, bouncy seat, your arms…Sorry this is late, but 3 weeks is a common growth spurt time so you always want to keep that in mind. But since you say it is for that one time of day, I would say it is not a growth spurt.I don’t know what you mean by “soon.” Many breastfed babies need to eat at 2 hour intervals at that time of day because mom’s milk supply is not as good qualtiatively or quantitatively.If you suspect gas, I would give drops and then also consider what mom ate 2-6 hours before that might be contributing to the gas. (assuming she is breastfed).In the end, she could be just a baby 🙂
My husband and I have implemented the core principles of Babywise since birth with our second child. He is now three weeks old. During the day is getting his waketime mainly by himself in the crib after feedings so not to overstimulate him. He rarely crys going down for his naps, but has recently started to wake early out of naps. I am aware of the 3 week growth spurt, so for the past couple of days, I have been feeding once awake and then reworking the schedule for the rest of the day. The above information is simply to preface my question in regards to crying… For the past couple of nights he has started to cry when going down for bedtime (7:00pm). Last night he cried for quite sometime beginning the moment we laid him down. Originally, we checked for gas, diaper, but knew that he was not hungry. After a while when we would check on him and pat him to comfort, his crying only escalated. My question is this… is it necessary to continually check on the child every 15-20 minutes until they sleep? I should also mention that he is bottle fed, so I know the amount he had at his feeding and we also have a video monitor that allows us to 'see' that nothing is physically wrong with him. Should I let him alone to figure out the skill of sleep or constantly check on him no matter how much he escalates afterwards? Also, do the same techniques apply when they wake early out of a nap and it is not a growth spurt? Do you constantly go in and check on them if they have woken early?
Julie, every baby is different. For some, the interference of going in makes it harder for them to sleep. Check out the CIO Bootcamp "http://babywisemom.blogspot.com/search/label/CIO" for more of Valerie's thoughts about that. From what I've read, there are two main sleep books out there: Ferber recommends going in at intervals, Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child, however, recommends not going in at all. If you have a video monitor and can see what is going on then maybe try not going in and maybe your baby will settle. The CIO bootcamp has lots of great ideas for helping to sleep train.
Julie,It sounds like you are describing the Ferber method–which I only know things about through others. I haven't read his book. Ferber and other experts recognize that extinction (described by Weissbluth…as Jennifer mentioned…it is no intereference) works the fastest. But it is the hardest.However, it sounds like classic "witching hour" behavior. You can see my newborn summary posts for my experience with the witching hour (see newborn summary blog label). In short, if he needs to be held to fall asleep or needs the swing to fall asleep, that is just fine for that nap. If it is witching hour, then it most likely will not cause problems with other naps. He just needs extra comfort and soothing during this time period.
My little one is 5 weeks old & I am trying my hardest to get her on a schedule before I go back to work in 10 days. She will be at daycare 3 days, and w/me & my husband & mother-in-law a combination of the other 4 days. I'm nervous all the good I've done will be undone when my well-intentioned mother-in-law (or daycare) thinks baby should nap in the swing or extends playtime too long & overstimulates her, etc. How can I make sure she's on board? Even I feel bad that sometimes it seems like all we do is feed & change her, before it's time for her to nap again. We do naps in her room, so it's a lot of time away from her & I think my mother-in-law will want to hold her & keep her close & thus confuse & overstimulate her. Help!
My almost 6 week old has an extremely hard time going down for naps. We are on our third day of crying it out. I've followed the schedule as much as possible since day 1 but generally rocked him to tired before laying him down weeks 1-4 because I felt he was too young for cio. He fights sleep and his naps so hard with intense crying for 1 .5 hr for every nap. How long will it take for him to fall asleep faster/not cry for his whole nap. I don't know if I can keep doing this. I feel like he is getting so much less sleep since we started this as well. Any thoughts? Is it normal for him to cry that long?
No that is very long. Have you read my CIO bootcamp post? And my CIO responsibly post? Those will help you fine tune the process. You really want to focus on waketime length and be sure you have that right.