“Here we have a baby. It is composed of a bald head and a pair of lungs.” – Eugene Field
Supposedly a baby has six distinctive cries, but for the life of me I still don’t know which is which. According to my baby bible, What To Expect When You’re Expecting they are:
1. I’m hungry: Listen and look for a rhythmic, repetitive cry, combined with other signals such as rooting for the bottle or sucking his fingers.
2. I’m tired: You’ll hear a cry that starts slowly and builds in intensity and is accompanied by yawns or eye-rubs.
3. I’m stressed out: Get ready for a fussy, whiny cry; he may try to turn his head or body away from overstimulating sights or sounds.
4. I’ve got colic: You’ll likely know it by the intense screams, accompanied by fidgeting movements; often occurs in the late afternoon or evening.
5. I’m in pain here: Listen for a loud, intense, out-of-the-ordinary cry that comes on suddenly (at a time or in a way that’s unusual for your baby).
6. I’m not feeling so well: You’ll hear soft whimpers; usually very different from his normal cries.
Seriously, if a gun was held to my head, I might be able to identify two….pain (but who doesn’t know that cry? It’s make your ears bleed, high-pitched and piercing) and hunger. Does this make me a terrible mother or just clueless? Maybe I just don’t have an ear for them yet?
I think the important thing for me, is that I know you’re not crying just to be annoying. You are not crying because you are just a fussy baby, you actually do need something and eventually I figure it out.
The best is yet to be.
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You so have to watch the Dunstan Baby DVDs. I have one at home you can borrow…it really works!!! http://www.dunstanbaby.com/
You are only going to get better and better at deciphering his crying. I've been here staying with you guys for only 5 days and I already feel like I'm getting better at knowing what some of them mean. Hungry is probably the easiest.