Baby Won’t Stop Crying – How To Stop The Crying?!

Babies Crying… The baby is crying, the baby won’t stop crying and you want to figure out how to stop the baby from crying. You don’t know what to do next.

It doesn’t seem to matter how many children you’ve had, how much education you’ve experienced, or how many books you’ve read on the topic or how much advice you gotten from friends, mothers, grandmothers…Crying still happens. It’s happened to me and I’m sure that it’s happened to Dr. Sears and Dr. Spock too.

All babies cry no matter how “good” of a parent you are!

There’s no getting around it.

Babies cry.

It’s how they communicate almost everything…thier need for sleep, pain, fear, being too cold, teething…and yes, hunger.
So how are parents supposed to know what their baby is trying to tell them? It can be tricky to interpret your child’s cries, especially at first – even if you have had several babies.
SO…

How do you stop your baby from crying? or what do you do if your baby won’t stop crying?

“Everyone” seems to think that the only reason a baby cries is because they want more food.  And then if that is not it, it’s simply because they have colic and must be medicated.  Actually, I am guessing… that few babies are actually starving and most ‘colicky’ babies could be helped without medication from the doctor.

Here is a handy check list of things to go through.  Sit and ponder each one before moving on to the next.

1. Are You Calm?
   • I know it’s hard to be calm when your baby isn’t. But it’s important.  Your baby needs to have an atmosphere that is safe, calm and relaxed.  Do your best
   • Try singing, saying positive affirmations out loud, playing happy or soothing music or even making everything quiet.
   • If you are nursing/breastfeeding – it is important to be calm while feeding. It definitely impacts the quality and quantity of your milk.  You don’t want to give your baby ‘stressful’ milk.  Control your thoughts, relax your body.
2. Feeding.
   • If nursing, does your baby have a good latch? Make sure your tummy and the baby’s tummy are touching (tummies flat on each other), this helps the latch.  You don’t want the baby to be swallowing air.  Sometimes, simply adjusting ever-so-slightly can make a big difference or taking your nipple out and starting over.
   • Are you giving a full feeding?  It’s important to give a full feeding.  If the baby falls asleep, wake the baby and continue the job at hand.  If that baby is brand new (days old), you may have to undress, burp, tickle feet, etc to wake or keep the baby awake.
   • Yes, your baby will burp and needs too. All babies do 🙂  Burping half way through a feeding helps.  Be persistent and patient.  The two of you will be pros before long.  Sometimes you will need to be creative in figuring out how to get the air out of their belly.  Experiment with different positions.  Sometimes you will even be able to feel that their belly is hard and then after they burp, it will be softer.
   • Often I find that babies are fed too often and not enough.  Trying breaking that cycle and feed less often and full meals.  2,3, or 4 hours between meals is good.  If the baby gets a FULL meal, they will not need to eat more often then every 2 hours.  It simply takes time for the milk to digest from the feeding before.
   • Spitting up.  Often (of course NOT always) a baby spits up because they have simply eaten more than their bellies could hold.  So, one of two things has happened.  They are eating past their ‘full signal’ and really just want to suck (pacifier or thumb is great for this) or they need to burp. (The air in their tummy is taking up the space that milk should be filling)
3. Identify Type of Crying
   • Are they fussy, ‘cry’ talking, seriously crying, or screaming?  Be honest.  Just because you want them to be quiet doesn’t mean their cry is anything more than either talking or singing themselves to sleep.  If the cry is methodical and not urgent sounding, it’s common to do that before falling asleep.
   • Some babies quote, cry, in their sleep.  If you go and watch them without disturbing them, you will notice that nothing is wrong and they are just sleeping.
   • How long have they been crying? Actually watch the clock.  15 min, 10 min, even 5 min can sometimes feel like an eternity – especially if you are tired, hungry or have stress from other areas of life happening at the same time (like you would like to talk on the phone 🙂
4. Swaddling.
   • Try it, try another style. Try it tighter or looser.  Watch the videos on youtube.  Babies find such comfort in being swaddled. There is no perfect way.  Your baby was tight and safe and warm in the womb.  It would only  make sense that they would want to be the same way on earth too 🙂
5. Gripe Water.
   • I know it sounds funny. But it can be a miracle in a bottle.  Target sells a cheap one.  My favorite one is a bit more expensive but is a bit more healthier.  Here is the link to it. It’s called Colic Calm.  You can get it from Amazon, Walgreens or ColicCalm.com.  Try it. You won’t be disappointed.  Read the reviews!  Oh, and don’t forget to get the lil Dispenser.
   • Gripe water (the Colic Calm or other versions of chamomile/fennel) can help with teething, colicky symptoms, gas, irritations from food, etc.  The old timers used it.  I’m a fan 🙂
6. Warm Bath.
   • A good friend of mine worked in ICU and said that whenever a patient wasn’t able to sleep at night, all she would have to do is give them a bath.  I’m not saying that all your baby needs is a bath and it will sleep (that would be simple, huh?!)   BUT, water is therapeutic, relaxes, soothes, re-freshens (even if the baby cries through most of it) AND they smell heavenly which helps everyone 🙂  A lot of the time they will sleep after-wards.
7. Warmth.
   • Sounds simple, but it’s is not uncommon to over look.  A good way to tell is to check the feet.  It is important that their feet are warm.  If the feet are warm, good chances the baby is warm.  (you don’t have to worry about socks, just enough clothing or blankets)
   • Make sure there is not a draft where they sleep.
8. Nutrition.
   • If nursing, are you getting enough fat and protein in your diet?  Drinking enough water?
   • There is a tea that I find extremely helpful.  It will help your milk supply. But more importantly, it will make your milk more nutritious.  I have had moms tell me that they had enough milk and their babies took full feedings but still seemed hungry.  This tea really made a difference in the quality of the milk.  Check it out:  Mama’s Milk Tea
9. Chiropractic Care.
   • I don’t have strong feelings pro or against chiro adjustments.  But sometimes all the baby needs is a simple adjustment.  Don’t be surprised if the doctor doesn’t even charge you for the adjustment.  Babies are so simple to adjust.  The birthing process can be rather rough on a baby sometimes 🙂
10. Tummy Sleeping.
    • Controversial topic for some…  I am a huge fan of tummy sleeping.  It seems more natural for the baby, they stay covered up much easier, it’s more cozy, alot of the times they can burp themselves if on the tummy.  If they spit up, they won’t gag because they can easily get it out of their mouth.  Cosmetically – the shape of the babies head will be more attractive if they sleep on their tummy.  You will notice the babies that sleep on their backs will have flat heads, more hair is missing and ‘fatter’ faces than than those who sleep on their tummy.  Tummy sleepers also usually will crawl sooner.

I have not bought this program, but I think this lady seems to have some helpful insight.  It could be another piece to the puzzle.  The Dunstan Method.