Bringing a child into this world is full of responsibilities and a test of your patience and resilience as a parent. It is an overwhelming process for parents. The arrival of a newborn baby in our lives is, of course, good news, but it is full of challenges. One of the biggest challenges that almost all new parents face is finding the reason why their baby cries constantly at a stretch.
It is natural for a baby to cry as it is the only way a baby knows how to communicate for a certain period of time. As babies know no other way to express their feelings, be it hunger, or sleepiness, or any discomfort, they attract our attention by fussing or by crying. As soon as you attend to your baby to stop the crying, the moment you find out the issue and deal with it, the crying stops.
Someday, you may notice that your baby cries constantly, and no matter what you do, nothing seems to calm your baby down, making you feel helpless. If you are no stranger to such a situation, then you must know how hard it is sometimes to manage your life when you fail to understand why your baby cries. If only babies could speak up or if only we could read their minds to find out how to stop crying child. So, through this article, you will get to know why your baby cries constantly and how to deal with it?
What is Colic
Colic itself is not a disease per se but is only a compilation of recurring behavior that mostly involves excessive and constant crying in healthy babies.
The colic pain mostly starts in babies who are two to three weeks old, and this phase gets over normally after three to four months. There is no direct explanation of why some babies suffer from colic issues. The reason may be due to a digestion issue, or reaction to formula or breast milk, feeding issue, etc.
How to Find Out If Your Baby Has Colic
When a baby has colic, the way of crying child is pretty different and has a distinct pattern. A baby with colic pain cries at least three hours a day, cries more than three days a week, cries at the same time each day, and the episode continues for at least three weeks.
Calming a baby with colic seems like an impossible task because the baby doesn’t cry due to the basic things such as hunger, sleep, dirty nappy, etc. Some of the other symptoms of a baby suffering from colic, the cries are high-pitched and louder than usual, the baby clenches his or her fists while crying.
Dealing with Colic Babies
Unfortunately, there is no exact cure to stop colic in babies. However, in case the parents can find out the trigger causing the colic pain, then, it is possible to comfort the baby and reduce the crying of the baby.
Holding the baby in certain positions that involve swaddling, swaying, making white noises, burping the baby after feeding can also help calm a colicky baby. Some parents also greatly trust the effectiveness of gripe water on colicky babies. Although it has no medical backup, it definitely has helped a considerable amount of parents to soothe their babies.
A point to be noted, that a colicky baby passes gas a lot while having a crying episode. However, a gas form is not the culprit of colic, rather it is one of the symptoms of a colic issue.
Baby with Gas Issues
It is natural for babies to have an immature digestive system as their internal body system is still developing and getting used to the whole new routine of feeding after birth. In most cases, what happens is, while feeding they may swallow air along with the milk, which creates gas ultimately. This usually happens when you incorrectly feed your baby. Babies will, however, suffer from gas issues no matter what.
As mentioned earlier, babies have a weak and immature digestive system, a gas form is inevitable. However, if the gas doesn’t pass and instead stays trapped inside, it leads to stomach bloating and possibly stomach pain. Hence, the baby starts to cry due to discomfort in the stomach. Another cause of the gas may be possibly due to the occurrence of constipation in the baby.
The best way to know whether your baby has gas or not is by practicing ways to reduce and allow the gas to pass.
Dealing with Gassy Infant
Colic BabiesFirstly, keep in mind to keep the feeding position correct to avoid gas formation. Always remember to burp your baby after a feeding.
To further soothe your baby from a gassy situation, keep your baby on a flat surface on the back and move the legs like that in cycling slowly, or else, you can also try lying your baby on the bed with the back facing the ceiling and lift the legs from behind by a bit and gently massage the belly.
How to Soothe Colic Baby?
Although you may seem to be sure why your baby has been crying a lot lately, consulting the pediatrician is necessary to rule out any underlying health issue with the baby. Doctors will be able to diagnose all possible reasons for your crying child and will advise you accordingly.
Taking care and bringing up a baby is no easy task. At times when your baby wouldn’t just stop crying, you may feel incompetent or doubt your maternal sides, which is totally normal.
You may find it difficult in the initial days mostly, and once you spend time with your baby, you will begin to understand every and every cry and movement of your baby. If necessary, your dear and loved ones are always there to guide and support you in your journey as a new mother and father.
This phase of post-childbirth is undoubtedly difficult and you will get very less sleep and less time for yourselves especially when your baby cries constantly sometimes. Eventually, this stage will soon pass even though it may seem longer to you due to the challenges.
Take care♥
Also Read: Understand The Reason Of Your Baby Crying
