piercing cry may be a signal of either internal or external bodily injury.
Such a cry, if persistent, should be brought to the attention of your
pediatrician.
A marked change in your baby’s crying pattern may be a warning of
illness. Look for a sudden increase in the frequency and duration of
crying or a weak, mousy cry. Discuss this with your pediatrician. Cries
indicating hunger or thirst are predictable with PDF babies. You can be
certain the cry is not a hunger-and-thirst cry if your baby is satisfied after
a feeding. With demand-fed babies, cries are unpredictable, leaving mom
and dad guessing and anxious.
Babies who routinely cry and act hungry after an hour and a half are
probably not getting enough food. If you are breast-feeding, check your
milk supply and the factors which influence it. (See the section on testing
your milk supply in chapter 6.) Another cry that needs investigation is
when your baby wakes up in the middle of his nap with a loud, piercing
cry. This could be caused by gas. Relief will come by burping your baby.
Your baby may also be reacting to something in your breast milk as a
result of what you ate earlier in the day. If this cry persists, physically
check your baby. One mom reported that a strand of her long hair was
wrapped tightly around her son’s toe. Once the hair was gently removed,
the crying stopped immediately.
Answering Your Baby’s Cry
“How long should I let my baby cry?” This is the most common question
asked by new moms. Answering isn’t difficult, once you know how to
identify both normal and abnormal cry periods. The timing of your
baby’s cry is the first clue to understanding how you should respond.
During the first four months of life, there are six possible cry periods.
Three are classified as abnormal and three as normal.
Abnormal cry times include the following:
a) during feedings;