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A baby cries to communicate his needs. Sometimes, a baby's crying is a warning that he has a health issue or he is suffering from colic.
Crying it out.
It is true that I could never leave a crying baby alone. "Let him be. Leave him in his crib; close the door and go about your business," was the norm in those days. If I ever tried that advice, I probably didn't last more than fifteen minutes. So our first child ended up getting carried around the house throughout the day by me, and in the evenings, by his father. To this day, because of our son's colic, I am grateful to Swanson's TV dinners.
To be on the fair side, our baby gave us a little break if we took him on a car ride or rocked him tirelessly. By the time his fourth month was about over, colic decided to leave our house.
As to the concept of colic becoming an indication of speech development, that is false, too, at least in my experience. Our younger son talked earlier than his older brother and he was more verbal, too; and he never had colic.
Nowadays, effective or not, there are so many therapies against colic: herbal remedies and teas containing chamomile, vervain, licorice, fennel, lemon balm, cardamom, angelica, peppermint, and yarrow; dimethicone as regular medicine; antispasmodic and sedating drugs dicyclomine and dicycloverine, although with probable and serious side effects; chiropractic spinal manipulation; and yes, an electronic cry analyzer.
It is a fact that all babies cry. They must, because crying is their way of communicating with us. They tell us of their needs with their crying. A crying baby may be telling us he is hungry, tired, cold, too warm, and uncomfortable in tight clothes or dirty diapers, or he needs to be held, loved, and consoled.
A crying baby who is sick has a different tone to his voice. He usually sounds high-pitched and frightened. When a baby cries like that, make sure you call the doctor or take him to the hospital. That baby might be telling you that his health needs immediate attention.
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