Baby crying what is wrong

Along with crying, a child may not act normally when something is wrong with him or her. Infection, illness, injury or pain, or a medical problem may cause a child to not act normally. If your baby has colic , you may be concerned that a health condition is causing the excessive crying.

Usually a baby with colic isn't crying because of pain or physical discomfort. But it is important to be aware that health problems or injuries can cause a baby to cry excessively. And it's important to watch for related signs. Here are a few things to look for that may mean your baby has a health problem. If your child isn't acting normally, check for a fever. For information on how to take a temperature, see the topic Body Temperature.

Medical treatment is needed for a fall or injury that causes more serious symptoms, such as a head injury or severe bleeding. Medical evaluation may also be needed for injuries that cause swelling and pain in the affected area. Common infections in babies that may cause crying are:. If you aren't able to identify the cause of your child's behaviour, medical evaluation may be needed.

Blahd Jr. Author: Healthwise Staff. Medical Review: William H. This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Learn how we develop our content. To learn more about Healthwise, visit Healthwise. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated.

British Columbia Specific Information A crying baby is frustrating for parents and caregivers, especially when it goes on for long periods of time or you do not know the cause. Top of the page. Often, though, blaming yourself can get in the way of your ability to be calm, present, and responsive to your baby.

The relationship with your baby is a partnership, so your emotions will make a difference to how your baby reacts. If you are feeling overwhelmed, depressed, angry, anxious, or detached, your baby may have trouble calming down. Are you distracted, overwhelmed, and at breaking point? Fortunately, there are great opportunities for overcoming the limitations a parent or child may bring to the attachment relationship. Parents who learn how to calm themselves, ask for support, and communicate with their infants can find the means for creating a successful attachment relationship—essentially teaching by their example—even with an upset or unresponsive infant.

Remember that your baby has feelings. Babies are emotional beings and experience feelings of happiness, sadness, joy, and anger from the very first moment of life. If, for whatever reason, you are having trouble being responsive to your baby, your child will pick up on those signals.

How would you feel if your spouse or parent was unresponsive to your signals or attempts to communicate? Thinking of your baby as an individual with a unique personality may make it easier to interpret and respond to his or her cries. Find a mantra. A mantra is a sound, word, or phrase, often said over and over again, to provide comfort and inspiration. With a crying baby, you may find yourself talking out loud anyway, and a mantra can help provide perspective, comfort, and energy to keep going.

Exhaustion, rapidly shifting hormones, and a challenging child might make you feel frustrated, sad, or even depressed. See: Postpartum Depression and the Baby Blues.

If your baby has challenges like constant crying, fussiness, or unresponsiveness that get in the way of emotional connection, bonding and attachment may suffer.

If the milestones are not happening in the right time frame, you should seek help. Fear or stress might make you feel reluctant to evaluate your baby this way, but attachment problems identified early are usually easier to fix. When your baby pays attention to you, you respond with gentle touch, soothing tone of voice, and playful facial expressions. When your baby looks away, you do the same. Sharing joy with your baby establishes a connection between sensory experiences things your baby sees, hears, and feels and safe and loving interaction with another person.

Your baby seeks engagement with you and participates in the back-and-forth exchange of gestures, smiles, sounds, and movement. Your baby will probably need frequent breaks from interacting. You continue to let your baby lead the exchange. When your baby wants to interact, you respond with playful activity. If your baby wants to take a break, you slow down. Your baby uses an ever-increasing range of sounds, facial expressions, and gestures—wide eyes, coos, nonsensical babbles, giggles, pointing—to invite you to play and to indicate needs and wants.

You should notice more back and forth communication. Your baby starts to combine their motor and nonverbal skills with their need to solve problems. For example, your baby might point to something out of reach or crawl to the highchair when hungry. Colic is a general term used for babies who cry more than three hours a day for more than three days a week. A baby with colic will often cry inconsolably despite all attempts to comfort and soothe.

The cause of colic, which affects one in five babies, is not clear. Parents of babies with colic often say that the babies look like they are angry or in pain, have gas, or are trying to go to the bathroom without success. Other characteristics of a baby with colic:. It may feel endless and unbearable while you are in the midst of it, but it will end. In order to make it through, you will have to develop some great self-care strategies and enlist support.

Pediatric Decision-Making Strategies. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders; chap Updated by: Neil K. Editorial team. Excessive crying in infants. But, if an infant cries too often, there might be a health problem that needs attention. Infants may cry because of any of the following: Boredom or loneliness Colic Discomfort or irritation from a wet or dirty diaper, excessive gas, or feeling cold Hunger or thirst Illness Infection a likely cause if the crying is accompanied by irritability, lethargy , poor appetite , or fever.

You should call your baby's health care provider Medicines Normal muscle jerks and twitches that disturb the sleep Pain Teething.

Home care depends on the causes. Follow your provider's advice. When to Contact a Medical Professional. Call the provider if: A baby's excessive crying remains unexplained and does not go away in 1 day, despite attempts at home treatment The baby has other symptoms, such as fever, along with the excessive crying.

What to Expect at Your Office Visit. Questions may include: Is the child teething? Is the child bored, lonely, hungry, thirsty? Does the child seem to have a lot of gas? What other symptoms does the child have?