One of the most perplexing aspects of infant care is understanding and deciphering this subtle language.
The good news is that it's a universal language of babies and one that you can easily become fluent in, enabling you to become better prepared to provide the comforts that your little one is seeking.
Understanding Baby Cues
What Are Baby Cues?
Baby cues are non-verbal signals that infants use to communicate their needs, feelings, and desires. These cues are essential for parents and caregivers to understand because they offer valuable insights into the baby's well-being. While babies can't express themselves with words, they rely on these cues to convey their requirements, whether it's hunger, discomfort, tiredness, or simply the need for comfort and attention.
The Importance of Baby Cues
Understanding baby cues is vital for several reasons:
- Responsive Care: Recognizing and responding to baby cues promptly promotes a strong parent-child bond. This responsiveness helps babies feel secure and loved, which is essential for their emotional and cognitive development.
- Preventing Stress: Attending to a baby's needs when they arise reduces stress and frustration for both the baby and you.
- Meeting Basic Needs: Babies depend on caregivers for their survival, and baby cues are their way of seeking help. Accurately interpreting these cues ensures that a baby's basic needs like feeding, diaper changes, and sleep are met.
Decoding Baby Cues
Babies will often use one or more of the following cues in relation to the triggers below. Take time to familiarise yourself with the cues and take note as to which ones your baby uses when they’re experiencing the relevant feeling.
'I'm tired or need a break' baby cues
- Crying
- Yawning or closing their eyes
- Staring into the distance
- Jerky movements
- Fussing, looking away or pulling away
- Sucking their fingers
- Clenching their fists
- Losing interest in people or toys
‘I'm hungry’ baby cues
- Crying
- Making sucking noises or licking lips
- Turning towards the breast area of whoever’s holding them
- Sucking hands, tongue, fingers, clothing, etc
- Opening their mouth and turning their head
- Clenching their fingers or making a tight fist over their chest or tummy
‘I want to connect or play’ baby cues
- Looking engaged and interested
- Reaching out to you
- Turning their head towards you
- Making eye contact with you
- Smiling
- Making babbling noises
- Moving their arms and legs in smooth movements
- Crying
Why Do Babies Cry?
Crying is one of the most common ways babies express their needs and there are several typical reasons why babies cry.
Hunger: This is the most common reason for a baby's cries. When a baby's stomach is empty, they cry to signal their hunger.
Tiredness: Overtired babies are often fussy and irritable. Crying may be their way of saying they need rest.
Discomfort: Babies may cry if they are too hot or too cold, have a wet or full diaper, or are uncomfortable in any way.
Gas or Digestive Issues: Gas pains or digestive discomfort can lead to crying spells in babies. Gentle tummy massages and proper burping techniques can help alleviate these issues.
Need for Comfort: Sometimes, babies cry simply because they need comfort. They may want to be held, rocked, or cuddled.
Illness or Pain: When babies are unwell or in pain due to conditions like diaper rash or teething, they may cry to communicate their discomfort.
Colic: Some babies experience colic, a condition characterized by intense, inconsolable crying, often in the late afternoon or evening. The exact cause of colic is still unclear.
Decoding Baby Cry Sounds
Babies use different cry sounds to convey various needs, but how do you actually tell them apart?
Fortunately, Priscilla Dunstan was able to do just that. Through her research, she uncovered that the sounds emitted by babies just prior to crying carry vital clues about their needs and intentions.
After dedicating 8 years to a comprehensive global investigation, Dunstan unearthed a remarkable phenomenon: infants of diverse backgrounds, spanning races, ethnicities, and cultures, consistently emit one of five distinct sounds before embarking on a crying bout.
Independent research conducted in Romania validated her findings, reporting an impressive 89% accuracy rate. Furthermore, an IOCScience study corroborated her discoveries with a 94.7% accuracy rate.
Below we’ve listed out the 5 most common cries, along with recommendations on how to handle them.
You may also find use in hearing the sounds captured by Priscilla in this video here.
Hunger Cry:
Listen for a “NEH” sound
Hunger cries are typically short, rhythmic, and intense. They may start softly and gradually become louder and more urgent.
What to Do
- Calculate how long it’s been since the last feeding. Newborns usually eat every two to three hours. If you’re in doubt about the cry, offer your breast or a bottle. If they’re hungry, they’ll be sure to take it.
Tiredness Cry:
Listen for an “OWH” sound.
A tired cry usually has a high-pitched sound that has a lot of breath behind it. They often begin as shot soft whimpers that increase in intensity until the child’s needs are met. This is a cry that your natural senses will tune into and learn.
What to Do
- When babies are overtired it can be a battle to get them to sleep so you may need to try a few different techniques to find the one that works best. We have two little boys and one would need to be cocooned in a swaddle or placed in his capsule and driven around, while the other was content with a subtle rock while listening to white noise.
- Try and get ahead of the curve on this one by learning your baby's sleep cycle and watching for their cues, such as yawning, drowsiness, and fussiness.
Discomfort Cry:
Listen for a “heh” sound.
A discomfort cry is often a continuous, high-pitched cry. It may be accompanied by squirming or wriggling as the baby tries to get comfortable.
What to Do
- The first thing to do is to check the diaper. If it has been a while since the last change, try rebooting with a fresh one.
- If you’ve recently finished feeding, and your baby begins to cry, it’s likely to be a burp looking for an escape route. Try burping them for at least 10 minutes.
- Try changing up their environment. If it’s a warm day, try and move them to a cooler place. Vice-versa, if it’s cold, move them to a warmer setting. If they’re stuck indoors, try taking them outside and distracting them with something unfamiliar.
Pain Cry (lower wind gas):
Listen for an “EAIRH” sound
A cry of pain is sharp and sudden. It may be accompanied by a clenched body, and the baby may pull or grab at the source of pain.
What to Do
- First, check them over to ensure nothing is amiss.
- Quite often though, it’s going to be caused by a build-up of gas, so try burping them or lightly massage their stomachs for 10 minutes, and try and change up their environment as this can help distract them from the pain or discomfort that they’re experiencing.
Colic Cry:
Colic cries are characterized by prolonged periods of inconsolable crying, often occurring at the same time each day. A colicky cry will sound similar to a pain cry but more intense. Listen for screams and wails followed by strained movements: pushing as if to pass stool or pulling the legs up toward the belly.
What to Do
It’s not easy dealing with a colicky baby due to the crying. Fortunately, there are ways to soothe them. Try the following:
Swaddle: Wrap them like a snug burrito with arms crossed — this should calm them. It gives a feeling of security.
Backrub: Place your baby on their belly across your lap. Then give them a gentle back rub.
Walk or rock: Sometimes, movement is all it takes. If possible, walk around your home or sit with your little one in a rocking chair.
White & brown noise: Try the soothing sounds of a washer or dryer — it might be enough to calm them.
Change up their environment: If it’s a warm day, try and move them to a cooler place. Vice-versa, if it’s cold, move them to a warmer setting. If they’re stuck indoors, try taking them outside and distracting them with something unfamiliar.
