I talked yesterday about the meanings of the baby's crying, but I realized that once I started to go deeper into the topic, I realize that I really didn't know much about what is crying exactly and how it evolves in early childhood.
Crying is undoubtedly a way of communicating, but although it is very effective, it has physiological and psychological consequences on the baby and its caregivers, especially if it lengthens over time or is not accompanied by loving care, because it greatly increases the tension.
A typical cry has four distinct phases. The first is a more or less profound inspiration that involves an effort, the second an exhalation, the third a pause and finally a blockage in the breath that is prior to the repetition of the first phase. The baby makes noise in the exhalation phase. Sometimes the blocking phase, if the baby or the child is especially nervous, can be a bit longer and even scare us.
There are differences in the duration of crying after birth, being shorter in babies born by natural deliveries without medical intervention, although I have seen babies born at home, who were left with the cord uncut until it stopped beating , who did not cry. These first cries usually begin when the cord is cut, because in that way the supply of oxygenated blood ceases abruptly and not provided by nature before the lungs begin to function fully.
I have also found very interesting data on the differences in the crying of babies depending on the type of feeding, being less intense in those who breastfeed.
In general terms, the duration of daily crying will decrease as the baby grows during its first three months and usually happens during the day and especially in the late afternoon. But as in everything, every child is different. My son barely cried, groaned like a kitten, or screamed for a moment if a soda ached or when he stretched, but really crying, crying, he didn't do it until the day of his due date, which was almost a month and a half later Of having reached the world.
We have seen, in general, what is the baby crying, but we will continue to delve into this fascinating topic that will help us communicate better with our babies and better meet their needs.
