Why is a newborn baby capricious and what to do?

Averyanova Sveta

The birth of the first child in a family is a great joy that brings new worries. Sometimes the baby's behavior causes confusion among parents.

They cannot understand why a newborn baby cries during the day and does not sleep at night, and what to do in such cases. Several versions arise in my head about the cause of the scream. In fact, it’s not difficult to find out why the baby is dissatisfied.

Over time, you will learn to distinguish characteristic signs by which you can determine what is causing your child’s dissatisfaction. But the most interesting thing is that before the age of three months, many babies cry for no specific reason.

This phenomenon can be explained by the imperfection of the digestive and nervous systems at this age. By three months, the problem of constant unmotivated screaming most often goes away. For some children, whims all day long can last up to six months.

Fatigue is the reason for screaming

It's already 10 pm and the baby can't sleep. During the day he calmly fell asleep, and in the evening he began to be capricious. The reason for crying cannot be hunger because the child has recently eaten. His tummy is soft, he does not strain, therefore, excess gas in the abdomen and colic cannot be the cause of screaming.

A newborn baby may show unmotivated restlessness when overexcited. Too much information constantly enters his consciousness during the day. Sometimes this behavior can be observed after a walk or visiting guests. People say in such cases that the child is capricious because he has been jinxed.

A baby up to three months old may show fatigue by crying for a long time.

Nothing wrong with that. He calms down so much. Having screamed, the newborn sleeps safely, and mom and dad go to drink valerian.

If, after feeding in the evening or during the day, the baby begins to scream, he does not push, he has a soft stomach, a normal appetite and a completely healthy appearance, the cause of the scream may well be fatigue.

Conversations, persuasion, games, as a rule, only aggravate the situation. How to help a child in this case? Some children, after screaming for 10-20 minutes, fall asleep on their own if they are left alone. Some people find that rhythmic rocking in their arms or in a stroller helps them fall asleep.

Why is my child fussy before bed?

Tummy problems, typical for children in the first months of life, worsen in the evening.

There is a reason to contact a gastroenterologist if you see that:

• the child presses his legs to his stomach;
• squeals or cries hysterically;
• arches when feeding;
• the child’s tummy is “seething”;
• the child spits up profusely;
• the child has no stool;
• stool, on the contrary, is too frequent and loose;
• mucus, greenish or bloody streaks, and undigested lumps are observed in the stool.

The doctor will prescribe the necessary examinations and select enzymatic preparations for the baby that improve the absorption of milk or formula and reduce gas formation in the stomach, and the evening whims will stop.

If parents ask a pediatrician a question: why is a 5-month-old child naughty, doctors usually immediately refer to the teeth. Indeed, at about this age, babies begin to salivate profusely, they pull rattles or their own hands into their mouths, while children are irritable and restless, and their gums look loose and red when examined. Often, six to eight weeks pass from the onset of “dental whims” to the eruption of the first teeth - this is an acute period during which the teeth move inside the gums, causing anxiety to the child and justifying his evening whims. To reduce pain, doctors recommend using gels with a local anesthetic effect or antipyretics in syrup or suppositories.

If hunger caused whims

Some parents worry that the child began to cry from hunger. In the first two weeks after the birth, the newborn sleeps more. Mom feeds him every day according to a schedule or on demand.

The baby gets used to a certain rhythm. Mom also begins to understand when the baby’s appetite is increased, and when he can easily sleep through eating only half of his allotted portion.

When breastfeeding, the more milk the baby needs per day, the more milk the mother produces. Do not rush to accustom your baby to artificial nutrition, thinking about combining breastfeeding and artificial feeding.

If the breasts do not empty properly, milk production may decrease and soon stop altogether. Although the cause of a decrease in lactation can also be a woman’s overwork or strong anxiety.

How to determine why a child is really crying - from hunger or for another reason? You can easily understand this by his behavior.

At first, he sleeps less during the day than he should, and greedily takes on the food offered to him. Then, if he is malnourished, he will begin to cry immediately after feeding, signaling his dissatisfaction to his mother.

If the baby has eaten only half of the portion offered to him, then his crying two hours after feeding may mean that he is hungry. But if the child does not sleep, is capricious and strains an hour after a hearty meal, most likely he has colic. A cry three hours after eating may well mean hunger and a call to feed.

If a child cries incessantly for 10 minutes after a two-hour sleep, try putting him to the breast; there will be no harm in him eating ahead of time. If less than two hours have passed since the last feeding, let the baby cry for 10-15 minutes, you can give him a pacifier to calm him down. Watch to see if he strains when he screams.

How to calm a baby?

How to cope with whims? The following tips will help:

• pick it up and press it to your stomach;
• get a massage;
• distract attention with a ringing bright object or a loud voice;
• turn on a pleasant melody;
• changing hands helps, for example, the baby can be given to grandma or dad;
• Toys and mobile phones are distracting.

What to do if a child cries? A walk outside will help. How to respond to a child's bad behavior? You cannot raise your voice in response to whims and crying. You should remain calm and try to redirect the baby’s attention.

Other reasons

There are 10 reasons why a baby may cry all day. Your task is to establish the truth and help. Among other things, crying can be caused by the fact that the child is sick. Then other signs of the disease should appear.

Skin rash, fever, change in color of the skin and mucous membranes, cough, unusual color and smell of stool. A sick baby is a reason to immediately call your local doctor. Under no circumstances should you self-medicate.

Can wet films cause crying? In rare cases. Only if there are signs of irritation on the skin, which intensifies when in contact with moisture.

But there will be no harm if you change the diaper one more time.

Can crying before 10 weeks of age be caused by being spoiled? No, the baby does not yet know how to manipulate others and quite sincerely expresses his feelings.

If he cries, it means he is really experiencing discomfort. Why is it necessary to calm and help? But don't panic. Most often, a child who is constantly naughty becomes calmer after three months.

Coup crisis

It is associated with the first major motor skill - the child learns to roll over from his back to his tummy and a little later - back.
This occurs in different babies between 3 and 6 months (approximately 14 to 25 weeks). Such a serious breakthrough in physical development also affects emotional development: the baby already understands that there are objects in the world that exist on their own, and not just when they are taken or touched. The main features of this crisis period:

• Loses interest in everything.
• Appetite worsens.
• Sudden change of mood.
• Requires constant presence of mother.

Excitable baby

It is quite easy to distinguish increased excitability. Another thing is that you cannot neglect it and adapt the child to your own needs. During the first 10 weeks of life, an excitable baby flinches from a sharp sound, he is tense, and it is difficult for him to relax. In the first few months it will be difficult to get him to take a bath. Such children often suffer from colic.

Perhaps the doctor will prescribe a sedative and recommend a gentle regimen. Fewer visitors and new experiences during the day, quiet sounds and conversations, tight swaddling.

Overtired (over-walked)

Children's whims in the evenings are not a surprise for any mother. This always happens if, for example:

• the child did not sleep well during the day or missed a nap;
• the day before he interacted with other children and received a lot of emotional stress;
• he was not put to bed on time.

Avoiding such situations is quite simple. Need to:

• organize and maintain a daily routine;
• during the day, allocate and evenly distribute time for games, activity, walks, rest and sleep.

A different situation arises if emotional excitability is a feature of the child’s nervous system that cannot be so easily controlled. This feature affects the baby’s well-being and affects his physical and psychological education. In this case, it is necessary to develop and harden the nervous system. A pediatric neurologist will tell you how to do this.

Colic in a newborn

With colic, the newborn screams from pain that occurs in the intestines due to gases accumulating there. The baby strains, jerks his legs, turns red. He cries because the pain is very unpleasant and sharp. This phenomenon occurs at the end of the first month of life.

During the day the child sleeps peacefully and suddenly a screaming attack begins. The child cries, strains, blushes. Very often, the mother who breastfeeds the baby is blamed for the occurrence of colic. Indeed, some foods can cause increased gas formation and the mother should familiarize herself with the diet during pregnancy.

For example, eating some vegetables raw is not recommended for women in the first months of breastfeeding. You will need to give up sauerkraut and various preserves.

Peas and other legumes are prohibited. The diet of a nursing woman is somewhat reminiscent of table No. 5 according to Pevzner, which is used for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and liver. You cannot drink coffee, alcohol, or chocolate.

It is advisable to drink green tea during the day or, if you are lucky enough to get it, white tea. You should give up tea at night. There is nothing particularly complicated about this diet.

Prevention of capricious behavior in children

How to wean a child from whims? Psychologists advise following some rules:

• There is no need to suppress the child’s independence and perform simple actions for him (buttoning a jacket, putting away toys).
• It is important to control your emotions in response to your baby's tantrum. You need to be calm, self-possessed, and under no circumstances should you shout back. It is better to ignore the moment of whim, and then calmly explain the behavior.
• Blackmail tactics should not be used in education. For example: “If you don’t put away your toys, you won’t go for a walk.” This behavior provokes a response in older age: “If you scold me for bad grades, I won’t come home.”
• It is important to be consistent and faithful in your chosen behavior tactics. You cannot solve a problem one way today and another tomorrow. If a decision has been made to refuse something, then this should become the rule.

There is no point in reproaching your child for bad behavior. You need to explain to him that the action upset him, but this is not a reason not to love him.

Responsive to weather

Weather sensitivity is normal for young children. This is the reaction of the autonomic nervous system to changing weather conditions. A child can react both to a sudden change in weather and to a prolonged series of cloudy days.

As the child’s nervous system develops and strengthens, his weather dependence decreases. However, in the case of a weakened ANS, the problem of meteosensitivity may worsen with age, and reactions will manifest themselves not only against the background of changing weather conditions, but also against the background of stress.

To reduce the influence of weather on a child’s well-being, you need to train his nervous system, strengthen blood vessels, and harden the child’s body. The best help with this is:

• daily walks in the fresh air in any weather;
• health-improving gymnastics.