Identifying different sorts of cry

Your baby cries to communicate messages to you. Attending to your baby straightaway when he cries has been proven to increase confidence in children when they’re older and it’s not recommended that you leave your baby crying.

Learning what your baby's cries mean is an important part of the bonding process between you and your child. Most new parents initially feel bewildered when faced with a bawling newborn but a week or two at home with their new baby will help them to understand what different cries mean.

Although your baby has a myriad of cries that signal he’s hungry, tired, bored, anxious or needs a diaper change, the cry that you’ll instantly recognize when you hear it is the one he uses if he’s ill. If your baby is in pain, has a temperature or is unwell in some other way, he’ll tend to cry at a higher pitch and more loudly. Just as urgent sounding and high-pitched crying is often a sign that your baby is feeling ill, grumbling, stop-start crying probably means he’s hungry or bored.

At the end of the day, you’ll soon pick up the demands being made of you and begin to be able to interpret and identify the different types of cry.

Why not chat to other moms about this, or other topics, by leaving a message on our chat forum? Alternately, if you want to meet other moms in your area with similar age babies, visit our people section to find out what’s happening in your area, or join or start one of our groups. If you have any unanswered questions, use our questions page to get tips from other moms or our resident experts for all those pregnancy or baby-related niggles.

The information in this feature is intended for educational purposes only. If you have any concerns about your health, the health of your child or the health of someone you know, please consult with a doctor or other healthcare professional.

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Last Modified: 20/06/2007

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