Thursday, April 21, 2011

Decoding the Cry of the Baby: The Overview

Is she hungry or does she just have a huge load in her diaper?  

Did I just trim her finger instead of her fingernail (again...damn it) or does she have a gas bubble?

Does she want to be picked up or is she just too tired to fall asleep?

Those are just a few of the stimulating questions I've pondered since becoming a Mommy.  And while it may not sound like rocket science, it surely feels like it when you have a baby with a completely devastated look on her face (not to mention a shrieking sound coming from the depths of her soul).

If only this photo had a sound bite...Abigail...8 Days Old

I must admit that in the first few weeks I couldn't tell a difference...a cry was a cry and there wasn't much more to it.  In new-sleep-deprived-Mommy-mode, all you can really do is start with the necessities of life..feed her, burp her, love her, check her diaper, swaddle her, sing to her, and then pray for her to stop (trust me, I considered that a necessity of life on some days). 

But after nearly 3 months of 24-7 mommy/daughter time, I feel like I finally have a good understanding of all her cries...I think I've finally decoded the cry of the baby...here's a quick breakdown of all the cries I've decoded and over the next week or so, I'll go into a little more depth with each one (otherwise, this would be the longest single post I've ever written). 

THE STANDARD CRIES
The That-Hurt Cry
The Feed-Me Cry 
The Burp-Me Cry 
The Tired-But-Don't-Know-How-to-Fall-Asleep Cry
The Where-Did-You-Go? Cry

THE "EXTRA" CRIES
The Newborn Cry
The Stop-Dressing-Me-Up-Like-I'm-a-Doll Cry
The Pay-Attention-to-Me Cry
The Hand-Me-Back-to-Mom Cry
The Pick-Me-Up Cry 

THE IMPENDING CRIES
The I'm-Sick Cry


I'd love to hear your thoughts/experiences with decoding baby cries...and what other cries will we have to "look forward to?"
 

1 comment:

  1. Love the blog! My mother in law got me this book Your Baby is Speaking to You and I love it. As a new mama I've also had to learn what all these cries, looks, squills, etc..mean and this book has a fun way of showing you some of the basic ones through beautiful photography :)

    Oh...and the fingernail thing...GUILTY! Worst mama ever!

    -Heather

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