When a baby cries, parents, nannies, grandparents, and anyone else around begin a mission to try to understand what is going on and how to stop it. The younger the baby, the harder it will be to identify the reason for crying? and stop the little one's tears.
Babies cry for a variety of reasons, and science has yet to explain them all. However, some experts have developed studies in this direction and are already making some progress. According to University of Minnesota Medical School behavioral neuroscientist Michael Potegal, there are three basic reasons that can trigger a baby's crying: trying to get attention, getting an object or type of action, or trying to escape an order from an adult. How to deal with each of these situations?
Get attention
Often when a child starts crying for no reason, especially if she is no longer such a young baby, she may just want to draw the attention of those around her, possibly parents or close friends. This type of behavior occurs mainly in babies who are not so young and already have some notion of the space around them.
For Potegal, the best thing to do in a situation like this is to make sure there is really nothing wrong with the baby and then deliberately ignore it. He says parents should not pay attention to what the child is claiming so that they do not understand this kind of behavior as effective next time.
Request an object or action
Another common situation is that the child cries to get you to give him an object? like a toy? or permission to perform a specific activity? like climbing on a table, driving your father's car, or changing the television channel, for example. Potegal states that the reaction of parents must be the same, in this case, as that used for the situation in which the baby cries to gain attention.
"Giving in to the child's cry teaches her that the right way to get her permission is to make a scandal," explains the expert. This is the famous "morning" that drives many parents into that epic shame of seeing their children throwing themselves on the supermarket floor for a chocolate, for example.
Escape to a direct order given by an adult
Unlike other crying behaviors, when does the child cry not to obey an order received from an adult? how to go shower, sleep or eat? It should not be ignored. For Potegal, this kind of crying is a way of delaying the execution of the order received, even if unconsciously.
When the child acts this way, parents need to find a way to make them obey the command immediately. Potegal suggests that the adult explain to the child, before the crying begins, that if there is morning he will count to three, take the child's hand and perform the task with him. The neuroscientist explains that "children hate this because it interferes with their autonomy." However, everything must be done without violence or even aggressiveness in tone of voice. Also, very importantly, if the tantrum has already started the explanation will do no good.
6 different baby cries and what they mean (April 2024)
- Babies
- 1,230
