Find clear, practical articles about crying & soothing for everyday baby care during the first year.
These guides collect related questions, routines, safety notes, and parent-friendly explanations in one place.
Crying & soothing
Set a realistic goal for the flight Overnight travel asks a baby to sleep in a setting that differs sharply from home: there is bright airport lighting, boarding activity, engine noise, vibration, unfamiliar handling, and possible delays. Even babies who normally sleep predictably may take shorter naps, wake more often, or need more feeding and […]
Start with breathing and responsiveness First, look at the baby rather than focusing only on the item. A baby who cannot breathe, cannot cry or cough effectively, becomes blue or gray around the lips, collapses, has a seizure, or is unusually difficult to wake needs emergency medical help immediately. Call your local emergency number. If […]
Breastfed and formula-fed infants often follow different trajectories Healthy breastfed and formula-fed infants can both grow normally while following somewhat different statistical patterns. Breastfed babies may gain weight quickly during the first months, then experience a gradual reduction in weight velocity compared with formula-fed infants. This difference is most apparent from approximately three to six […]
Why a Complete Transfer Matters Medical records are more than a summary of diagnoses. For an infant, they form a longitudinal record of perinatal events, growth, feeding, development, preventive care, and responses to previous evaluations. A complete chart can help the new clinician interpret current findings in context and make appropriate decisions about monitoring and […]
Begin with a core health record Set up the record before leaving the birth setting or as soon as possible afterward. Include the baby’s full name, date and time of birth, birth weight and length, gestational age, blood type if documented, newborn screening results, hearing screening results, congenital conditions identified by clinicians, and any procedures […]
The safest upgrade is usually the latest appropriate upgrade In car seat safety, moving to the next stage is not automatically safer. Each stage is designed for a specific developmental and biomechanical risk profile. Infants and toddlers have a relatively large head-to-body ratio, more flexible bones, and less mature neck strength. In a frontal crash, […]
Highlights In This Article Common Household Injuries Every parent wants to keep their baby safe from harm. But it can be hard to know how…
Highlights In This Article Foodborne Illness It is important to practice safe handling and preparation of food. This is especially true when you are pregnant…
Highlights In This Article Understanding Cots Cots are a contained sleeping environment where children can be left to rest. It is important that cots are…
Highlights In This Article What is a Regular Health Check? Routine health checks involve taking your baby or child to see a healthcare professional at…
Why baby crying can feel overwhelming Crying is an infant’s primary signalling system. It may communicate hunger, fatigue, a wet nappy, a need for proximity, discomfort, overstimulation, or a wish to transition between states of alertness and sleep. Sometimes, even after reasonable needs are met, a baby continues to cry. This can be particularly common […]
What self-soothing actually means In everyday conversation, self-soothing can mean anything from sucking a hand to falling asleep without being held. In infant sleep research, it is usually narrower: the infant returns to sleep after a nighttime arousal without a parent intervening. This is not evidence that the baby has no needs, did not wake, […]
How discomfort crying differs from ordinary crying Crying is a biologically normal response and an infant’s primary way to signal a need. In babies, it may reflect hunger, tiredness, a desire for proximity, or difficulty settling between sleep cycles. Discomfort crying often seems more persistent or escalates when a basic need has not been met, […]
Infant sleep makes night crying common Babies do not sleep like older children or adults. Their sleep is lighter, more fragmented, and organized into relatively short cycles. At the end of a cycle, a baby may stir, vocalize, open their eyes, or cry before returning to sleep. Waking between infant sleep cycles is therefore expected, […]
Why Medical Appointments Feel Overwhelming Infants have limited ability to understand what is happening or anticipate when an uncomfortable experience will end. A clinic may expose them to unfamiliar smells, voices, temperatures, equipment, and handling. Even a routine physical examination can be challenging if the baby is already hungry, sleepy, overstimulated, or uncomfortable. Distress may […]
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Infant sleep makes night crying common Babies do not sleep like older children or adults. Their sleep is lighter, more fragmented, and organized into relatively short cycles. At the end of a cycle, a baby may stir, vocalize, open their eyes, or cry before returning to sleep. Waking between infant sleep cycles is therefore expected, […]
What does “witching hour” mean in babies? Witching hour describes a recurring period of heightened crying or irritability, commonly in the late afternoon or evening. The episode may last from minutes to several hours. Some babies cry, grimace, arch, pull up their legs, cluster-feed, resist sleep, or alternate between briefly settling and becoming distressed again. […]
Why crying may peak in the evening Many babies have a predictable period of increased crying or fussiness toward the end of the day. The pattern may begin in the first weeks of life, become more noticeable during early infancy, and gradually improve as neurological maturation and sleep-wake organization progress. It can be exhausting because […]
Newborn crying: an immature but powerful alarm system In the newborn period, crying is primarily a rapid state-regulation and communication response. A baby may cry because of hunger, wetness, temperature discomfort, fatigue, pain, overstimulation, separation from a caregiver, or difficulty transitioning between sleep and wakefulness. Because newborns have limited voluntary control over attention and arousal, […]
Understand the Post-Crying Stress Response During intense infant crying, a caregiver may experience sympathetic nervous system activation: a faster heart rate, muscle tension, shallow breathing, sweating, gastrointestinal discomfort, and heightened vigilance. The brain is interpreting the sound as an urgent signal, so even when the baby settles, the caregiver may remain keyed up. Trembling, tearfulness, […]
Why Repeated Crying Feels So Overwhelming Infant crying is an evolutionarily salient acoustic signal. It is difficult to ignore, can trigger rapid autonomic arousal, and often continues despite feeding, changing, holding, or rocking. When the signal repeats without an obvious solution, a caregiver may experience cognitive overload: the mind cycles through possible causes while the […]
Why a baby’s crying can make you cry too Infant crying is biologically salient. It is designed to capture attention, and its unpredictable timing can keep a caregiver in a state of heightened vigilance. Sleep deprivation, postpartum recovery, feeding difficulties, pain, isolation, and uncertainty can amplify this response. The brain may interpret continuous crying as […]
Crying is an alarm signal, not simply a sound Infant crying is an early communication behavior with high biological priority. Before a baby can use gestures or language reliably, crying can signal hunger, fatigue, discomfort, temperature changes, overstimulation, the need for physical contact, or a possible medical problem. The sound is difficult to ignore because […]
Why baby crying can feel overwhelming Crying is an infant’s primary signalling system. It may communicate hunger, fatigue, a wet nappy, a need for proximity, discomfort, overstimulation, or a wish to transition between states of alertness and sleep. Sometimes, even after reasonable needs are met, a baby continues to cry. This can be particularly common […]
What self-soothing actually means In everyday conversation, self-soothing can mean anything from sucking a hand to falling asleep without being held. In infant sleep research, it is usually narrower: the infant returns to sleep after a nighttime arousal without a parent intervening. This is not evidence that the baby has no needs, did not wake, […]
Why baby crying can feel overwhelming Crying is an infant’s primary signalling system. It may communicate hunger, fatigue, a wet nappy, a need for proximity, discomfort, overstimulation, or a wish to transition between states of alertness and sleep. Sometimes, even after reasonable needs are met, a baby continues to cry. This can be particularly common […]
What independent settling means in infancy Independent settling is the developing ability to fall asleep, or return to sleep after a normal arousal, in a safe sleep space without needing the same level of caregiver assistance every time. It can include quietly looking around, sucking a hand, making small movements, vocalising briefly, or having a […]
Understand what self-soothing means Infant self-soothing refers to behaviors a baby uses to reduce arousal and settle without immediate caregiver intervention. These may include sucking fingers or a pacifier, holding a comfort item when developmentally and safely appropriate, rubbing the face, changing position, vocalizing briefly, or pausing quietly before returning to sleep. It does not […]
What self-soothing means in infancy Self-soothing is best understood as part of infant self-regulation: the gradual development of the capacity to modulate arousal, emotion, movement, and attention. A baby may lower arousal by sucking a hand, holding a comfort object when developmentally appropriate, looking away, flexing and relaxing the limbs, making repetitive sounds, or pausing […]
Begin with a calm, structured check Before trying multiple soothing techniques, pause for a brief assessment. Check whether the baby may be hungry, needs a nappy change, is too hot or cold, has a wet or soiled diaper, or is showing signs of fatigue. Feeding cues can include rooting, hand-to-mouth movements, lip smacking, and increased […]
Why Predictable Sound Can Feel Settling Infants are developing the capacity to regulate arousal: the shift between alertness, distress, drowsiness, and sleep. In early life, this regulation is largely co-regulated, meaning that the baby relies on an adult’s responsive presence, touch, movement, feeding, and voice. A calm vocal pattern may contribute because it is socially […]
Begin with a calm, practical assessment Before trying multiple soothing techniques, pause and take one slow breath. Your baby may respond to your voice, touch, and body tension, while a hurried sequence of interventions can add stimulation. Move to a safe location if possible: a quiet corner, a nursing room, an accessible restroom changing area, […]
Why a change in position may help Crying is communication rather than a diagnosis. A baby may be signaling hunger, fatigue, temperature discomfort, a wet diaper, a need for closeness, or difficulty managing sensory input. Holding does not identify the cause, but a position change can alter vestibular input, body containment, abdominal pressure, and the […]
Start with a calm, structured check Before adding more stimulation, pause and consider the most likely immediate needs. Babies commonly become fussy because they are hungry, have a wet or soiled diaper, are too warm or cool, need a burp, are tired, or have become overstimulated. A quiet check reduces the chance of cycling through […]
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No. The Baby section covers newborn care and the rest of the first year, including feeding, sleep, milestones, health, safety, and routines.
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