Imagine jets flying by your house day and night – at 120 decibels. What is unimaginable for many is part of everyday life for one in five parents in Germany. Not with jets, but with baby cries – because they are parents of a cry baby.
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What Is A Cry Baby?
Of course, we all know that babies cry. How else are they supposed to make themselves heard?
However, when a child cries for three hours at a time, three days a week over a period of three weeks, we talk about a writing baby. It’s hard to imagine that there are children who cry for up to eight hours a day…
Of course, as parents you try everything to calm the baby: breastfeeding, carrying around and cuddling. But what if all that doesn’t help? Then your nerves are definitely on edge. They despair and become more tense because they feel helpless.
In addition, the question “What are we doing wrong?” quickly arises, closely followed by “What can we do about it?”. Most had imagined the first time together as a family to be somewhat more relaxed.
After all, baby crying triggers adrenaline jolts in us. In a rhesus monkey study, mothers behaved 400 times more aggressively to a crying baby than to a quiet one.
Writing Baby Causes – Why Do Babies Cry?
In the first three months, most children are very restless and sometimes cry for one to two hours a day. In the past, it was attributed to the so-called three-month colic (infant colic), in which midwives and doctors blamed digestive disorders for the crying.
But very few babies have real digestive disorders: only 5-10% cannot tolerate protein from cow’s milk, and an inflamed esophagus is also a rare phenomenon.
However, this is not necessarily the cause, but can also be a simple consequence. After all, if you cry a lot, you also swallow a lot of air.
Being Overwhelmed By The New Life – Stimulus Overload As The Cause Of Crying Babies
But if the cause is the problem, why do the little ones scream so much?
Scientists suspect that it is life itself. Babies first have to process a lot of stimuli and find their own rhythm between sleep and wakefulness. This process is also called self-regulation by experts.
Some babies are very good at self-regulation; they are alert while awake and shut down when it gets too much for them. They also have mastered appeasement mechanisms, such as thumb sucking.
The so-called Schreibabies are not quite as good at all of this, and are constantly overstimulated and sleep restlessly. A German study also proves that babies are more prone to crying if their mothers were emotionally stressed during pregnancy, e.g. suffered from depression or had fears regarding the pregnancy.
Writing Baby – What Should And Can I Do As An Affected Parent?
Regular Daily Routine And Plenty Of Sleep
As already mentioned, stimulus overload is the reason for excessive crying. It is best to try not to expose your baby to too many stimuli. A calm daily routine with sufficient and regular sleep phases are a good start.
Many writing babies are more immature in their sleep organization than other babies and sleep too little during the day in the first months, which is why they cry so often. So the solution is to get more sleep!
Develop Rituals – Carrying Around, Darkening, Swaddling
Since your little one can’t do this well on her own, you’ll have to help her along a bit: Going for a walk, carrying around, darkening or swaddling (wrapping tightly in a blanket) can be very good aids. A massage before falling asleep, a bath or a calming tea can also be integrated into the falling asleep ritual.
Have The Doctor Check That It Is Not Serious
Before you give your baby medications for flatulence or make dietary changes, first have them check to see if there really are problems with the gastrointestinal tract.
Diarrhea combined with anemia, for example, would be an indication that your baby is allergic to something.
Heartburn combined with the reflux reflex would also be noticeable to you as a parent. Your baby would vomit especially often when lying down.
KISS syndrome, which can result in pain when moving, must also be ruled out.
The Rule Of Three
If your baby’s crying follows the rule of three, he or she belongs to the group of excessive crying babies. One speaks of the rule of three:
- If your baby cries at least 3 hours a day.
- More than 3 days a week.
- For longer than 3 weeks.
Unfortunately, there is no general solution. You can help him to settle in and you have to be patient and lenient with the crying baby. But of course, this pulls very much on the nerves, therefore applies:
Get Help, You Don’t Have To Go Through This Alone
If you feel overwhelmed, get help! Even your nerves have an end and if the tension and stress is too much, you can no longer react with the necessary composure. Seek help from your partner and also turn to friends and relatives.
You also need to clear your head. Take a break and go for a walk to get some fresh air. Me-time and enough time to recover are really important for you.
If your baby’s crying makes you aggressive, it’s best to leave the room and come back when you’ve calmed down a bit. Before you realize that it is getting you TOO upset, seek professional help, in so-called crying clinics.
Cry Clinics
Another place to turn to are outpatient crying clinics. These can usually be found affiliated with clinics, counseling centers and medical practices. Here you can find help and further information https://www.schreibaby.de/
Sources:
- https://www.stern.de/gesundheit/kinderkrankheiten/erkrankungen/schreibaby-gebruell-ohne-ende-3762372.html
- https://www.sueddeutsche.de/gesundheit/schreibaby-die-schlimmste-zeit-im-leben-der-eltern-1.1585933
- https://www.baby-und-familie.de/Kinder/Wie-Eltern-Schreibabys-beruhigen-koennen-149287.html
- https://www.spiegel.de/gesundheit/diagnose/schreikinder-was-eltern-von-schreibabys-tun-koennen-a-920689.html
- https://www.beliebte-vornamen.de/11040-babys-laut-wie-jets.htm
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