The crying game
Actually, there's no game, no fun, about it. Crying is trying.
Yesterday on Oprah (yes, I admit to watching her show sometimes, usually while nursing), a woman who claims to know the secret language of babies pointed out the different sounds of cries babies make, and what they mean.
This is really something, but it might be too late for me. The expert said the sounds are universal around the world but good only up to three months. Flybaby is almost there -- and while I think I can tell his different cries apart, they don't match what the expert claims.
Before Flybaby came along, I knew babies cried. My younger brother was colicky. You hear babies crying in public. You read the books that tell you crying is the way babies communicate.
But I still wasn't prepared for the crying. The length of the crying. The pitch of the crying. The volume of the crying. The fact crying can happen any time of the day or night. And Fly doesn't even have colic.
The thing that gets me about his crying is JP and I are doing everything we can to take the best care of him and make him happy. Flybaby can be well-rested, fed, changed, clean and comfortable, and he still might cry. And I'm like, "Why are you so unhappy? You have everything you could ever hope for, and more! You should be the happiest baby in the world!" When Fly cries loudly, JP says he can't even think.
And I know he's just trying to communicate. But sometimes -- er, like right now, waking up from his nap -- the crying, oh the crying, is hard for a diligent mama to hear.
Update: On the plus side, when Flybaby is crying, it's a good way to get off the phone with talkative relatives.
And, I'm glad to be the one who can comfort him.
Eventually.
Yesterday on Oprah (yes, I admit to watching her show sometimes, usually while nursing), a woman who claims to know the secret language of babies pointed out the different sounds of cries babies make, and what they mean.
This is really something, but it might be too late for me. The expert said the sounds are universal around the world but good only up to three months. Flybaby is almost there -- and while I think I can tell his different cries apart, they don't match what the expert claims.
Before Flybaby came along, I knew babies cried. My younger brother was colicky. You hear babies crying in public. You read the books that tell you crying is the way babies communicate.
But I still wasn't prepared for the crying. The length of the crying. The pitch of the crying. The volume of the crying. The fact crying can happen any time of the day or night. And Fly doesn't even have colic.
The thing that gets me about his crying is JP and I are doing everything we can to take the best care of him and make him happy. Flybaby can be well-rested, fed, changed, clean and comfortable, and he still might cry. And I'm like, "Why are you so unhappy? You have everything you could ever hope for, and more! You should be the happiest baby in the world!" When Fly cries loudly, JP says he can't even think.
And I know he's just trying to communicate. But sometimes -- er, like right now, waking up from his nap -- the crying, oh the crying, is hard for a diligent mama to hear.
Update: On the plus side, when Flybaby is crying, it's a good way to get off the phone with talkative relatives.
And, I'm glad to be the one who can comfort him.
Eventually.
posted by Damselfly at 10:56 AM
10 Comments:
Isn't it awful? I am actually preparing a post about that show as well. It gets better!
And there's something about your own baby's cry that's more disconcerting than listening to someone else's. Especially when you're out in public, where you want to be able not only to get the baby to stop annoying those around you, but also want to look and feel like a competent parent.
Even when you get to the point where you can distinguish a "hungry" cry from a "change me" cry, or whatever other variations your baby may have, there are still going to be some times when you just can't figure it out because baby doesn't know what he wants. As long as you know that all his needs are met, try not to take it personally.
I watched the show too, waiting for some miracle to occur that would extinguish my baby's crying forevver. By the time she got to the last cry I couldn't even remember the first one she told us.
I can distinguish the "I've got major shit in my diaper and want to be changed NOW" cry because it sounds like a lamb. It's the "baaaa baaaa" and shakes like a lamb "baa"ing. But...her cries didn't match maddy's cries.
The first three months, I think they cry often because they are overwhelmed with the world or stressed out in their own way. For my baby, evening was bad. Right about 6pm, when her dad would be coming home from a stressful day. She would let loose. My poor husband wondered if he was the cause. :)
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Oh yeah, FFG, early evening crankiness! I think almost all babies exhibit this at one point or another. All of mine did, although the memory fades with time. ;)
I could never figure out what the different cries meant other than mad, really mad, and now I'm really pissed off and everyone within the city limits must pay!
I watched that EPISODE!!!!
Now I know eh..and heh...and bleh...LOL
That british woman must have had a lot of time in her hands. Now that the baby is 9 months I can understand most of the time. (I THINK!!)
I saw it, too, (thanks for the heads up about the episode, BTW!) I was wondering what your take on it was, and if it seemed to work with little Fly. I'm sorry that it doesn't seem to be working!
You just get it down pat...
And then new things come along...
Like hormones... I swear, my daughter is nine years old... and now can cry by a sideways glance or what she perceives as me being annoyed...
God help all of us when she truly is hormonal....
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