Baby Crying Basic

Crying is normal. Colic is not. People who say that colic is normal not only are wrong, they also are doing a huge disservice to families who have colicky babies. Those families know it is anything but normal. Being told it is normal just makes those parents feel like there is something wrong with them. But it is true that to understand colic you first need to understand normal crying.

Within the first 5 minutes of a baby’s birth, the doctor examines the newborn and assigns an Apgar score as a measure of the baby’s health. The Apgar is scored on five dimensions: heart rate, respiration, muscle tone, reflex response. And skin color. A baby gets 0, 1, or 2 on each dimension, so the highest score – the prefect baby – is a 10. a good strong cry rates a 2 on the respiration scale. Getting a 0 means the baby is simply breathing, and this is considered a bad thing.

A good cry indicates that a large part of the baby’s physiological system is intact and functioning well. Crying requires a baby to perform a complicated and sophisticated set of physiological activities that involve the brain and the respiratory, motor, and vocal systems. Crying helps physiology by increasing pulmonary (lung) capacity. The baby gets more active when he cries, which increase muscle activity, generates heat, and helps the baby regulate his temperature.

We want babies to cry. Crying means a baby is robust, is intact, has energy, and can communicate. When babies don’t cry or when their cry is abnormal, this can mean there is something wrong.

What is abnormal cry? A very high-pitched cry usually signals abnormally and can mean that the baby has a neurological problem – a problem in the brain.