Category: Development

Common Infant Problems: Crying

Seated crying baby

Crying is how your baby communicates with you. Your baby may cry if they are:

  • Thirsty or hungry
  • Have a wet diaper
  • Too hot/too cold
  • Uncomfortable
  • Bored
  • Afraid
  • Hurt
  • Tired or too excited

What can I do?

  • Respond quickly to your baby. A quick response helps your baby calm down faster
  • Thirsty/hungry – watch if your baby is sucking on their lips, fingers, or fist.(This is a sign that they are hungry). Feed your baby before they get too upset.
  • Wet diaper – change a wet or dirty diaper as soon as possible.
  • Too hot/too cold – take off or put on clothes or blanket to keep baby comfortable
  • Uncomfortable – try changing their position in their bed or carrier. They could be in an odd position, such as laying on their arm.
  • Bored/need attention – Hold, rock, or play with your baby. Try playing music, sing, talk, or read to them.
  • Too excited/afraid – Hold, rock, and talk softly to calm your baby. Try to make your surroundings quieter. Try skin to skin contact with your baby or swaddling them in a blanket.
  • Hurt – check for red marks or scratches. Make sure that diapers and clothes fit comfortably.
  • Tired – Try placing your baby on their back and see if they settle down.

Digital thermometer

If nothing seems to help: Your baby might be sick.

See a doctor if your baby:

  • Has a temperature above 99 degrees F
  • Has watery stools
  • Vomiting
  • Less than 6-8 wet diapers a day
  • A skin rash
  • Crying that will not stop

For more help, contact:

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Get to Know Your New Baby

Get To Know Your New Baby: WIC’s Guide for Birth to 3 Months

A New Baby!

You must feel excited and completely overwhelmed!

This booklet will help you learn what your newborn needs to be happy and healthy.

All babies are different, but their movements and noises will let you know when they’re hungry, happy, uncomfortable or just tired.

You will soon learn your baby’s cues and become your newborn’s superhero!

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The Magic of Everyday Moments

Remember, everyday moments are rich bonding and learning opportunities. Enjoy the magic of these moments with your child.

These booklets brought to you by:

Logo for Johnson and Johnson Pediatric Institute LLC

Johnson & Johnson Pediatric Institute, L.L.C., is a company solely
dedicated to improving maternal and children’s healthcare through the advancement of continued learning and research in pediatrics, child development, parenting and maternity care. Through partnerships with leading healthcare professionals, developmental specialists and international organizations, Johnson & Johnson Pediatric Institute, L.L.C., identifies, develops and implements initiatives and programs that help shape the future of children’s health around the world.

Logo for Zero to Three organization

ZERO TO THREE is a national nonprofit organization of renowned pediatricians, educators, researchers, and other child development experts who specialize in the first years of life.

The Magic of Everyday Moments™
Loving and Learning Through Daily Activities

If you are like most parents today, your greatest challenge is probably caring for your baby while also taking care of yourself and your responsibilities. The competing demands on your time and energy make finding the time to connect with your baby no small challenge. But daily activities, such as feeding, bathing and grocery shopping, don’t need to take time away from bonding with and enjoying your baby. In fact, these everyday moments are rich opportunities to encourage your child’s development by building her:

  • self-confidence
  • curiosity
  • social skills
  • self-control
  • communication skills

Most of all you build her desire to learn about her world.

The booklets in this series are not intended to be general guides to everything that is happening at each specific age. Instead, they focus on how, through interactions with your baby during everyday moments, you can support your baby’s social, emotional and intellectual development.

It’s the special interplay between parent and child that makes everyday moments so meaningful. The potential is limitless. The starting point is you.

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Jaundice in Newborns

WHAT IS JAUNDICE?

  • Jaundice occurs when a natural chemical in the body called bilirubin builds up in the baby’s blood causing the skin and eyes to turn yellow.
  • Bilirubin normally passes through the stool (poop) as the liver filters it out of the blood. However, it takes a few days for a baby’s liver to filter effectively.
  • Jaundice commonly occurs when your baby is 2-5 days old and resolves itself in 1-2 weeks. Jaundice starts on the face and moves downward as it gets worse. As it gets better, the face is the last place jaundice goes away.
Baby laying on its back with no jaundice as a yellowish tint.

The newborn on the left does not have jaundice as a yellowish tint is absent.

Newborn in parent's arms with jaundice, yellowish skin.

The newborn on the right has jaundice as seen from the yellowish tint of the skin and eyes.

CAN JAUNDICE HURT MY BABY?

  • Most babies have mild jaundice that is not a problem.
  • When there is too much bilirubin, it may be harmful to the baby’s brain.
  • If these signs are present, contact your provider:
    • Your baby’s skin or eyes turn more yellow
    • Your baby is fussy, hard to wake, or not feeding well

WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP MY BABY’S JAUNDICE GO AWAY?

  • If you are breastfeeding, continue doing so as breastfeeding is really good for your baby. Breast milk helps babies to have softer, more frequent poops that get rid of bilirubin.
  • Feed your baby every 3 hours because this will help you produce enough milk and help the baby get rid of extra bilirubin through stool.
  • Breast feed your baby with only a diaper on near a window because indirect sunlight is good for your baby. Do not put your baby into direct sunlight.

DOES BREASTFEEDING AFFECT JAUNDICE?

  • Jaundice is more common in breastfeeding babies, but this happens mostly if your are having trouble nursing.
  • If your are having trouble breastfeeding, call your provider. PCC also has a breast feeding counselor at 512-684-1744.

Newborn Tips

Help me be healthy.

Before I go home from the hospital, I need:

  • Blood tests. Blood tests will help us look for genetic/metabolic problems. The doctor or nurse will prick my heel and take a little blood. I will need another blood test before I’m two weeks old. My doctor will tell you where to go for the second test. If the tests show a possible problem, you and my doctor will talk about it together.
  • A hepatitis B shot.
  • A hearing test. If I need another hearing test after I leave the hospi­tal, my doctor will send us to an audiologist close by. Or we might go back to the hospital for a follow-up hearing test.

Find a doctor or nurse to see me for my regular checkups. I need a Medical Home. Bring this calendar to all my checkups. Ask questions, share any worries you have, and work closely with my doctor or nurse to plan all the care I need.

When I go for my first checkup, the doctor will:

  • Weigh and measure me.
  • Check me from head to toe by:
    • Looking in my eyes, ears. and nose;
    • Listening to my heart and lungs; and
    • Looking at my hips, abdomen, and umbilical cord.
  • Check my vision and hearing.
  • Answer any questions you have. Ask the doctor questions about my health. That is why you take me for my well-baby checkups.

Feed me whenever I am hungry.

Breast milk or iron-fortified formula is the only food I need. It will probably take us many weeks to get used to a feeding schedule. This is normal. If I am breastfeeding, I might eat every 2 to 3 hours.

I am getting enough to eat if I am:

  • Gaining weight.
  • Having at least six wet diapers a day.
  • Having at least one stool a day.

Keep me safe.

Whenever we ride in the car, put me in a car seat with the straps on right.

  • Texas law says that I have to be in a car seat when I am in a car.
  • The car seat is the only safe place for me.
  • Use the car seat even if I fuss. Fussing is my way of telling you that I know I’m in a different place.
  • Place my car seat in the back seat so I look out the back window.
  • If you have questions about my car seat. or want to be sure my car seat is in the car right, call Safe Riders toll-free at 1-800-252-8023.

Place me on my back to sleep. Keep my sleeping area clear of stuffed toys and soft, fluffy things.

Keep me safe from fire and smoke.

  • Check the batteries in our smoke detector.
  • Practice a fire escape. How would you help me get out if there was a fire?
  • Keep me away from cigarette and cigar smoke. It makes it harder for me to breathe.

Pay attention to me. I talk by crying.

If I’m crying, it could mean that I:

  • Am wet.
  • Am too hot or too cold.
  • Am sleepy.
  • Am hungry.
  • Want to change position.
  • Want to be held.
  • Need to be burped.
  • Have colic.

Remember, most babies have a fussy time each day. To help me calm down, read “How to Help Your Crying Baby.” The Parents Action for Children website is also helpful.

If nothing seems to help me calm down, check with my doctor to see if something is wrong. Soon you will be able to tell the difference between the cry that says “Feed me” and the cry that says “Pick me up and hold me.”

Play with me. It helps me learn.

  • Hold me, cuddle me, rock me and hug me. Let me look at your face.
  • Change my position every once in a while.
  • Talk to me, sing to me, read to me.
  • Put a picture on the side of my bed. Hang a mobile over my crib. Put them on securely so they don’t fall on me.
  • Listen to gentle music with me.

Watch how I grow.

Each child grows and changes at a different rate.
Watch the things that I do. If I was born early or have some special needs, it may take me a little longer to do some things. If you are worried about what I can and cannot do, talk to my doctor or nurse.

Watch for me to:

  • Look to see who is talking.
  • Move my eyes to follow something that moves in front of my face.
  • Look at you, look away, and then look at you again when we are playing. I can see best when an object is about eight inches from my face.
  • Sleep a lot. I don’t know when it is night, so I will wake up in the night and want to eat.
  • Eat every few hours. When I’m not eat­ing, I may sleep most of the time.
  • Be fussy and cry more than you would like me to cry. Don’t be afraid to hold me.
  • Suck on my fingers or pacifier. I like to suck even when I’m not hungry.
  • Be startled by loud noises.
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