Why does a newborn baby cry at night? What to do if your child wakes up crying at night

Quite often, parents are faced with a situation where a child wakes up at night with hysterics and begins to cry a lot for no apparent reason. Pediatricians reassure and say that this phenomenon occurs all the time. It is especially common if the baby is still very small (up to a year). To know how to behave as parents, we advise you to find out the key reason for crying. You should not immediately go to the pharmacy for children's sedatives, much less raise your voice at the child.

The main reasons for babies crying at night

So why does a baby cry when he wakes up? In reality, there are a lot of reasons and most of them do not pose a danger to the baby. Typically, nighttime crying is associated with the following factors:

  1. Not fully formed nervous system. It can unexpectedly move from a calm state to an active one. For this reason, children may wake up in the middle of the night.
  2. Often, a child often wakes up at night due to scary or unpleasant dreams. In addition, he is afraid of losing his mother and being left alone. This, first of all, applies to very young children who still have a very strong mental connection with their mother.
  3. If a child wakes up at night and cries, it is quite possible that the reason should be sought in his physiological needs. He may be hungry or need to go to the toilet.
  4. Like adults, children often experience discomfort from awkward sleeping positions. For this reason, a certain part of their body becomes numb and they wake up screaming or crying.
  5. In addition, babies may wake up due to unpleasant or painful teething sensations. Therefore, we advise you to look at the child’s gums. In this case, they will be inflamed and swollen.

If your baby wakes up crying with some regularity and is having trouble getting him back to sleep, we recommend contacting your pediatrician. He, in turn, can refer the baby to a cardiologist and neurologist. And even if the examination doesn’t reveal anything, you can be safe and have peace of mind.

Physiological and neurological causes

As you can see, there are many reasons why a child wakes up at night. Neurological factors - deviations and disorders - cannot be ruled out. It’s rare, but it still happens that after an examination the following dangerous pathologies are revealed:

  • excessive intracranial pressure;
  • blood clots;
  • accumulation of fluid in the brain and so on.

These, as well as many other disorders, are usually accompanied by hysterics, screaming and crying either during or immediately after sleep. Only a pediatric neurologist is able to accurately diagnose and select the optimal medicines, considering individual characteristics child.

Neurological reasons include the child’s inability to cope with excessive emotional stress. Throughout the day, he receives a lot of new information, which the fragile child’s brain tries to process and structure. As a result, the child has a nervous shock. Moreover, the cause of such a shock can be either a negative or a positive episode. Think about what could excite the child

It is quite possible that the reason lies on the surface:

Don't forget that most often a child wakes up and cries for obvious reasons. IN childhood the nervous system, as well as the psyche, are still developing. They are very sensitive to external factors. Therefore, parents should protect the baby from negative information and limit the amount of emotions he receives.

When the baby grows up and begins to perceive himself as a separate personality from his mother, the first fears appear. They may also be the reason why your baby cries when he wakes up. In this case, we advise you to fall asleep with your baby so that he feels safe.

A little less often, but it still happens that sleep is disrupted by the baby’s increased weather sensitivity. The child wakes up crying in the middle of the night during a thunderstorm, rain, full moon, and so on. At the same time, these children will experience a sharp change in blood pressure.

How can I help?

If your child cries in his sleep and does not wake up, or cries and then wakes up, we recommend paying attention to the following tips. They will help improve the quality of your children's night's rest so that they fall asleep healthy, evenly and deeply. So what to do:

And, of course, don’t panic if you notice that your kids wake up from time to time during their night sleep. This is an absolutely normal phenomenon that more than one generation of parents has encountered and will encounter in the future.

Take your baby for walks more often fresh air, always put him to bed and feed him at the same time. This will ensure you fall asleep quickly and completely eliminate nighttime screaming and crying.

Many parents are faced with a situation where a child around 5 years old wakes up at night crying or hysterical. And when such situations recur periodically, adults begin to seriously worry about the baby’s condition. Let's figure out why he's still crying? And what to do about it?

Reasons for crying when waking up at night

  1. Medical and neurological reasons: tummy (diarrhea, worms), vaccination, cramps (lack of vitamins), restless leg movements, intracranial pressure, weather sensitivity, high temperature and delirium against the background of a painful condition. To exclude, you should contact a pediatrician and neurologist.
  2. Discomfort while sleeping: sweating a lot (take care, in particular, of ventilating the room), resting an arm or leg (may be afraid that part of the body cannot feel), there may be growing pains (the skeleton is actively forming - warm baths, stroking, a relaxing massage will help).
  3. Feeling excited or overtired the night before: the nervous system is not yet strong enough to cope with the load and emotions that overwhelm (help the baby cope with emotional shock, teach self-regulation and effective ways to express their feelings - speaking, discussing with an adult, playing, physical exercise, creativity, dancing).
  4. Stress or fear during the day: conflicts in the family, loud screaming, extreme heat, moving, aggressive animal, frightening scene on TV. Sleep is a reflection of how the baby spent the day. Adults can help children calm down, spend a pleasant and quiet time before bed, increase the time of rituals for falling asleep, add more relaxing activities (massage, stroking, bathing in warm water).
  5. Nightmares and fears: It’s difficult for a child to understand that this is not happening in reality. It is also important to consult a neurologist to clarify the functioning of the nervous system.

Let's take a closer look at nightmares and fears, which begin at 2-3 years of age and occur in a third of people.

NIGHTMARES

A nightmare is a bad dream, usually in the second half of the night (when dreams are intense), followed by crying and complete awakening, while children remember the dream, try to tell it to an adult and find protection. Children see the world in images. Nightmares arise from frightening images (for example, seeing a tiger on the wallpaper during the day and being afraid), which an adult may not pay attention to. It is important not to discount this and discuss with your child what he is afraid of: what it is, what it looks like, what scares him and why.

How to recognize nightmares?

  • Please note that if a child sleeps with a toy, does not let go of it and throws a tantrum without it, then something is probably bothering him greatly and he needs this object as protection.
  • Scary bedtime stories or watching TV (and you can’t know exactly what might frighten your baby) cause an increase in the level of stress (cortisol) in the body, which disrupts children’s sleep.
  • If your child, starting in the morning and throughout the day, asks “Are we going to sleep? Where? Will you be with me?”, most likely he is afraid.

How to help with nightmares?

  • Before working on improving sleep, it is important to first work with frightening images, since cortisol and adrenaline interfere with sleep initially: help your child cope with fear or consult a psychologist.
  • At the moment of awakening, approach the child and help him calm down.: pet, hug, explain that it was a dream, it passed and now everything is fine, offer some water or a favorite toy. In such situations, it is better to stay with the baby until he completely falls asleep.
  • "Spray for fear." Pour some water into a bottle with a diffuser (sprinkler) (you can add a drop of essential soothing oil, but the aroma should not be strong, otherwise it will interfere with sleep). Tell your child that this magical spray for fears was given to you by the Sleep Fairy (your favorite character from a fairy tale cartoon). Explain that when he is afraid, you will disperse evil monsters (or whatever he is afraid of) with this spray!
  • Night light toys. You can find it in our online store “Sleep Products”.
  • Convince the defense. Children often ask their parents, “Will you protect me?” We always answer “Yes, of course!” At any time! Even when you're sleeping! This is important for the little person’s sense of security.

NIGHT FEARS

Night terrors or terror (refers to disorders of awakening from slow-wave sleep) is a special condition during awakening at night (usually 2-3 hours after falling asleep), when the child wakes up hysterical and is difficult to calm him down. Often observed genetic predisposition(one of the relatives also suffered from similar episodes in the first half of the night).

How to recognize night terrors?

  • It’s as if the child has been replaced: he wakes up in hysterics, screams, rushes around the bed or sits in the corner, and can throw things, even hurting himself.
  • Autonomic changes: the baby has a rapid heartbeat, trembling, he is all wet from sweat, and is breathing quickly.
  • Pushes away from mom and dad: the eyes may be wide open, but the child does not recognize the parents and says something incomprehensible.
  • This lasts from 5 to 40 minutes.
  • He can then fall asleep in the place where he calmed down.
  • In the morning he remembers nothing about it.

Similar episodes sometimes appear before the age of 3: from the age of 1, the baby roars when waking up, the breast does not want, does not want anything, does not ask to be held, does not calm down for a long time - this can also be about night terrors.

Causes of night terrors

Often the cause is a hover between sleep and wakefulness when emerging from deep sleep. We all partially wake up at this moment, but in children, due to the highest intensity of deep sleep, this transition from phase to phase does not always go smoothly. It is also generally accepted that in such children the child’s brain matures in a special way. Sleep scientists believe that the cause of night terrors is the amygdala, which is activated in the brain and is responsible for panic. But 4 possible reasons activations can be the following:

Intoxication (poisoning with harmful substances);
- viral infection;
- increased activation due to cortisol-adrenaline (therefore it is important to exclude irritants before bedtime);
- often adenoids (a situation of hypoxia, a condition that cannot breathe, and this scares the baby, he does not understand what is happening and panic arises).

How to help with night terrors?

  • Usually they do not treat, but help create a safe environment. By the age of 7, such nighttime episodes become less frequent and disappear by adolescence themselves - the brain matures, the nervous system strengthens.
  • In the morning, the baby does not remember his nightly hysteria; adults do not need to remind him of this, so as not to impose this state and not frighten him even more.
  • Ensure safety during this nighttime episode (remove sharp corners, exclude beating or stabbing).
  • In such situations, it is quite difficult to wake up the baby and influence his actions. He does not understand what is happening to him and does not control his actions. It is better not to touch during a hysterical moment, not to shake, and to exclude physical contact. Just be there and wait it out.
  • Mom can calm her down with a gentle voice (the child may not hear what the adult is saying, but he calms down from his mother’s voice, so the mother must control herself and console the baby in a calm voice).
  • Sometimes rousing helps: for example, if hysterics are at 2:00 am, then wake up the child at 1:50 am, take him to the toilet to disrupt the sleep phases - this may help, but not always.
  1. Habitual routine and comfortable sleeping conditions: the same time of going to bed and waking up, comfortable conditions for sleeping (ventilation before bed is mandatory - children need fresh air more than adults), a “native” environment and help to feel safe and calm.
  2. Avoid and overexcitement in the afternoon.
  3. 2 hours before bedtime, help your baby get in the mood for relaxation.: Eliminate watching TV and noisy games, offer calm and pleasant activities, relaxing for falling asleep and massage. Remember to take walks in the fresh air.
  4. Mom's emotional involvement and tactile contact: speak kind words, praise, remember the pleasant moments of the day, hug, kiss, increase the time of warm strokes and touches.
  5. Avoid taking your child vitamins before bed.

What should parents do whose three-year-old children sleep poorly, have nightmares, and may become hysterical, both before and during bedtime? Sometimes, many mothers and fathers get confused when they see such behavior of a child. We will try to understand in more detail how to behave and what to do.

What to do if a 3-year-old child cries at night? Moreover, does this happen regularly? Usually, parents ask for help with such a problem and always receive standard answers: “Relaxing massages, walks, keeping a daily routine - all this will help your baby.” But for some reason, the recommendations do not bring the expected effect, and the three-year-old child still cries in his sleep. What to do?
Don't pay attention. Most likely, the baby has Pavor Nocturnus or “Night Terror”. This condition appears in many children between the ages of two and five years. And sometimes even more early age. The bad thing is that parents of babies do not perceive their crying at night as a sign of a psychological problem, and think that the baby just wants to eat. In fact, if a child cries at night, it is possible that he will begin to have serious sleep disturbances by age 3.
Typical signs of Pavor Nocturnus are:

  • nightmares that begin 1-3 hours after the baby falls asleep and can occur several times during the night;
  • hysterics that last at night for 5-20 minutes and pass as suddenly as they begin;
  • nightmares that may occur several times during the night;
  • at night, during an attack, a three-year-old child screams, sweats, breathes heavily;
  • the baby’s lack of response to attempts to calm him down or distract his attention.

It is important to understand that Pavor Nocturnus is a completely normal and passing phenomenon, which is not a sign of psychophysiological pathologies in children and does not harm his health. Parents need to be patient and wait out this difficult moment. Usually, after five years, children outgrow tantrums and stop having nightmares, and their sleep returns to normal.
If a 3-year-old child is hysterical and capricious before bed, then there is nothing wrong with that either. This may be due to the increased activity of the baby. If he is experiencing increased excitement, there is no need to allow him to play active games before a night's rest; it is better to take a walk in the fresh air or just lie down and read a fairy tale.
Often, a 3-year-old child's hysterics before bed can occur because he is trying to attract attention to himself or simply does not want to go to bed. In addition, the baby may have an unbalanced type of nervous system, so if something does not go the way he wants, it will cause him to become hysterical.
In any case, there is no need to be afraid of nighttime tantrums in children. They can be caused by various reasons, but none of them are really serious. Try to be understanding of the situation and don’t panic: everything will pass over time, your baby will grow up and his sleep will improve.

Today we will talk about the worst nightmare of any parent - when a child wakes up at night with a hysteria, and there is no way to calm him down. To many, this situation does not seem supernatural - it happens that babies wake up at night crying, but then continue to sleep peacefully.

Most advice from doctors and other parents about how to calm a child is tailored to this situation. They provide for the establishment and strict adherence to a daily routine and evening procedures before bedtime, long walks in the fresh air, massage, and relaxing baths. All these recommendations really work, but not in the case when the baby wakes up at night and cries, starts screaming, doesn’t react to anything and doesn’t know what he wants. Unfortunately, some people encounter this situation quite often - sometimes even every night. What are these - children's night terrors? What is the reason for their appearance and how to deal with them?

Crying in a child's sleep may mean that the baby is having a nightmare.

Source of Nightmares

There are no children who are not afraid of anything at all. At the same time, fears that persist over a long period of time should attract the attention of parents. Their appearance is always due to certain factors and rarely occurs empty space. Among the most common are:

  • heredity;
  • severe pregnancy in the mother;
  • pathological situations during childbirth;
  • presence of serious diseases;
  • previous operations (especially under anesthesia);
  • lack of communication with mother;
  • various psychological traumas;
  • an abundance of impressions and overload of the nervous system;
  • tense atmosphere in the family - quarrels between parents, physical aggression on their part, stress and conflicts.

The reasons for the emergence of fears usually come from:

  • the child’s daily life – change of place of residence, school, kindergarten, changes in the environment, conflict situations;
  • situations within the family - the appearance of a new family member, including the birth of a younger brother or sister, death of relatives, divorce of parents;
  • media - television, radio and the Internet contain a lot of negative information: stories and programs about crimes, disasters and terrorist attacks, journalistic investigations, documentaries.


Children quickly absorb any information, especially negative information. Therefore, watching non-children's films can affect a child's sleep

How to identify fears?

Night fears in children usually appear before the age of one year, starting at 6 months, and are associated with the developmental characteristics of the baby. At 2–3 years old, children are afraid to be left alone; at 4–6 years old, they are frightened by the darkness and various monsters and monstrosities, which is reflected in their dreams. Characteristic Features nightmares are:

  • they usually begin 2 - 2.5 hours after falling asleep, usually between 1 and 3 hours;
  • duration - from 5 to 20 minutes, with a sudden start and end of hysteria;
  • repeating several times during the night;
  • the child wakes up abruptly, screams and cries, opens his eyes, but he does not notice anything around and does not react to anything (we recommend reading:);
  • during an attack, increased sweating and difficulty breathing are observed;
  • the child wakes up in hysterics, but does not react in any way to the appearance of his parents, since he is not aware of their presence or himself;
  • it is not possible to calm the baby’s hysterics or switch his attention to something else;
  • unconscious aggression towards parents and attempts to destroy the room in which they are located.

Having discovered the above points in behavior own baby, don't despair. It’s hard for any parent to watch their own child’s nightmares and tantrums and not be able to help him, but it is possible to correct the situation. You can seek help from a psychologist or wait until the baby grows up and the nightmares go away on their own.



Children's imagination is quite vivid. Therefore, the child can come up with many monsters hiding in his room. Parents need to dispel the child’s fears by showing that under the bed and in the closet there is absolutely nothing.

How to deal with night terrors?

Hysterics and nightmares at night go away on their own with age, but following some simple recommendations can make them easier. You should:

  • stay calm - such problems are quite common in children aged 3 - 5 years and are not as terrible as you think;
  • constantly be close to the baby - your task is not to allow him in this state to harm himself and others;
  • do not remind the child about what happened, so as not to intensify his feelings;
  • try to prevent the appearance of nightmares by waking up your baby about 30 minutes after falling asleep - this way you will avoid another attack;
  • give the child the opportunity to get enough sleep by increasing the time allotted for sleep and organizing daytime rest, which is especially important for children under 3 years of age;
  • do not let your baby get overtired - monitor his loads during the day; for children 7–10 years old, if they refuse to sleep at night, change the time they wake up or go to bed;
  • show your child that you care - a close, trusting relationship will help you calmly discuss the situation and try to find the source of its occurrence.

Should I see a doctor?

In most situations, the help of parents is enough to overcome nightmares, but in some cases it is necessary to turn to specialists. Parents should be alert to the following symptoms:

  • the duration of the attack is more than 30 minutes;
  • nightmares come closer to morning;
  • during an attack, speech is impaired, behavior becomes inappropriate;
  • a child can cause harm to himself by his actions during a hysteria;
  • fears do not go away even during the day;
  • the cause of nightmares is the family situation - conflicts, parental divorce, domestic violence;
  • over time, the attacks become more severe and last more than a year;
  • nightmares and hysterics affect the baby’s behavior during the day;
  • During nightmares and hysterics, the baby experiences attacks of urinary incontinence.


If a child has a nightmare, parents should help him calm down. Alternatively, you can lie down with him, read a book, the main thing is that the baby feels protected

Particular attention should be paid to the course of nocturnal attacks if children have convulsive readiness, expressed in:

  • sudden movements of the head;
  • shoulder twitching;
  • and eye rolling;
  • protruding tongue;
  • stuttering;
  • attacks of enuresis, repeated several times a night;
  • suffocation;
  • false croup;
  • bronchial asthma.

All of these symptoms only aggravate the situation with children's hysterics and nightmares. Reasons to immediately consult a doctor are attacks accompanied by:

  • screams;
  • motor excitement;
  • loss of consciousness.

When such symptoms appear, the baby’s condition is diagnosed and, based on its results, a prescription is prescribed. drug treatment. To overcome problems, you may also need the help of a psychologist.

Prevention and treatment



In the process of treating a child’s fears, you may have to seek the help of a psychologist.

Nightmares themselves are rarely treated using medications; they usually try to eliminate the cause of their occurrence. In cases where the source of their occurrence is a physical or mental illness, it is treated. If the nightmares are the result of stress or anxiety in the baby, consultation with child psychologist or a psychiatrist. Sometimes medications may be prescribed to reduce rapid eye movement or prevent night awakenings - this is only done if the child has serious sleep problems.

A psychologist should investigate the circumstances surrounding the emergence of children's fears. While communicating with the baby, he determines the source of nightmares, the degree of their danger and measures to combat them. The main diagnostic techniques are drawings, role playing games and staging skits - in them, using the example of heroes, you can learn and analyze the causes of fears, discuss their consequences.

The behavior of children best shows what kind of atmosphere is in the family and how the parents behave. It is they who, by their example, shape the child’s behavior patterns, which can lead to excessive fearfulness or distrust of others.

A calm, even atmosphere in the family, the absence of tension and conflicts will help the child overcome the fear of the dark and get rid of nightmares. Active sports can also be a good help in the fight against nightmares. Swimming, jumping from a platform or over the bar, martial arts- all this will give you confidence in your own abilities and eliminate the fear of the dark, water, heights, and so on.

Working with childhood nightmares involves eliminating the immediate cause of fear. You should explain to your child that being afraid is absolutely normal and natural, since fear allows you to avoid dangerous situations. Parents should tell him more often that there is nothing shameful in fears, you need to accept them and learn to live with them.



A child's drawings can reflect all his fears and problems. An experienced psychologist will help you understand the causes of poor sleep problems.

How to raise a brave child?

In order for a child to grow up brave and active, it is necessary to make certain efforts, and the following recommendations can help in achieving this:

  • do not humiliate, but also do not make the child and his desires the main thing;
  • treat him as an equal, respect his personality;
  • do not scare the baby or punish him without serious reasons;
  • make sure he has enough communication with different people– relatives, peers, friends;
  • do it with your child various crafts, engage in creativity with him - so you can follow his mental state and neutralize emerging fears in time;
  • Hug and kiss your baby more often - physical contact with your parents will help him feel your care and protection;
  • monitor the atmosphere in the family - trust, respect and love will help reduce, or even completely get rid of fears.

How should parents behave?

You can overcome childhood fears by adhering to the following principles:

  • Respect the child and his fears, do not laugh at them or deny them. Higher participation and attention to the problem will give a greater effect than statements from the series “You are already too old to be afraid of the dark (more details in the article:)!”, “Stop inventing yourself!” and the like.
  • Do not shame or reproach your child for his experiences - this will only increase anxiety and lead to feelings of guilt. Let him know that even “real men” have the right to be afraid.
  • Don't try to force your child to overcome fear directly, such as by leaving him alone in a dark room. Offer him your help and support: look together at all the “scary” places where he sees various dangers, look in closets, under the bed, in dark corners. Not finding anyone there, the child will quickly believe in the groundlessness of his experiences and calm down.
  • When a child behaves badly, do not frighten him with various monsters and villains and do not threaten to give him away to anyone.


Understanding, care and love of parents are important components for a stable psyche of a child

Children's imagination is the source of night anxiety

All children are not alike - each of them has their own fantasies and their own opinions about everything. They can create the object of nightmares for themselves, and a more developed imagination will only make them more realistic. These child abilities can also be used to overcome fears.

Establish contact with your child to find out the source of the fear. Help your child separate his feelings from himself and overcome them by learning to change and control his feelings. Try for this:

  • together with your child, compose a story with a good ending, which tells about a way to overcome fear;
  • make a drawing that depicts fear, and then tear it up - simultaneously destroying the picture and helping the baby take control of his emotions.

Sleeping room

Try to provide your child with a personal room, if your capabilities allow you to do so. The environment in the nursery should create a cozy and calming atmosphere:

  • Provide good sound insulation in the nursery so that nothing disturbs the baby's sleep.
  • Maintain an optimal microclimate in the room - Dr. Komarovsky recommends for children a temperature of 18 - 20 ° C and a humidity of about 50 - 70%.
  • Regularly ventilate the room and do wet cleaning.
  • Use bed sheets only from natural fabrics. It should always be fresh and clean, calm colors in light colors. You can also use bedding with your baby's favorite characters.
  • Take care of the safety of the sleeping place, check for any sharp protrusions.
  • Using a radio or video nanny will allow you to promptly learn about your baby's restless sleep if he has his own room.
  • A special night light or a favorite toy taken with you to bed will protect you from monsters and drive away fears.

In infancy the most in an efficient way To attract the attention of parents is whimpering and tears. The baby does not yet know how to clearly communicate his needs, so he often cries and screams. Dad and mom must learn to understand their baby and quickly solve his little problems.

The child cries at night

New parents are easily recognized by their tired eyes with dark circles and sleepy faces. There are several reasons why a newborn cries at night. Some are normal physiological processes that the infant gradually outgrows. Other factors require increased attention or special treatment, otherwise negative consequences may occur.

The child wakes up at night and cries

Children sleep poorly and begin to whine mainly due to discomfort or anxiety. A newborn cries at night due to the following circumstances:

  • hot or cold;
  • wet diaper;
  • the humidity in the room is too high or low;
  • absence of mother nearby;
  • hunger;
  • something is itchy or stiff.

The factors listed above are physiological problems that can be easily corrected. There are other, more serious reasons why a child cries at night:

  • intestinal colic;
  • pain of any origin;
  • diseases of the central nervous system and brain;
  • convulsions.

Why does a baby cry in his sleep?

If the baby does not wake up and whines or moans quietly, but quickly stops, this is normal. It is associated with the correction of the regime and the “biological clock”. Up to 1 year of age, a child cries in his sleep due to periodic changes in the ratio of wakefulness and rest. When the baby develops the correct routine (by 10-12 months), he will sleep soundly and without tears.

Other reasons why a baby cries in his sleep without waking up:

  • severe fatigue the day before, overexcitement;
  • negative impressions or stress from the past day;
  • increased tone of the nervous system due to calcium deficiency in the body;
  • discomfort;
  • REM sleep phase, in which the brain is activated and processes information received during the day;
  • pain of various etiologies.

For some mothers, the process of latching on to the breast or trying to offer a bottle to the baby becomes an ordeal. If a baby cries while feeding milk or formula, it is important to urgently determine the reasons for refusing to eat and eliminate them. Otherwise, the baby will constantly starve and significantly lose weight; digestive problems and dehydration may occur.


Why does a baby cry while breastfeeding?

The situation in question is often explained by external factors that cause the baby to feel discomfort:

  • too noisy around;
  • taste of milk;
  • too bright light;
  • unpleasant (for the baby) smell from mother’s skin (new cream, body milk);
  • flat or indented nipples that are difficult to grasp with your lips;
  • strong pressure of milk, which provokes choking;
  • uncomfortable position or incorrect way of applying;
  • dry and hot air in the room;
  • uneven supply or lack of milk;
  • pampering;
  • lack of hunger, just a desire to be with mom.

Physiological reasons why a baby cries during feeding:

  • accumulation of gases in the intestines;
  • esophageal reflux;
  • stomatitis;
  • oral candidiasis ();
  • intestinal cramps;
  • dry mucous membranes in the mouth;
  • nasal congestion;
  • high body temperature;
  • sore throat;
  • nausea;
  • lactase deficiency;
  • pharyngitis;
  • ear and other pain.

Why does a baby cry while feeding formula?

The baby may be capricious and refuse to eat due to the factors listed above. Often a child cries because of an incorrectly selected nipple or bottle - the formula is supplied in excessive or insufficient quantities with too much or too little pressure. It is important to study the baby’s reaction to food and observe his well-being after feedings. The main reason why a baby cries while sucking a bottle is considered to be inappropriate formula. It is necessary to pay attention to its quality and composition, and ask for the opinion of a specialist.

Newborn crying after feeding

When full, babies whine and become capricious for the following reasons:

  • physiological reflux of the esophagus;
  • flatulence;
  • overeating;
  • not enough milk or formula.

A crying child may also be worried due to external unfavorable factors:

  • dry air in the room;
  • high or low temperature;
  • fatigue;
  • noise;
  • too bright light.

The described problem is more often noticed in male children against the background of the structural features of the penis in infancy. If a baby boy cries before peeing, probable cause The following pathologies are considered:

  • balanitis;

These diseases are associated with insufficient mobility of the foreskin or its complete fusion, which is why the head of the penis is almost not exposed. This leads to the accumulation of sweat, urine residue and dirt in the penis. Later, irritation with redness and inflammation occurs. In such cases, urination becomes difficult and is accompanied by burning and cutting pain.

If a girl experiences anxiety, the likely cause is also an inflammatory process of an infectious or allergic nature (cystitis, pyelonephritis, and others). It can be localized in the urethra, kidneys or bladder. Sometimes babies are diagnosed with a condition similar to phimosis - fusion of the urethra. This pathology impedes the outflow of biological fluid and causes severe discomfort.

Other reasons why a baby cries before urinating:

  • diaper rash;
  • dermatitis;
  • allergy;
  • lack of fluid in the body;
  • bad, dirty diaper;
  • minor injuries to the genital organs.

There are also less serious factors that explain this phenomenon:

  • the baby tells his parents that he peed;
  • the baby is afraid or surprised by the process of urination;
  • the child does not like the feeling of wetness in the genital area.

Newborn crying while bathing

The water environment is considered natural for babies, but most children begin to act up after getting into the bath. If the baby cries during bath procedures, you should look for the reason in the following:

  • the little one is afraid;
  • unsuitable water temperature;
  • the baby is hungry or thirsty;
  • the baby is in pain;
  • the bathroom is cold or hot;
  • many “spectators”;
  • noisy;
  • the child is awkwardly supported by hands;
  • skin is damaged or irritated.

There are situations when a baby cries after bathing, but being in the water gives him pleasure. In such cases, the baby’s mood changes due to the following factors:

  • fatigue;
  • hunger;
  • thirst;
  • cold or heat indoors;
  • desire to go back to the bath;
  • attracting attention;
  • colic;
  • flatulence;
  • fright;
  • protest against getting dressed and going to bed.

The main cause of this problem is severe fatigue and an excess of emotions received during the day. The baby cries because he really wants to sleep, but he can’t fall asleep instantly. Sometimes children experience completely opposite feelings at the same time. The baby may be tired, but want to continue playing and communicating with his parents.


Other reasons why a child cries the night before bedtime:

  • hunger and thirst;
  • pain of any origin;
  • intestinal colic;
  • fear of being alone (if sleeping alone);
  • cold or heat in the bedroom;
  • inflammation in the oral cavity and pharynx;
  • nasal congestion;
  • high body temperature;
  • teething;
  • uncomfortable posture;
  • dirty diaper;
  • tight or irritating clothing;
  • serious diseases of the central nervous system and brain.

Why does a newborn cry constantly?

There are babies who are capricious and whine for no apparent reason and more often than other children. It is important for parents to find the exact reason why the child constantly cries. The most important unfavorable factor is colic and flatulence. Unstable bowel function prevents the baby from sleeping, eating and defecating, and provokes paroxysmal cutting pain.

A newborn constantly cries for other reasons:

  • individual characteristics (restless baby with high demands);
  • hunger and thirst if the mother does not have enough milk;
  • postpartum infections, mainly staphylococcus;
  • headaches due to pinched nerves or blood vessels(vertebral displacement, trauma);
  • pathologies of the nervous system;
  • congenital or acquired severe diseases.

How to calm a crying baby?

In order for the baby to stop shedding tears, it is necessary to create conditions in which he will feel safe and comfortable. How to calm your baby when he cries:

  1. Swaddle.
  2. Place on its side, supporting the head.
  3. Rock rhythmically, shake lightly.
  4. Hiss quietly over your ear, creating “white noise.”
  5. Give breast, bottle or pacifier.

The Hamilton technique is very popular among modern mothers, helping to calm any child in just 5 seconds: