Can you tell what your baby wants just by it's cry?

rzaremba

I think I can tell what my DS wants but at almost 10 weeks he is changing so fast that I feel like we are back to square one because his noises are so different now! Can you decipher what your baby wants?

LaceyH13

It's hard to tell. Since I am with him all day I think it's more that I just know what he needs based on schedule rather than cry. Like, if you give me no information and just show me my baby crying I think I would have about a 25% chance of knowing exactly what it means. But maybe. His tired cry is more of just a fuss, but his hungry cry is more urgent.

blended10

My dd def has a "complaining" cry (when it's nothing urgent or even fixable) and I think when she's tired her cry sounds like "ma ma" but her dirty diaper/uncomfortable cry & hungry cry sound the same to me so far.

Court11152325

I'm voting yes but it's the same as @blended10 I definitely know her "I'm bored" cry, her "I'm in f*cking pain, why didn't you burp me longer" cry, but it can be difficult to tell the difference between hunger and uncomfortableness. 

breezypip

I noticed when she's really hungry her cry sounds like a baby goat with a "Nyah nyah" sound. Then I read something that said babies have certain sounds to their cries that mean different things, and it said hunger is usually "neh" so I think there's something to it.

link here: https://www.whattoexpect.com/blogs/motherhoodinthemountains/newborn-cries-the-five-cries-you-need-to-know

taysun

I voted yes, but it's more because of the context around the cry. Like others, I know her mad cry which is less crying and more loud yelling and I know her I need something urgent cry and her tired cry. The urgent cry could be hunger or needing to burp etc and really the only way I can figure it out is by know whats been going on all day and trial and error.

amye02

I voted yes,  but like PPs it's more of the difference between fussiness and an urgent need. Jackson's hungry cry sounds like he's saying boob. Fussiness is a a-heh a-heh. 

misamima

Yes. We do the eat/activity/sleep routine so I always know what her cries are based on where we are in the cycle.

groovylocks

Court11152325 said:

I'm voting yes but it's the same as @blended10 I definitely know her "I'm bored" cry, her "I'm in f*cking pain, why didn't you burp me longer" cry, but it can be difficult to tell the difference between hunger and uncomfortableness. 

Yeah this.

misamima said:

Yes. We do the eat/activity/sleep routine so I always know what her cries are based on where we are in the cycle.

And this.

glad I'm not alone. I felt like a bad mum when I couldn't sometime tell. 

Gingermom15

I can usually figure out what he needs shortly after he starts crying. He doesn't fuss much and is generally happy, so he doesn't cry for much other than hunger or discomfort. His hunger cry starts with being fussy and short, quick "huh" noises. Then tongue clicking and fist chewing means get the boob in his mouth or he becomes inconsolable. Gas is an ear-piercing shriek loud enough to wake the dead. 
Lately he's been screaming because he keeps himself awake and gets overtired. Putting him in a dark room with a binky remedies that and it doesn't happen often. He doesn't really cry when he needs changed, just wrinkles up his face and kicks his legs like "get this damn dirty thing off my butt, mom!"

When he is bored or wants our attention he pretty much just yells as loud as possible until we talk to him. 

Knottie65841689

My baby doesnt cry all that much. She makes a heavy breathing for food and attention and a fake cough for only attention. 

MomofEv+1

I voted no because I need context and background for determination. That being said, she cries very little and mostly only if she's starving or over stimulated. She half asses any other cry and really doesn't put her heart into it. Even so, I always assume she's hungry because I'm that mom.

taysun

Knottie65841689 said:

My baby doesnt cry all that much. She makes a heavy breathing for food and attention and a fake cough for only attention. 

We have a fake cough she does when she's mad, it's too funny

groovylocks

Olive chatters happily until her chatter takes on a sudden shadow. And you have about thirty seconds to change up the activity. 

It's almost creepy. She'll be as happy as they get, yelling "la! Ha! Unclesh!" (the gold standard sounds in her speech right now) and then suddenly she'll yell "LA!" a bit louder. Still very happy you understand but just.. louder. And then suddenly you'll hear "Haaa...." and it almost sounds like a little cry. And you are, starting then, on a timer. Remedy the situation. Or be subjected to whining that usually only ends when you feed her. 

She's not a tantrum thrower or purple crier, thankfully. She never really did that - a bit of purple crying around 1 month but only a few days here and there. Nothing regular. But Olive is ASSERTIVE. If she doesn't like something, she simply tells you off. Very loudly, clearly and succinctly. Not complying produces whining. The only time she'll cry (sob with this weird vibratto cry) is if she's really hungry, really tired, something is very uncomfortable. 

Gingermom15

Henry had a cold with a cough a few weeks ago and of course it freaked us out everytime he hacked. So now when we play peek-a-boo if we hold the blanket up long enough he fake coughs then laughs when we look at him. 
Lil faker. 

redfallon

breezypip said:

I noticed when she's really hungry her cry sounds like a baby goat with a "Nyah nyah" sound. Then I read something that said babies have certain sounds to their cries that mean different things, and it said hunger is usually "neh" so I think there's something to it.

link here: https://www.whattoexpect.com/blogs/motherhoodinthemountains/newborn-cries-the-five-cries-you-need-to-know

Dunstan Baby Language. It does work. I used it with my daughter. You still have to pay very close attention, but the "neh" for hungry and a couple other ones really helped me out with her. I haven't done quite as much with DS yet. I looked it up again for him a couple of weeks ago. 

sharonholck28

When she was first born I could tell the difference between hunger and change me. Now she's older I feel like they've become the same cry. She just started doing I don't wanna say a fake cry but it definitely isn't an urgent one and it sounds pitiful like she just wants attention or when she is sometimes really tired but fighting sleep. 

BethP321

So he has a hungry cry.  His diaper cry is basically the same as the hungry cry except he squirms and tries to wriggle out of my arms.  He also has a "sassy" cry, where nothing's really wrong, but it almost sounds like talkative cry.  And his last cry is his "I'm super pissed and I'm going to cry and forget to breathe until I'm blue in the face" cry.  Usually the last one happens when he goes in his car seat or is getting his clothes changed.

teachmegs817

DS's cries come in 3 different forms, currently. 1 is just the mild cry that produces no tears and his face barely turns red.  It's more of his, "I'm slightly annoyed right now, don't piss me off any more" cry, lol.  The 2nd is his cry out when he he's trying to work out gas and/or bowel movement.  He begins to grunt and can let out some high pitched screeches, and usually he's scrunching up his legs and turning pretty red in the face. It may last for a few seconds and then he stops, and sometimes it carries on until we pick him up and soothe him. This cry doesn't always indicate he's hungry or needs a change, but that he's just uncomfortable.  The 3rd one is if you let either of these 1st 2 cries go longer than 1-2 minutes.  He will begin to produce tears and get into hysterics mode.  He will get this way after he wakes up from a nap and you're done changing him, but have to go get the bottle from the warmer and he's expected to wait an additional 2-3 minutes before he can eat.  He acts like you're going to just leave him in the pack and play and forget about him. 

When you take his bottle away from him to burp, he has such an tiny baby yelp that it's almost humorous and cute. It doesn't usually result in us getting a good burp out of him because he's too busy letting you know he wants to keep drinking, but it can be adorable at times. 

Knottie35278873

Yeah I can definitely tell by now. My son is 17 weeks (lurking from N15). His hunger cry is super loud and his face goes blood red and he loses his breath from crying so hard. His tired cry starts off just fussy sounding and gradually gets louder but he doesn't lose his breath or turn red. His scared cry is a high pitch screech and in between each yell he puts his lower lip out. And when he's just kinda fussy, I know he's either bored or over stimulated and usually just walking around with him and looking or going outside will fix that. It took a few weeks to distinguish his cries though. Those first however many weeks, I was a hot mess because he was crying and I didn't know what to do so then I was crying and it was just crazy lol