Why do you think babies cry before they go to sleep?

bobbydsgirl

With all my "cry" related posts lately, you may think I am doing CIO -- I am not.

Anyway, Jack cries often before he goes to sleep ... sometimes only for a few seconds, sometimes for several minutes or more. He does it when I am holding him. He does it when he is swaddled (which is most of the time before he goes to sleep. And he does it when he is not swaddled. Does it with the bink and without. He does it if I catch him right when he starts to show signs of being tired, or even just before he's showing signs. I have figured out how to get him to stop fairly quickly ... but I haven't figured out how to stop it ... and, it is stressful.

Does anyone's baby do this? Why do you think they do?

trs1978

Great question!! DD does it every time, before naps, before bedtime-I don't get it either. I have a smile on my face when my head hits the pillow!!

cranguard

I think they don't know what to do.  DD seems to get so sleepy sometimes that she doesn't know that if she'd just fall asleep she'd feel better.  But I'm no expert!

meg1974

DD cries when we are trying to put her to sleep. I figure it's b/c she doesn't want to go to sleep. She doesn't cry when she wakes up after being asleep. She just lays there and talks and plays.

The gloworm stops her from crying, but it doesn't help her go to sleep. I use it to calm her down for a few minutes when she gets all worked up. Or sometimes I'll get up and walk around and she'll stop (probably b/c she thinks I'm not going to try to get her to sleep anymore).

krstokes

Could be that LO is learning to self-soothe.

Also, some babies tend to cry before bed to let out any leftover energy from the day. According to my pedi anyway!

MrsV092207

My non-expert theory is that when they are newborns/infants they are still learning to self-soothe and can be overtired before falling asleep.. and then as they get older they still cry bc they then understand that it's bedtime and don't want to go down.

bobbydsgirl

krstokes:

Could be that LO is learning to self-soothe.

 

So, do you think crying soothes them, like it soothes us sometimes? It's nice to think, but he doesn't usually sound all that soothed when he's doing it.

bim38106

krstokes:

...

Also, some babies tend to cry before bed to let out any leftover energy from the day. According to my pedi anyway!

I've read this too.

And that they'll cry when they're trying to shut everything out TO fall asleep. A day is such a long time for a baby and there's so much going on and so much to learn and do. It can be overwhelming for them and depending on their temperament, they sometimes just need to let it out before they can settle. So I've read..

krstokes

bobbydsgirl:

krstokes:

Could be that LO is learning to self-soothe.

 

So, do you think crying soothes them, like it soothes us sometimes? It's nice to think, but he doesn't usually sound all that soothed when he's doing it.

Honestly, I have no idea LOL. I think that crying is one of the few ways that they can express emotion at that point in life, KWIM. 

I hope LO goes to sleep better for you. Crying is painful to hear, especially when you know all their needs have been met.