As your baby grows, you get used to the baby’s needs and attend to them unheedingly. When your baby reaches sixth month, he/she is on the way in mastering his social, linguistic, cognitive, and motor skills. It is this stage that he/she starts observing people and things. He/she recognizes his family and reacts to different emotions. A baby also develops emotions within himself/herself like fear and anxiety. This is the time when most of his skills are growing in leaps and bounds.
From six to twelve months, babies try to grab attention by crying. There can be other reasons as well which makes us anxious to know the real cause. Listed below are some of the reasons why your baby might be crying. Dealing with this cause can eliminate tension and help in baby’s positive growth.
1. Teething pain
Babies begin teething between fourth and seventh month. The push of a new tooth brings pain to the little one and makes him cry. During this time, ensure to check if he has a fever or a diarrhea. You can provide him something to chew on to taper off his pain. Avoid giving him hard objects which can irritate him/her further and can worsen his/her pain. Rubbing the gums with your clean finger can also ease his pain. There are topical gels that can be applied to provide relief. However, you should always check with your pediatrician before deciding on any medicine or gel.
2. External stimulation
Babies need stimulation to learn and explore. If they do not get, they start crying. Introduce your baby to the nature and things outside as well as inside. However, too much or too little of stimulation can either tire or bore your little one resulting in crying. For a tired baby, try to swaddle or soothe him with soft music. You can also read a book to calm him down. This can make the baby excited and stop his crying. Engage your baby by taking him to a playground, talking to him, or dancing in front of him to make him happy.
3. Separation anxiety
If your little one cries when you leave the room, he/she is suffering from separation anxiety. You baby fears of a separation from you. Make your baby understand that you will be back by repeating the pattern. You can play games such as hide and seek to show that you are always around him/her and make him/her realize that you will always be back.
4. Sleepless nights
Sometimes babies cry of they have a disturbed sleep at night. Set up a predictable bed routine for your baby to sleep well. Bed routine is a set of activities which occur at the same time every night. This will help the child to sleep naturally. Routine includes soothing activities such as a warm bath, reading a story, listening to soft lullabies, cuddling with you or a toy before he/she finally goes to sleep. Making him learn to self soothe himself will help him to sleep longer and will put him back to sleep whenever he/she wakes up in the night.
5. Difficulty in communicating
Babies too do get frustrated when they are not able to communicate to their parents or caretakers. This frustration makes them cry. One way of great communication between parents and their baby can evolve through the usage of signs. It helps babies who cannot talk to communicate their needs in a non-verbal way. Babies can learn hand signs around seven months. Since hand and eye co-ordination is developing at an amazing rate at this age, they can quickly learn to communicate some of their basic needs such as hug, eat, sleep, play etc. You can thus save a bit of frustration and irritation by teaching and understanding their signs.
6. Illness
Fever, infection, or pain can make even a well fed bay cry. If you are unable to soothe your baby through your normal ways, check your baby’s temperature. If it is abnormal, schedule a visit to your pediatrician for guidance and help.
7. Loneliness
If your baby feels lonely, he/she may resent this with crying since he/she needs your attention. He/she needs reassurance with lots of hugs, kisses, and love. Each child is different and parents are the only one to judge their child and know the reason of cry. Ensure to give lot of love and attention to your baby while he is growing.
