Why Is My Newborn Crying?

A Little Rei plush pillow with its removable case

Crying is a newborn's only signal, and it is deliberately hard to ignore. Most of the time there is a reason, and it is one of about eight. Some of the time there is no identifiable reason at all, which is not a failure of parenting or of observation — it is a documented feature of the first months, and knowing that in advance is genuinely protective.

The order to check

Hunger. Most common by a distance in the early weeks. Rooting, hands to mouth and stirring all come before crying, which is a late signal.
Nappy. Not every baby minds, but some mind a great deal.
Temperature. Feel the chest or the back of the neck, never the hands. Too warm is the more common error and the more dangerous one.
Wind, or needing to be upright. Hold them against your shoulder for a few minutes before concluding anything.
Tiredness. An overtired newborn cries harder and settles worse. Awake windows in the first six weeks are only about 45 to 60 minutes.
Overstimulation. Too much light, noise, handling or company. The answer is fewer inputs, not another technique.
Wanting contact. Being held is a need at this age rather than a preference, and it is not a habit you can create too early.
Pain or illness — the smallest category, and the one the last section of this post is about.

The causes people forget

A hair tourniquet. A strand of hair wrapped tightly around a toe, finger or, in boys, the penis. It is a classic cause of sustained inconsolable crying and is invisible unless you look. Check the digits of a baby crying with no explanation — this is worth doing before anything else on this list.
A scratched cornea, often from their own nails. Suspect it if they are crying with one eye closed or watering.
Clothing: a tag, a seam, a thread wound round a toe inside a sleepsuit.
A limb caught awkwardly, or an arm trapped in a sleeve.
Constipation, particularly in formula-fed babies.
Something the feeding parent has eaten, in a small number of babies. Worth investigating properly rather than eliminating foods speculatively.

The crying curve

Crying in the first months follows a shape that is remarkably consistent across cultures and feeding methods. It increases from around two weeks, peaks somewhere around six to eight weeks, and declines from about three to four months. At the peak, two to three hours of crying across a day is within the normal range.

Two things follow from that. A baby who cries more at six weeks than at two is not deteriorating — they are exactly on the curve. And the hardest fortnight is a stage with a known end, which is worth holding on to at four in the morning.

Colic, defined properly

Colic is a description rather than a diagnosis: crying for more than three hours a day, more than three days a week, for more than three weeks, in a baby who is otherwise well and growing. It affects roughly one in five babies, has no established single cause, and resolves on its own by around three to four months.

What is worth knowing is what does not help. Most over-the-counter colic remedies have weak or no evidence behind them. Some probiotics show modest benefit in breastfed babies and are worth discussing with a doctor. Eliminating foods from a breastfeeding parent's diet should be done with proper guidance rather than speculatively, because unnecessary restriction is its own problem.

What actually soothes

Skin-to-skin contact. The most reliable single intervention, and it does more than settling — it regulates temperature and supports feeding.
Movement, slow and rhythmic rather than fast and vigorous. Walking, rocking, a pram over uneven ground.
Steady low sound. The household hum they were used to before birth, not silence and not loud.
Sucking, at the breast or on a dummy once feeding is established.
Swaddling, for babies who take to it, with the arms in and the hips loose.
A change of scene. Stepping outside genuinely resets a lot of evening crying.
Fewer inputs. Dim the room, stop talking, stop bouncing. An overstimulated baby needs less, not more.

Never shake a baby

This needs stating plainly rather than implying. Shaking a baby causes serious and often permanent brain injury, and the situation it happens in is almost always the same: an ordinary parent at the end of an extraordinarily long stretch of crying.

So decide the response now, before you need it. If the crying has pushed you past what you can hold, put the baby down somewhere safe — a cot, on their back — leave the room, and take a few minutes. A baby crying alone in a cot for five minutes is safe. Walking away is the correct action, not a failure of one. Tell anyone else who cares for your baby the same thing, and mean it.

When crying is a medical signal

Get medical help urgently if the crying comes with any of these.

A temperature of 38°C or above in a baby under three months.
A cry that is high-pitched, weak, continuous or unlike their usual one.
Floppiness, unusual drowsiness, or being difficult to wake.
Difficulty breathing, grunting, or pauses in breathing.
A rash that does not fade when pressed with the side of a glass.
A bulging or sunken soft spot on the head.
Green or bile-stained vomit, blood in the stool, or a swollen hard tummy.
Inconsolable crying in episodes with the legs drawn up, particularly with vomiting — this pattern needs immediate assessment.
Refusing feeds, or no wet nappy for 12 hours.
Any sense that this is not your baby's normal cry. Parental concern is treated as a warning sign in clinical guidance for good reason.

Questions parents ask

How much crying is normal for a newborn?

Crying rises from about two weeks, peaks around six to eight weeks, and eases from three to four months. At the peak, two to three hours across a day is within the normal range. A baby crying more at six weeks than at two is following the curve rather than deteriorating.

Why is my baby crying for no reason?

There is usually a reason and it is one of about eight — hunger, nappy, temperature, wind, tiredness, overstimulation, wanting contact, or pain. Check the overlooked ones too, particularly a hair wrapped tightly round a toe or finger. Some crying in the first months has no identifiable cause at all, which is documented and normal.

What is colic?

A description rather than a diagnosis: crying for more than three hours a day, more than three days a week, for more than three weeks, in a baby who is otherwise well and growing. It affects around one in five babies and resolves on its own by three to four months.

What should I do if I cannot cope with the crying?

Put the baby down somewhere safe on their back, leave the room, and take a few minutes. A baby crying alone in a cot briefly is safe. Never shake a baby — it causes serious brain injury, and it happens to ordinary parents at the end of very long stretches of crying.

Sources

This guide is general information, written to help you understand a topic and ask better questions — it is not medical advice and does not replace your own doctor, midwife or paediatrician. Anything that worries you about your baby belongs with them.

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