Babies Cry...

A lot.  Some do it more than others, but all of them will cry at some point during the day.  Since crying is their only method of communication for the first year-ish, we have to learn to interpret it.  Kieran, my 10 month old, cries when he's hungry, sleepy, wet or poopy.  He also cries if his brother is playing with something he can't have.  He cries when I won't give him my mug of hot coffee or when I won't put him down to crawl on dirty concrete.  He cries if he's left alone.  He cries if I'm holding him when he would rather be playing or eating my shoe.  

I used to find all of this crying distressing.  Sometimes it still gets on my nerves, but I no longer think I have to do something about it every single time.  If he's not hurt, hungry or in need of a diaper change, it's okay for me to let him fuss for a bit.  In fact, it's more than okay.  It's actually a good thing to do.  If I don't allow him to experience any negative feelings, he will never learn to cope with them on his own.

Here's the deal.  I'm not suggesting we ignore our babies.  Far from it.  As a full-time mom, both of my children get most of my attention for most of the day.  However, I do have to go to the bathroom, clean up the house, do laundry and prepare meals.  It's really important for them to learn to entertain themselves and comfort themselves.  I just put Kieran down in his play yard a few minutes ago.  He had just finished a bottle and been changed.  He yelled and carried on for about two minutes while I went to the bathroom and cleaned up the breakfast dishes.  After about four minutes, he was playing happily.

If I had picked him up as soon as he started crying, I would be reinforcing the idea that mommy is the only one who can make him feel better, rather than teaching him that HE can make himself feel better.  He's so happy right now that I've been able to write this entire post while he plays with his toys.  I feel better and so does he.  Yes!