Since your baby doesn’t yet communicate in the manner you understand, it is important to understand the signs your baby makes in order to properly assess his/her feelings and give him the suitable baby care he/she deserves.
Babies have different ways of letting you know what they want or need. Each has his unique way of acting different from anyone else. It is helpful on your part to look and observe the behavior of your baby to identify cues in order to better understand why he acts in such way. Interacting during certain times and helping them in their sleep cycles are some of the ways you can better comprehend them.
Baby Behavior
Many of the baby’s cues are nonverbal that may lead to crying when not attended to properly. Babies signal approach cues such as looking at your face, smiling, babbling, cooing and reaching out to you whenever they want to play or be with you and withdrawal cues such as crying, turning their heads away, pulling away and frowning are displayed whenever they need some rest.
Feeding Cues
Aside from crying, babies also give other signals whenever they want to be fed. These cues include sucking movements of mouth and tongue, hand to mouth movements and rapid eye movement under the eyelids. Learning these behaviors will work better rather than waiting for specific number of hours before you feed your baby, which sometimes interrupts with their sleeping patterns.
Try not to cover their hands with undershirt cuffs or wrapping them too tight that can prevent them from sucking since this is very comforting for babies and also serves as feeding cue.
Calming Ways
When your baby feels uncomfortable, he tends to be fussy and cry so much. Soothing actions such as letting your baby suck on a pacifier, rocking, walking, or taking your baby for a stroller ride, and talking to them in a soft voice can help them calm down.
From time to time your baby will calm down best without any help just by looking at faces and listening to voices, bringing hands to his mouth, changing his/her laying position, and sucking his fingers, fist or tongue.
Understanding your baby’s actions and behavior is important in ensuring that your baby is comfortable at all times or to determine whether he feels ill and needs some special attention. Baby care need not be complicated; picking up cues will definitely make it easier to respond to your baby’s needs.
