The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-12-25
Finding Reason For Baby's
 Crying

By s. Josephine Baker, M. D., Dr. F. H. T HAVE already talked to you about
 the unnecessary cries that babies
 indulge in,1the habit of crying, and tho crying due to temper and anger. There ia also the normal amount of crying that every baby should do in or der to expand and develop the lungs.
 Rut sometimes when a baby cries 1t means that something is actually and perhaps seriously wrong. A baby's cry may be a danger signal, and be- cause this is so, we ought to be able to recognize the kind of crying that in' dicates pain or illness.
 The three types of crying that l want to call your attention to are: the cry of hunger or indigestion;. lZl the cry of pain, and (3) the cry of definite illness. These differ so definitely that there should be little difficulty for the observant mother in determining the meaning and character of each one.
 The cry of hunger and the cry of indigestion: These two must be con sidered together for they are quite sim liar. but theresar usually other signa nresent that enables us to distlngulsh hetween them. The cry of hunger IS fretfrl. continuous cry. It is often . whimper instead of a real cry. It IA never very loud and in no way resem' blea the angry, lusty cry of temper. ine hunger cry will stop as soon as tne baby is fed but this is not the rignt thing to do. If the baby is hungry pc fore his regular feeding time it usually means this his food is too weak to sat. isfv his appetite. In this case tns strength of the food should be increaseo bmt inc hours of feeding should not DC changed.
 The cry of indigestion, or eonc' re. . sembles the hunger cry, Du1 thel e usually other symptoms or ulsconio, ahdo V There may be hard and tense abdo- man due to gas in the stomach and ln- tastines. and often there is vomiting. Gentle rubbing of the abdomen or warm annlications placed over it; holding the hahv against the mothers shoulder or face downward across her lap, mean while hubbing his back or giving dose of sodium .bicarbonate (baking soda? one-ouarter of a teaspoonful Of as solved in a tablespoonful of hot water will usually relieve these symptoms. /.
 The cry of pain.-This is sharp ana strong and comes in sudden outbursts' The baby losses about on the bed, draws m his legs and his face is contracted and shows marked symptoms Of distress. As severe pain of this kind is generally an indication of illness and always shows that something is definitely wrong. medical care should be. obtained as soon as possible.
 The cry of illness.-Instead Of the sharn cry of pain, there may be the long continuous, whining or moaning that often accompanies illness. When tthis occurs, it is sign that the baby is losing strength because of some un. dermining disease. Babies with low vitality, those who are undernourished or who are suffering from some chronic disease will keep. up this fretful ana pathetic little cry almost continuously. These babies are apt to resent being disturbed and do mot seem to have strength enough to- toss about or even move. A fretful, moaning and whining baby is a sick baby and needs the best medical attention that can be given to him.
 If the types of crying that l have mentioned persist for any length of time, it is not advisable to rely on home treat ment, for the causes are not easy to discover but whatever they are, they must be sought out by { trained ot- serber and the right medical care given at once.