One way babies communicate – it’s nature’s way of making sure infants get their needs met so they can survive. Record your milestones with the nappytimes online baby book. To register follow the link: http://www.nappytimes.com/

1. Baby cries and their meanings...
One way babies communicate – it’s
nature’s way of making sure infants get
their needs met so they can survive

2. Hunger
A soft intermittent cry that
slowly increases in intensity may
signal hunger," says Spangler.
But actually crying from hunger
is a late sign of hunger. Before
she start crying, your baby is
likely to show other signs such
as sucking on her hands,
nuzzling against or rooting on
your breasts, pursing her lips or
sucking, or stretching her body
out. Since your milk supply
changes according to your
baby's needs, responding to her
hunger signals keeps the flow
going.

3. Pain
Spangler reckons that "a loud, sudden,
scream can be a sign of pain." If the cry
comes out of nowhere, startles you with
suddenness and intensity, and makes the
hackles on the back of your neck stand
up, it's probably a pain cry. Identifying
the source of the pain is often not easy,
but just changing baby's position
generally helps. Watch out for phantom
hairs that wind themselves around
tender, tiny fingers and toes, and for
clothing/tags that pinch baby's body or
irritate is skin.

4. Exhaustion
Tired cries often sound cranky and
complaining at first and build in
intensity. Watch to cries. When infants
are really small, they often only go a few
hours before needing to sleep again, so
new moms may get out for dead-
giveaway early cues like eye-rubbing or
a glassy-eyed stare and things may not
even progress to know the tired cry
awfully well.

5. Sickness
Just as illnesses can be mild or severe, so the "I'm sick!" cry can range
from the sudden-and-severe pain wail to the complaining "wahhh
wahhh" of a tired child. You'll know your baby is crying due to
sickness if he has a rash, a fever, or other visible signs. But watch for
body language too: A baby who tugs on her ear may have an earache;
any other part of the body he flails or grabs at may be pained.

6. Dirty diaper
Many, many infants have no problem lying around in a wet or full diaper.
Some rather enjoy squishing around, while others (particularly those in disposable
diapers with wicking properties) barely notice, and allow their moms to delay
changing baby until things start sagging. Not that I'd know anything about that. No,
no. Surely not. In any case, if you have a baby who does mind, he'll either complain
mildly or scream sharply. The last may be an indication that his skin is irritated.

7. Constipation
Not to put too fine a point on it, if your baby grunts and struggles, pulling
his legs up to his chest, while he cries with a wail varying in intensity from
complaint to pain, it may be constipation. I knew a grandma who used to
cure baby stop-ups by looking into baby's eyes, grunting and making effort
faces.

8. Teething
I keep saying this over and over again, but teething cries vary in intensity.
If baby is merely uncomfortable, he will cry a softer, whinier cry; if he's in
terrible pain, he'll scream. The physical cues that accompany this cry are
chewing on things (duh), drooling, a lot of hand-waving and grabbing near
the mouth, and tugging on ears. Yes, tugging on the ears can also indicate
an earache. No, you may not be able to tell the difference. Welcome to
parenthood, where you realize how much your own parents winged it.

9. The Chilly feeling
I'm cold! Hey, guess what? Temperature-complaint cries can vary in intensity, according to how
uncomfortable your child is. Did you guess? Babies are more likely to cry when they're cold
than when they're warm, though, so if you just whipped off your baby's clothes to change her
diaper, or took her out of the warm bath to put on cold pajamas, hey, baby might be cold. The
golden rule when it comes to baby's clothing is to dress her like you dress yourself, tending
towards more layers rather than less. Know your baby, though. Some are hot, some are cold;
you'll know by touching his or her skin and getting familiar with her patterns.

10. Colic
You will know it's colic if the cry never ends.
Many new parents think this describes their
baby, but experts define colic in threes: three or
more hours in a row of crying at least three days
a week for at least three weeks running. Even
though baby's cries fray nerves to the point
when you may feel like the crying never ends,
only about 20 percent of babies actually have
colic. If it is colic, however, you may notice that
the worst episodes occur in the late afternoon or
evening ("the witching hour"), and that his belly
looks puffy or that he farts a lot as he cries. Not
that it helps. What does: Time. A colicky baby
nearly always outgrows the problem sometime
between 3 and 5 months. Get a good pair of
headphones, hunker down, and soldier through
it.

11. Where’s my Mumma???
Where's mumma? Generally not as
sharp as pain cries, this cry can have a
questioning tone. What? Where? It may
also sound like a complaining blast:
"Hey, you!" Or it can sound more
intense, if baby is frightened: "Mama,
come here right now! I need you" If you
have a child going through separation
anxiety, or a baby who just wants
companionship more, you may swiftly
grow to know this cry, particularly if he
makes it every time you wander away
from his eyesight.