The Top 7 Reasons Why Kids Cry and How to Respond
Crying is the expression of children whenever they have something unexplainable, they start crying. But a parent, especially new parents get confused that why their child is crying and how to stop them from crying. For that, you have the basic knowledge and understanding of the reason behind their behavior of crying.
This would be the first step towards the connection between you and your child. When you get to know that, why your child is crying and how to handle the situation you would automatically empathize with your child’s emotions.,
Your child feels safe and secure from an early age which may help you when they grow into a young age child. Because your child knew already that you are a safe and comfortable space for them, they will open up their emotions easily, which is a very important aspect of parenting.
These simple steps also help your child in their emotional regulation.
7 Reasons Why Kids Cry
1) Being Overtired
Children are energetic but don’t realize that they often feel exhausted. They do not have a sense of tiredness but still, their body is tired. And as their mind is sending them the message of exhaustion, they started to cry.
That tiredness makes them feel overwhelmed. Their brain signals them to rest but they cannot recognize it at that time and started to cry.
Hence, they do not want to relax and still want to play and stay energetic.
How to Handle –
If you tell them to relax, they would not because they still want to play and don’t recognize their tiredness.
At that time give them some activities that need less energy. If it’s their sleep time, tell them stories or lullabies that allow them to relax, calm, and give them space to still have fun time.
You can also give them some puzzle pieces, jig-shaw, or other interesting games. A picture book or music is also a good choice for your child.
Choose according to your child’s age, interest, and development.
2) Hunger
Hunger is the second most reason for crying. Hunger can make them crazy as their body needs fuel to run. So, it signals the brain to get food, as little children are mostly not able to address their problems, even 5 or 7 years old also don’t recognize the need for food and started crying.
This is normal for them as they are still experiencing and coping with these all. Eventually, they will learn about it.
How to handle –
Try to maintain their meal time. Give them a small portion of healthy snacks throughout the day. So, their energy level would be maintained and they do not get cranky.
When you see that your child has a full tummy, they feel energetic and less cranky, they’ll cry less and play more.
3) Overwhelming
Children face lots of things and so on they feel lots of emotions which makes them overwhelmed. As we already know that they don’t have the right words to explain all those emotions.
Even they cannot recognize or regulate all those emotions and feel overwhelmed.
And just because their mind started to overstimulate, they started to cry, as crying drain out all the stimulation.
It is the auto-defense system of our brain where crying release some hormone that can relax our mind and body.
This is normal for kids as they are still learning to regulate their emotions. They just need your support and empathy.
How to handle-
First of all, you need to be calm whenever you find that your child is crying due to being overwhelmed.
If you get irritated or angry, that will never help your child to understand their emotions, and then they will start to suppress their emotions.
Be calm and let them cry for a moment so their mind can relax. Don’t tell them to stop crying, validate their emotions and give them gentle touch and hug.
It seems a little hard but trust me after some time they will learn about their emotions and will reduce crying. This is just a phase that will pass.
4) Discomfort (Diaper, Clothing, etc.)
Clothing and accessories can also be the reason behind a child’s crying. We, parents, want our children to be fashionable and photo ready.
The insanity of showing the perfect child in the form of fancy clothing and accessories many times makes our children uncomfortable and they started crying.
Itchy diapers can also be the reason for their tantrum and crankiness.
How to handle-
Always try to buy comfortable clothes for your child. Make sure that the fabric is made up of cotton. As Polyester and synthetic clothes can cause skin irritation and allergy.
Cotton fabric is skin-friendly and airy so children feel comfortable all day.
Use a diaper that suits your child’s skin. There are varieties of products out in the market that you can choose from.
Many reusable diapers are skin-friendly and made of natural fabric. It is a good choice if you do not want to buy use-and-throw diapers.
Just remember, use those products in which your child feels comfortable as the discomfort makes your child irritable, so, they may start crying.
5) They get hurt
Yeah… It’s true. Kids also have feelings of hurtfulness, both physical and emotional.
If they are playing and something get hurt physically and may start to cry.
They may also get hurt emotionally. They have started to use their cognitive mind and can sense others’ behavior.
If someone makes them scared or they do not get proper attention, especially from family members who are close to them, they feel hurt.
How to Help-
Make it a practice of maintaining a connection with the child. Always talk with them at their level of height, it makes them more attentive and creates eye contact. They also feeling of equality by doing this.
Never forget to cuddle and pamper them after having a busy day. They need your attention and time to feel safe and loved.
6) Difficulty in Expressing Emotions
Children often cry as they don’t know how to express their emotions. That’s why naming different emotions in front of them is important to make them understand it.
Their inability to express their emotions is because they get confused with all those emotions and don’t know how to handle them.
It is our responsibility to make them aware of those emotions.
How to Help-
As we already discuss that children are unable to understand their emotions and expressing those emotions seems like so difficult for them.
First of all, let them relax and release their restlessness. Hug them, some pampering. Remember to not force them to stop crying as this may make them suppress their emotions.
Show empathy to them and try to understand what makes them so uncomfortable. Once you cope with an understanding of their emotions, ask them some open-ended questions to let them understand their feelings and name those emotions.
You have to show understanding as children are helpless at that moment and if you get angry at that time, they never learn the understanding of emotions and to regulate them.
7) Scared
Children at a very young age do have not many experiences of the world and so, many things can scare them as it seems not to. But the child can not recognize the difference between harmful and harmless things.
Many things can make them scared as it is new to them.
Even many children don’t get comfortable with people other than their family members because they are strangers.
They may get scared of new places too. And that is normal, as the child grows, they become used to these all kinds of stranger things.
How to handle-
As of now, the child is getting scared, the first thing is to make them safe and comfortable. Hug them, overlapping with your arms, and give them warmth.
Give them time to get normal, and if necessary, take them away from the situation where they get scared.
Remember that it is normal to get scared of strangers and new places or loud music.
In a Nutshell
If you find that child is crying continuously and do not stop after a lot of effort or if you find that they have any kind of medical concern then immediately show to an expert (pediatrician)
Children crying at a very young age is normal as it is their way of expressing themselves. To guide them throughout their childhood to understand all their emotions and to regulate them, need lots of patience and effort.
So, asking for help is a very positive approach toward positive and conscious parenting.
There are many support groups online and offline which may help you.
Parenting is a very beautiful journey. Many times, it indeed feels chaotic and overwhelming but the memories we gathered on this journey are precious.
If you found this article helpful, please share it with other parents who need it the most.
We like to have words from you. Your thoughts and questions are welcome.
Please share it in the comment section.
Thank you for your support.
You might also like to read