If you still aren't sure if your baby is overtired, you can listen out for an overtiredness cry - this sounds high-pitched and nasal, and usually increases in intensity over time, especially if they're only getting more and more tired!
Cries from Boredom or Overstimulation
Sounds Like: Usually not as loud as other cries, and often staccato. Boredom can easily transition to laughter; overstimulation can escalate to shrieking. Other clues: An overstimulated baby might turn their head away from you or other stimuli. They may also bat angrily at objects.
Owh – sleepiness
Newborn babies make the sound reflex “owh” when they are feeling tired. This sound is created as the baby yawns and exhales. “Owh” can be heard before the baby cries and during newborn crying. Babies making this sound have an oval shaped mouth, flattened tongue and spacious room inside the mouth.
Cries of pain or discomfort begin as a high-pitched, intense wail, followed by very loud crying. They can be the most difficult kind of crying to witness. You may notice a change in your baby's behavior, movements, or expression, and they may grunt or hold their breath.
Babies cry when they're tired, hungry, uncomfortable, sick, in pain or just wanting a cuddle. If it's hard to work out what baby needs when they cry, start by checking that baby isn't sick or hurt.
Fussiness may turn into uncontrollable crying and being inconsolable. Short Naps or Refusing Naps When your baby's body becomes overtired, their cortisone levels rise in a fight or flight response. It's their body's way of trying to support the extra movement and brain activity needed to stay awake.
Whilst older children can handle the odd late night, young babies are not able to cope with too much wakefulness between naps or at bedtime - and cannot communicate these feelings so they cry inconsolably.
For infants, crying is the sole form of communication and there are three distinct types: A “basic cry” is a rhythmic pattern consisting of a cry followed by silence; an “anger cry” is similar to a basic cry but with more volume due to the release of excessive air through the infant's vocal chords; and a “pain cry” is ...
High-pitched (hyperphonated) cry sounds are characteristic of infants who suffer from a wide range of neurobehavioural insults,1,2 including brain damage,3,4 malnutrition,5 asphyxia6,7 and maternal use during pregnancy of drugs ranging from heroin,8 methadone9 and cocaine10 to marijuana, cigarettes and alcohol.
a feeling of extreme worry, sadness, ... See more at distress. (Definition of cry and distress from the Cambridge English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)
While there are many reasons babies cry, baby cries can usually be grouped into one of five major categories: hunger, fussiness/discomfort, pain, colic, and illness. Each of these types of baby cries has a different sound and meaning, and calls for a specific response.
patting or gently stroking your baby until they're drowsy but not asleep. If your baby falls asleep with parent-independent sleep cues and wakes between sleep cycles, they will see that everything is in its usual place (darkened room, quiet, still swaddled) and are likely to fall back to sleep without calling out.
An important part of the task was to find the main groups of cries that are meaningful in the baby's utterances. Four types were observed in the study: hunger, pain, illness and alarm cries. By spectrographic analysis various features of each type were distinguished.
A baby with neurological impairment may have a fussy cry that sounds like a shrill pain cry in a typical newborn, because all her cries may be higher-pitched and more shrill than those of a typical infant.
A high-pitched, piercing cry is a shriek. A common response to finding a snake curled in the silverware drawer would be to shriek. You can shriek in fear, surprise, or even shriek with laughter. If the sound you make is high, sharp, and loud, it's a shriek.
Colicky crying is louder, more high-pitched, and more urgent sounding than regular crying. Colicky babies can be very hard to calm down. Babies who have colic may show symptoms such as: Burping often or passing a lot of gas.
All newborns cry and get fussy sometimes. It's normal for a baby to cry for 2–3 hours a day for the first 6 weeks. During the first 3 months of life, they cry more than at any other time.
Tears act as a physical indicator of our inner emotional state, occurring when we feel intense sadness or intense joy. Inside our brains, strong emotions activate the central autonomic network.
The Period of PURPLE Crying® is the phrase used to describe the time in a baby's life when they cry more than any other time.
Try the “three-Bs” method to soothe your overtired baby. Start by giving your baby a quiet, warm bath. The warm water and gentle massage in the tub will soothe muscles that have tensed by fussing. Generally this will start to calm your baby's crying and prepare her for sleep.
Babies cry a lot in their first 3 months. On average, babies cry and fuss for almost 2 hours a day, and around 1 in 10 babies cry for a lot longer than this. Crying usually reaches a peak at about 6 weeks of age and then gradually lessens to approximately an hour a day by 12 weeks of age.