Yesterday, I was on the metro going home.  In the next aisle sat a family of four:  a couple and their two children. The mom sat with a 6-month-old baby girl that she had strapped to her trunk.  The little girl seemed demanding and kept screaming and crying.  The mom did not show any effort in comforting her.  

When the metro stopped for the first time, the little girl’s head jerked.  The girl frantically got louder and asked for her mom’s help.  The mom snickered and said: “Now you won’t do that again.”  At each stop, the girl screamed for help and no one would pay her any attention.  Finally, the dad asked the mom to hold her head when the train stopped.

The mom was annoyed by her husband and her child.  She grudgingly placed her hand on the girl’s crown so the head would not jolt when the train stopped.

As irritating as it is, babies' cries are their way of communicating with their parents or caregivers.  They usually cry if they are hungry, thirsty, sleepy, over stimulated, or need to be changed.  The caring adult must realize that a baby can only communicate by crying.  A baby cannot process the fact that the metro will jerk every time it stops.  A young child cannot support his head on its own because they do not have a fully developed spine. Mothers need to realize that a child so young has not developed reasoning.

Parents as caregivers need to be diligent in trying to understand and provide the comfort and reassurance that every child needs.