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Why Baby Cries More for Mum

Worried that your baby seems to immediately cry when you enter the room or cry harder when you pick them up?

Do not take it as an insult or a sign that you’re doing anything wrong. The fact is babies cry more for their mother because you are doing everything absolutely right.

Why babies cry more for mum
Babies crying for seemingly no reason is stressful for parents

Crying is a stressful noise and it can really take its toll. Most newborn babies will cry with growing intensity and frequency over their first 12 weeks. This will then gradually improve.

Why are they crying? Good question. It can be any number of things. Food, warmth, comfort.

But why do they cry even more when mummy is in the room or holding them?

Reasons why baby cries more around mum

You are the nurturer

Kids just expect more from their mother. You are their number one nurturer, feeder, comforter and carer.

Dads might be doing 50 per cent or more of the parenting, it doesn’t matter. This is a biological instinct that babies crave their mother’s attention.

When they see you, they expect you to immediately pay attention to them. Even if you’re holding them and trying to comfort them, they may still cry. They feel able to continue demanding more comfort, more food because mum will continue to dish it out.

You are the safe place

It’s like a survival mechanism for babies to want to be close to their mum. They are born with the biological instinct to cling to you, their mother, because you are the one who keeps them fed and safe.

Ever heard of the “moro reflex”? It’s where newborns throw their limbs out then pull them back to their body if they feel as if they are falling. This reflex is believed to be the baby’s natural instinct to reach out and cling to their parent.

That’s not to say daddy isn’t a good alternative, it’s just a natural instinct that babies automatically want to stay close to their mother as a way to survive. Even though we have formula these days, babies still see mum as their one and only food supply.

So what does that mean? They cry when they see mummy and she isn’t holding them.

You respond to their cries quicker

Yes dads care too, but generally mums will leap to their feet and get to their baby’s side at the first grunt of discontent. Babies pick up on this and so learn that if they want mummy, all they need to do is turn on the waterworks.

Plus do not forget that you are likely to just be around your baby more in the early months, especially if you are nursing and/or off work for maternity leave. It may seem the baby cries more around you, but that’s really just because you are with the baby more than anyone else!

You have the good stuff

If you’re breastfeeding then baby will naturally see you as a walking milk carton. Once they see it, they want it.

Babies also have a really good sense of smell despite being so tiny and they just need to get a whiff of milk and their tummies decide its time for a snack.

If you’re holding them, and not feeding them, a newborn will often want to be nursing, even if they have just fed. Suckling is a comfort to them and it helps build up your milk supply.

They don’t want you to have another baby (really!)

Scientists at Harvard University carried out a study that concluded that babies are irrationally fussy in the first 12 months in part to keep mum and dad apart.

It’s a natural contraception that ensures the growing infant gets mamas undivided attention, and no siblings are introduced to divert that away.

Sounds a bit far-fetched? Maybe. But you can be sure that your baby demands your full attention because they love being near you, and you provide for them.

The unintentional result of that is that baby-making becomes pretty tricky when you already have one around the house!

So, what can mamas do in the face of all that crying?

The crying is so hard to deal with, but it does at least reduce in its intensity and frequency as your baby gets older.

There are various things you can try to soothe a crying baby, but many will be fussy, especially in the evenings, until they naturally grow out of it.

Unfortunately much of this natural instinct to be more difficult around mum continues into toddler years and beyond. Sorry mums, it’s your lot in life to be in demand.

Why babies cry more for mum | parenting | newborn baby | mom

Vicky Smith is a mother of two daughters and a journalist. She has been writing and vlogging about parenting for over five years.