How Much Crying is "Normal?"

With my firstborn, I had no idea that his constant crying and spitting up might not be normal. I didn't know how much a baby was supposed to cry, and assumed that they spit up. Isn't that why you buy so many burp cloths? So with nothing to compare it to, how do you know if your baby is crying more than average, or spitting up more than he should?

It's really easy to tell someone to use their common sense. But when you are sleep deprived and growing increasingly frustrated with your newborn's middle of the night antics, you really can't think clearly. To this day, those first few weeks are a blur. The best thing I can say about the crying and spitting up is that if you find yourself frustrated, the amount you are dealing with probably isn't normal.

Spitting up:
1. If your baby seems to spit up more than what's going down...NOT normal.
2. If you have to change your baby's clothes after every feeding...NOT normal.
3. If you are afraid to lay your baby down to change after a feeding because you KNOW it's all coming back up...NOT normal.

Crying:
1. If you are finding yourself frustrated at the end of every day because of your baby constantly crying...NOT normal (while your feelings are normal, the crying is not!)
2. If your baby seems to be crying more than sleeping...NOT normal.
3. If you or another caretaker are unable to console your baby at all...NOT normal.

There are so many things that can make your baby cry. Five years after my son was born, I still don't know exactly what was wrong with him. He was a classic "high needs" baby. But he also spit up A LOT. I mean, it was BAD. He also got his first tooth at 3 months. So between his sensitive nature, the possible reflux, and the likely teething pain (which I was clueless about because I certainly wasn't expecting a tooth to come in at 3 months!), you can imagine what a mess we were dealing with!

But how do you know what YOU are dealing with? Some babies spit up a lot, but they might not have infant reflux. And whether or not it's diagnosed, you probably still want to know the best way to deal with it, right?! Here is a great source for you: http://www.eves-best.com/LivingwithInfantAcidReflux.pdf

I didn't realize that my son might not be normal until my daughter came along. She was the complete opposite. (And yes, she is making up for it now...) I feel horrible for not knowing that something could be wrong with him. We did survive it, but it sure was hard. I hope he wasn't in too much pain, if he did have reflux. We did end up giving up breastfeeding which I'll write about another day.