Checklist with a Tired Parent: Why is my Crawler Crying?

More Mojo was upset.  At 11 months old he was crying, yelling and becoming the red faced, high pitched noise machine that makes people who don’t already have children take an oath of celibacy. When your crawler is in the thick of a tantrum it’s tempting to get frustrated.  When that happened to us we did get frustrated, but also ran through our toddler Q & A checklist.

Are t hey sleepy?

When is the last time they napped?  Having your crawler on a consistent nap schedule will help prevent meltdowns.  Our crawler always has a nap around 1:00 and stays in their crib until 2:45ish.  Occasionally they’ll nap in the morning, but that’s when they’re sick or simply catch a few ZZZ’s in the car.

How’s that diaper?

A dirty diaper can make even the happiest crawler cranky.  Even if you just changed them give that diaper a quick smell test to see if that’s the cause of the crying.

Is it the situation?

Granted Jersey Shore can make us all cry at the decline of civilization, but in this case we mean your surroundings.  Are you in a noisy, bright or different situation?  If so, then your crawler may be letting you know that they want to leave, albeit in their own special way.

Are they hungry?

Is it time for them to eat?  As a stay at home parent your day flies by and it can get to be feeding time before you know it.  If your crawler is crying uncontrollably, then it could be as simple as feeding them.  It’s important to ask yourself the feeding question even if you’re thinking that they couldn’t possibly be hungry.

It is also important to note that you are not feeding them to be quiet; you are feeding them-in this case, because they are hungry.  There is a big difference between the two reasons of feeding.

Are they sick?

Are their cheek’s red or forehead hot?  A temperature can sneak up very quickly on a crawler.  The other month ours went from normal to a temperature of 102 in a period of 3 hours.  They just needed medicine and sleep.

In our most recent case of a crying crawler I panicked and got overwhelmed by the crying and red faced baby to think logically.  I was also exhausted and not thinking straight.  We tried the holding, rocking, strolling and singing, but all of that had no effect.  Even though it was about an hour before his feeding time, he was just super hungry.  We fed him and the normal, happy baby returned to us.

In a way it’s like potty training a 3YO.  We put up signs on the doors reminding us to ask him if he has to go potty.  Those signs are more for us than him.  The more we (as parents) remember to prevent bad behavior from our kids the quicker they’ll learn the ways they need to behave.