CRYING INCONSOLABLY
Inconsolable crying can be very troublesome for parents and children,
especially in the middle of the night. Here are some tips to help you determine
the cause and provide the proper relief to your child.
TOP 9 CAUSES
- Teething– a very common cause of fussiness in
infants age 4 months to 2 years. Other signs of teething include vigorous
chewing on hands or toys, drooling, and bulging gums.
- Ear infections– if your child has a worsening
cold and possibly a fever, then suddenly develops fever and unusual fussiness
during the night, an ear infection is a possibility. However, if your child
does NOT have cold symptoms and fever, then it's probably not an ear infection.
Click on ear infection for more info.
- Upset stomach– in breastfed
infants, occasionally your baby's stomach may get upset by something mom ate
earlier in the day. This can cause severe gas pains, which can last for hours.
Click on colic below for more info.
- Colic– this is inconsolable crying in young
infants which occurs daily and lasts for several hours. Click on it for more
info.
- Insect bite– these can be
painful, especially spider bites.
- Mouth sores– a virus called
coxsackie (hand, foot and mouth disease) can cause high fever and canker sores throughout the
mouth which are very painful. Click on it for more info.
- Sore throat– a very bad
sore throat can be a cause of fussiness.
- Scratched eye– sometimes an infant can
accidentally scratch her eye, which can be very painful. A red, tearing eye can
clue you in to this.
- Hair tourniquet – this occurs when a
piece of long hair gets inadvertently wrapped around your child's toe and
strangles the tip of the toe, causing swelling, pain, and bleeding. You should
seek medical attention within a couple of hours so the hair can be pulled or cut
out.
GETTING THROUGH THE NIGHT
- Find the cause – undress your child and examine the eyes, mouth,
skin, and toes for the above causes. If you identify one of the above causes,
click on it for more information on treatment.
- Pain medication – acetaminophen or ibuprofen can help with pain from most of
the above causes, even if you are not certain what the cause is. Click on them
for dosing.
WHEN TO WORRY (AND NOT TO WORRY!)
The top 7 causes above are not dangerous and generally do not require medical
attention during the night. Contact your doctor the following day if the
problem persists.
- Scratched eye– if you suspect this, you
generally should seek medical advice within 4 – 6 hours. So if it's early
evening, a trip to an urgent care center or call to your doctor is warranted.
If it's the middle of the night, then you can safely wait until morning to
contact your doctor.
- Hair tourniquet – you should seek medical attention within a couple
of hours of discovering this. The hair is difficult to remove yourself, as it
is easy to miss deeper strands.
If your child has any of the following symptoms, call your doctor right
away or go to the nearest ER:
- Repeated projectile vomiting AND rigid abdomen
- Unusual behavior such as failing to make eye contact with you, not
responding to your voice or touch, muscle twitches or other unusual movements.
- Your parents' intuition tells you to worry and seek medical attention even
if it's, "I just know something's wrong."
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