A child's cry is intended to be a 911 emergency message that is intended to go right to the nervous system of an adult. It is not a surprise that some adults say "it gets on my nerves." For infants most people realize that the two top emergencies are the child's hunger or sleepiness. When they are older we may forget that hunger and sleepiness can make their alarm go off more easily even if there is something else going on. Beginning with the toddler age the something else is most often that they are confused. For them it may be that a rule or routine they have just learned has been broken. They are thinking "I usually get to do something that I am not able to do now." Or they are being asked to do something boring when they are in the middle of something that is interesting for them. When a child cries the challenge for us is to understand what is causing it in the moment and then how we can create routine habits that will not be confusing to them. Punishment usually makes them cry longer and doesn't solve the problem for later even though the parent may release their momentary frustration.
