Your baby can’t talk yet, and the only way he wants to express his needs is to cry. Many mothers always think that when their babies cry, they might be hungry and feed them without saying a word. In fact, many times, babies cry because their diapers are wet, they need to be caressed, they are sleepy, or they are uncomfortable. It is important to find out why your baby is crying and not just feed him or her whenever he or she cries, as this can easily lead to overfeeding. What is overfeeding? Overfeeding means giving your baby more energy and other nutrients than your baby’s body needs to maintain metabolic homeostasis. Traditionally, overfeeding is a syndrome caused by excessive milk intake, mainly indigestion. The symptoms are: watery stools, often frothy and green. Vomiting, vomiting not relieved by burping. Abdominal pain, accompanied by crying due to abdominal pain or flatulence. No weight gain or weight loss. Overfeeding due to wrong feeding practices Overfeeding depends to a considerable extent on the feeder’s judgment of the baby’s intake. If formula is prepared too thickly, it can lead to a high level of extracellular fluid in the baby’s body and a decrease in intracellular fluid, followed by chronic thirst, which in turn may increase the number of feedings and therefore eventually lead to overfeeding. Overfeeding can occur when the mother believes that her baby is eating more for her health. The main symptoms are: pushing the baby to eat as much as possible based on how much she thinks the baby should eat. Formulating formula milk to a higher concentration than it should be. This can be confirmed by the sodium content of the mother’s prepared milk sample and the creatinine and uric acid content and volume gram molecular concentration of the baby’s urine sample. The 4 hazards of overfeeding The baby’s organs are in a tender stage and their activity is very limited, such as the digestive enzymes secreted by the organs of the digestive system have a relatively low activity and a relatively small amount. In this physiological condition, there will be adverse consequences for the baby: 1, overfeeding easily lead to chemical malabsorption Overfeeding will increase the workload of the digestive organs, causing digestive malabsorption. Parents must have a plan to supply food, so that the baby can always maintain a normal appetite. 2, overfeeding easy brain fatigue for digesting too much food, the digestive tract is bound to expand, limited blood and oxygen from the head to the digestive tract, brain cells will be temporarily ischemic, so the more you eat, the more blood the gastrointestinal needs, the less blood supply to the brain, the greater the harm to the brain. 3, overfeeding will also promote the baby’s brain premature aging Research has found that premature aging material will increase tens of thousands of times due to overeating after meals, prone to obesity, and even affect the development of the brain, low intelligence. 4, overfeeding can cause obesity too much protein intake in infancy, will stimulate the secretion of insulin-like growth factor, stimulate protein synthesis and cell proliferation, so that muscle and fat cells increase. Some scholars propose hypothalamus and endocrine regulation doctrine, that is, overfeeding makes the baby’s serum leptin concentration increased, resulting in hypothalamic leptin receptors to leptin sensitivity decreased. When there is a positive energy balance environment in the body, such as during adolescence and pregnancy, obesity is likely to occur. Of course, this does not exclude that after infancy poor diet and lifestyle is also an important factor leading to obesity in adulthood. The 3 causes of baby crying Baby crying is divided into three main situations, which express three different meanings: physiological needs, psychological needs and signals of illness. The cries of babies in different situations are different, and careful observation will enable you to read your baby’s crying. 1. Physiological needs: Physiological needs are the most common reason for babies to cry: I am hungry: the cry is very loud, and when crying, the head turns back and forth, and the little mouth will have sucking action when it touches something. I am hot or cold: When babies feel hot, they often cry with red faces and wet heads and bodies; when babies feel cold, their cries are relatively weak, their hands and feet are cold, their bodies are curled up, and they even look pale. I’m not sleeping well: This kind of crying may be caused by uncomfortable sleeping position, dreaming, poor sleeping habits or poor sleeping environment, etc. You need to comfort your baby in time, such as letting your baby suck on your mother’s nipple or gently patting your baby. 2.Psychological needs After excluding the physiological factors, if the baby still cries, it may belong to the psychological needs: I want to be pampered: when the baby wants to draw the attention of adults, it will make a higher-pitched crying sound, but generally will not shed tears. I am angry: If the pampering does not attract the attention of the parents, or if something makes the baby feel angry, the cry will be higher and even a little harsher compared to the pampering. I am sad: When the baby feels sad, the crying sound also sounds lower, a bit like a whimper. 3.Baby is sick If your little one is sick, because they feel very uncomfortable, their cries will be sharper than usual, and they often cry non-stop or in bursts. At the same time, the baby may also show irritability, bad face, and sometimes with body movements, such as clenching fists, stirring legs, scratching a certain part, etc.: I have an uncomfortable tummy: among the common diseases, the crying of acute abdomen and intestinal stacking is more typical, a burst of loud howling, and the baby shows very restless, pale and sweaty. I have a fever: If the crying is caused by a fever, the baby will also appear irritable and red-faced, and it will feel hot when you touch the baby’s forehead or body. My ear is not feeling well: If your baby is crying while scratching a certain part with his or her hands, it is likely that there is a medical condition in that area. For example, if you scratch your ear with your hand, it may be otitis media, foreign body in the external ear canal, etc. If you scratch your nose with your hand, it may be that your nose is not ventilated or there is a foreign body in your nose. Tip: If your baby’s crying is different from usual, and you can’t get your baby to quiet down no matter what, parents must be alert, observe your baby’s symptoms carefully, and take him to the hospital in time. 4 tricks to determine whether the baby is full or not Some mothers do not know how much their babies eat and are always afraid that their babies are not full. But as long as you can observe carefully, you will find that there are signs that your baby is full or not. 1, look at the baby’s weight & height growth rate 0-3 months old baby, monthly weight growth of 1 kg, height growth of about 4 cm, it means that the baby is basically full. If the baby’s weight growth is less than 1.5 kg at the 42-day checkup, it means that the breast milk may not be enough and formula milk needs to be added, or the feeding method may not be right and needs doctor’s guidance. 2, look at the baby’s reaction after feeding If the baby can sleep quietly for more than 3 hours after feeding and does not cry until the next feeding, it means he has had enough. If the baby refuses to let go of the mother’s nipple for a long time, or spits out the nipple for a while and cries, and the weight gain is slow, it means that the baby has not eaten enough. 3, look at the baby’s urine and stool Generally speaking, the baby wet (wet through) more than 6 diapers every day, indicating that the amount of breast milk 6 enough, the baby is full. 4.Judging from the sound of baby’s swallowing The baby can swallow a big mouthful every 2-3 times of sucking on average, so about 15 minutes continuously can indicate that the baby is full. Summary New mothers should understand the importance of proper feeding, learn the correct way to prepare formula, and avoid adding solid foods for their babies too early. Infancy is a critical period in the formation of eating habits. Try not to let the bottle-feeding period be too long, and mothers and fathers should avoid using food to comfort and encourage their babies and avoid overfeeding.