Part I

 

1. Babies only cry for a few reasons:

A. Hungry

B. Thirsty

C. Wet

D. Tired

E. Sick

F. Too hot or cold, bright or dark

G. Attention, need to be held

 

Part II

 

Babies have a built in timing mechanism that is on a 2 hour cycle or so. Learn this cycle, and you can avoid almost all crying except sickness. Repeat this cycle, and you can keep down the sickness crying too.

 

Time 0:00 Start nap

Time 0:55 Prepare bottle, diaper and food

Time 1:00 As baby's eyes open, insert bottle.

Time 1:05 Lift from crib and change diaper, feed if needed, always offer a small snack.

Time 1:15 Start playing. Fisher Price sort and stack rings seem to be the best for infants or a mobile for a baby. Classical music in the background is a plus. The TV is not a play toy.

Time 1:55 Wind down, prepare for nap.

Time 2:00 Nap time starts.

 

Repeat as necessary, 1-2 years recommended.

 

For a while in the beginning the cycle will be 24/7, without the playtime at night (most of the time). The night time cycle will stretch to sleeping through the night after a while. The daytime schedule will stretch to 1-2 naps a day.

 

By using this schedule, the baby would not cry for more than a minute, and would go for full days without any crying. One time as an infant, the kid cried as a joke. He started crying, I looked at him and said, "You got no reason to cry." And he started giggling. He usually laughed more than he cried.

 

And remember, "You have to pack them full of happiness in the first few years, cause it gets rougher from there."

 

A friend once told me this thought: "All it takes is one good generation of parenting, and a lot of the world's problems would be cured."