Why Is My Newborn Crying? What’s Normal, What Isn’t, and When to Worry

Your newborn has been fed. The diaper is clean. You have burped, rocked, walked, bounced, swaddled, whispered, and searched the internet with one hand while holding your baby with the other.

Yet your baby is still crying.

At some point, almost every exhausted parent asks the same frightened questions:

Why is my newborn crying? Am I missing something? Is this normal—or should I take my baby to the emergency room?

I understand that fear from both sides of the emergency-room doors.

Before I spent five years working in pediatric emergency medicine, I was a young medical student and a first-time mother. I believed medical school had prepared me for motherhood.

It had not.

When my newborn son cried for hours, I tried everything I knew. I fed him. I changed him. I carried him around our apartment. When he continued crying, my medical knowledge did not make me calmer. It supplied my anxious brain with a longer list of frightening possibilities.

I took him to the emergency room.

Then, a few days later, I went back.

My baby was healthy. The crying was most likely part of the normal newborn crying pattern, possibly colic. But at the time, nothing about it felt normal.

Years later, I became the doctor examining babies brought to the ER by parents who looked exactly as frightened as I had felt. That experience taught me an important lesson:

Parents hear the intensity of the cry. Clinicians look at the whole baby.

The cry matters, but so do your baby’s breathing, color, temperature, feeding, alertness, movement, hydration, and behavior between crying episodes.

This guide will help you make that same whole-baby assessment. You will learn what commonly causes newborn crying, how much crying may be normal, what you can safely try at home, and which signs mean your baby needs medical attention.

Important: This article provides general education and cannot diagnose your baby. Newborns can become seriously ill quickly. Contact your pediatrician whenever you are concerned, and seek emergency help for severe symptoms.

The quick answer: Why is my newborn crying?

Newborns cry to communicate hunger, tiredness, discomfort, a need for closeness, temperature changes, gas, overstimulation, or illness. Sometimes parents cannot identify a specific cause, even after meeting every obvious need.

Crying often increases after the first couple of weeks, may be especially intense in the late afternoon or evening, and generally decreases as babies mature. The NHS notes that crying commonly increases around two weeks of age and gradually improves around three months.

Your baby needs prompt medical assessment when crying is accompanied by concerning changes such as:

• Difficulty breathing

• Blue, gray, very pale, or blotchy skin

• Unusual sleepiness, weakness, floppiness, or difficulty waking

• Poor feeding

• Fever in a young infant

• Repeated or forceful vomiting

• A seizure

• A new rash that does not fade when pressed

• Significantly fewer wet diapers

• A cry that is markedly different from your baby’s usual cry

The most important question is not simply, “How loudly is my baby crying?” It is, “How is my baby acting, breathing, feeding, and looking?”

Why newborn crying feels like an emergency

A baby’s cry is designed to be difficult to ignore. It activates an adult’s attention immediately.

That is useful for survival, but it can be emotionally overwhelming—especially at 2 a.m., when you are sleep-deprived, recovering from delivery, learning to feed your baby, and questioning every decision.

Crying is one of an infant’s earliest forms of communication. It may signal hunger or pain, but it can also signal ordinary needs such as comfort, warmth, movement, rest, or relief from stimulation. MedlinePlus describes crying as a normal infant response and notes that parents may feel intense anxiety when they cannot determine the cause or soothe their baby.

Your stress does not mean you are failing.

It means you are responding to one of the most powerful sounds the human nervous system is built to notice.

How much newborn crying is normal?

There is no single “correct” number of minutes that every healthy newborn should cry.

Some babies are naturally quieter. Others are more sensitive to noise, light, temperature changes, hunger, fatigue, or transitions. Two healthy babies of the same age can have completely different crying patterns.

What matters is the overall pattern.

Normal early-infant crying often:

• Begins without an obvious trigger

• Is harder to soothe in the evening

• Comes in waves

• Increases during the early weeks

• Peaks during the first several weeks of life

• Gradually improves as the nervous system matures

• Occurs in a baby who otherwise feeds, breathes, grows, urinates, moves, and responds normally

A baby can cry intensely and still be healthy. But “common” does not mean “easy,” and normal crying should never be used to dismiss a parent’s concern when something feels different.

The newborn crying curve

A simplified crying curve looks like this:

This is a population pattern, not a deadline. Your baby may peak earlier, later, or not show an obvious peak.

What is the “witching hour”?

The “witching hour” is a nonmedical term for a period—often in the late afternoon or evening—when a baby becomes unusually fussy, wants to feed frequently, resists sleep, and seems difficult to settle.

There may not be one single cause. By evening, a newborn may be:

• Overtired

• Overstimulated

• Hungry again after a recent feed

• Cluster feeding

• Seeking physical contact

• Struggling to transition into sleep

• Processing a full day of light, noise, movement, and interaction

The NHS recognizes that afternoon and evening are common times for prolonged, difficult-to-console crying.

The most common reasons newborns cry

1. Hunger

Hunger is one of the first possibilities parents consider, but crying is often a late hunger cue.

Earlier feeding cues may include:

• Turning the head toward touch

• Opening the mouth

• Bringing hands toward the mouth

• Lip smacking

• Rooting

• Increasing movement or restlessness

Newborns have small stomachs and may need to eat frequently, including overnight. Some breastfed babies cluster feed, requesting repeated feeds over a concentrated period. That does not automatically mean the parent has an inadequate milk supply.

Look at the complete feeding picture:

• Is your baby latching or taking the bottle effectively?

• Can you hear or observe swallowing?

• Does your baby seem satisfied after at least some feeds?

• Is your baby producing an age-appropriate number of wet diapers?

• Is your baby gaining weight as expected?

Contact your pediatrician or lactation professional when feeding is painful, ineffective, unusually prolonged at every feed, accompanied by choking or color changes, or followed by continued signs of hunger and inadequate diaper output.

2. Tiredness and overtiredness

Parents frequently assume a crying baby is not tired because the baby is refusing to sleep.

In reality, refusing sleep can be a sign that a newborn has become overtired.

Early tired signs may be subtle:

• Looking away

• Reduced eye contact

• Slower movements

• Yawning

• Brief fussing

• A glazed or unfocused look

Later signs can include:

• Frantic crying

• Back arching

• Stiffening

• Flailing

• Repeatedly falling asleep and waking

• Becoming harder to soothe

Newborns often need help transitioning into sleep. They do not yet have mature self-regulation skills.

3. A need for closeness

A newborn has spent months surrounded by warmth, pressure, rhythmic movement, and the sound of a heartbeat. Entering a bright, cool, open environment is an enormous adjustment.

Your baby may cry because they want to be held.

Responding does not “spoil” a newborn. MedlinePlus specifically notes that infants cannot be spoiled by being held and describes familiar sensations—voice, heartbeat, smell, movement, and touch—as potentially soothing.

Holding your baby is not a bad habit. It is one way of lending your mature nervous system to an immature one.

4. A wet diaper, tight clothing, or physical discomfort

Check the simple things:

• Is the diaper wet or soiled?

• Is a diaper tab touching the skin?

• Is an outfit too tight?

• Is a zipper or seam pressing into the body?

• Is a piece of hair wrapped around a toe, finger, or genital area?

• Is the baby’s arm or leg caught in an uncomfortable position?

• Is there redness, swelling, or a new rash?

A hair tourniquet can become painful and dangerous, so inspect fingers, toes, and the diaper area when crying is unexplained.

5. Being too hot or too cold

New parents are often advised to keep babies warm, but overheating can make a baby restless and uncomfortable.

Instead of judging temperature by hands or feet, which can feel cool normally, check the chest or back of the neck. Your baby should feel comfortably warm—not sweaty, hot, or clammy.

Remove unnecessary layers when the room is warm. During sleep, follow current safe-sleep guidance and avoid loose blankets or overheating.

6. Gas or a need to burp

Babies swallow air while feeding and crying. Some become uncomfortable until they burp or change position.

You can try:

• Holding the baby upright against your chest

• Gently patting or rubbing the back

• Sitting the baby supported on your lap while stabilizing the head and neck

• Pausing during a bottle feed to burp

• Reviewing bottle nipple flow and feeding technique

Gas is common, but parents should be cautious about attributing every prolonged crying episode to gas. A baby with abdominal swelling, green vomit, blood in the stool, fever, marked lethargy, or severe tenderness needs medical evaluation.

7. Overstimulation

Newborns cannot filter sensory information as effectively as adults.

A room that feels cheerful and ordinary to you may contain:

• Bright lights

• Several voices

• Television noise

• Phone sounds

• Movement

• Strong smells

• Repeated passing from person to person

An overstimulated baby may turn away, stiffen, yawn, hiccup, sneeze, become disorganized, or begin crying.

Try moving to a quieter, dimmer room and reducing—not adding—stimulation.

8. Understimulation or boredom

Some babies calm when they receive gentle sensory input:

• A change of scenery

• Quiet talking

• Slow walking

• Skin-to-skin contact

• Looking at a high-contrast image

• Listening to a familiar voice

The goal is not constant entertainment. It is finding the level of input your individual baby can tolerate.

9. Crying around feeds

Crying during or after feeds may relate to:

• Hunger and frustration

• A fast or slow milk flow

• Difficulty latching

• Swallowing air

• Needing to burp

• Overfeeding

• Fatigue

• Reflux

• Cow’s-milk protein allergy or another medical issue

Reflux is common in infancy, but crying alone does not prove that stomach acid is causing pain. Avoid starting medications or repeatedly changing formulas without discussing the full pattern with your pediatrician.

Seek advice when crying around feeds is accompanied by poor weight gain, feeding refusal, blood in stool, persistent coughing or choking, breathing difficulty, marked arching at most feeds, green vomit, or forceful vomiting.

10. Illness or pain

Most crying is not caused by a dangerous illness. Nevertheless, newborns cannot describe pain, and illness may initially appear as a behavioral change.

A sick baby may cry more—but may also cry more weakly than usual, feed less, sleep excessively, breathe differently, or simply seem “not right.”

That is why the whole-baby assessment is essential.

Colic vs. normal crying: What is the difference?

Colic generally describes repeated, prolonged crying in an otherwise healthy, growing infant when another cause is not found.

Traditionally, colic was described using the “rule of threes”: crying for more than three hours a day, more than three days a week, for more than three weeks. In real life, clinicians do not need to wait three weeks to listen to your concerns or evaluate your baby.

Colic crying may:

• Begin during the first few weeks

• Occur around the same time each day

• Be especially intense in the evening

• Come with clenched fists, a red face, or knees drawn upward

• Resist usual soothing methods

• End suddenly, leaving the baby appearing well

The exact cause is not clearly understood. The NHS notes that colic is recognized but its cause remains uncertain.

Colic is not a diagnosis parents should be expected to make alone. A clinician may need to examine a young baby before concluding that prolonged crying is benign.

How to calm a crying newborn: A practical sequence

There is no technique that works for every baby every time. The goal is not to force crying to stop immediately. The goal is to check safety, meet likely needs, reduce stimulation, and help your baby regulate.

Step 1: Pause and observe

Before rapidly switching between techniques, take several seconds to look at your baby.

Check:

• Color

• Breathing

• Alertness

• Movement

• Body position

• Temperature

• Whether the cry sounds typical for your baby

Step 2: Address basic needs

Ask:

• Is my baby hungry?

• Does the diaper need changing?

• Is my baby too hot or cold?

• Does my baby need to burp?

• Is something pinching or wrapped around a finger or toe?

• Has my baby been awake too long?

Step 3: Reduce stimulation

Move to a calm environment. Dim the lights. Reduce talking, television, and phone noise. Avoid repeatedly passing the baby between caregivers.

Step 4: Add rhythmic comfort

Try one method for several minutes before abandoning it:

• Hold the baby close

• Walk slowly

• Rock gently

• Sway

• Use a soft, steady sound

• Sing quietly

• Offer skin-to-skin contact

• Use a properly fitted baby carrier while following safety instructions

• Offer feeding when hunger cues are present

The NHS includes holding, gentle movement, quiet background sound, walking, feeding, and a warm bath among possible soothing options.

Step 5: Help with sleep

When your baby appears tired, reduce interaction rather than increasing it.

After soothing, place your baby on their back on a firm, flat, empty sleep surface that follows safe-sleep recommendations. Avoid leaving a sleeping baby in a car seat outside travel or using an inclined product as a routine sleep space.

Step 6: Change caregivers

Sometimes a baby settles more easily with a calmer adult—not because the first caregiver did anything wrong, but because both baby and caregiver have become increasingly activated.

Passing the baby to a trusted adult can interrupt the cycle.

Step 7: Stop and protect your own nervous system

When the crying is pushing you toward panic, anger, or loss of control:

1. Place your baby safely on their back in an empty crib or bassinet.

2. Leave the room briefly.

3. Take slow breaths.

4. Call a trusted person.

5. Return when you feel more regulated.

It is safer for a baby to cry briefly in a safe sleep space than to remain in the arms of a caregiver who feels out of control.

Never shake a baby. Violent shaking can cause catastrophic brain injury. The NHS advises putting the baby somewhere safe and taking a short break when the crying becomes overwhelming.

The whole-baby check: What pediatric clinicians notice

When a crying newborn arrives for evaluation, clinicians do not assess the sound alone.

They look at:

Appearance

• Is the baby alert?

• Does the baby respond to touch and voice?

• Is the body moving normally?

• Is the baby unusually floppy, weak, or difficult to wake?

Breathing

• Is breathing comfortable?

• Are the ribs pulling inward?

• Is the baby grunting?

• Are the nostrils flaring?

• Is there a pause in breathing?

• Is the baby too breathless to feed?

Circulation and color

• Are the lips and tongue pink?

• Is the skin blue, gray, extremely pale, mottled, or blotchy?

• Do the hands and feet feel unusually cold with other signs of illness?

Feeding and hydration

• Is the baby feeding normally?

• Is there repeated vomiting?

• Are there enough wet diapers?

• Is the mouth moist?

• Is the baby waking to feed?

Temperature

A rectal temperature of 100.4°F or 38°C or higher in a baby younger than three months requires prompt medical guidance and usually urgent evaluation. Do not give fever medicine to a young newborn before speaking with a clinician unless you have already received specific instructions.

Behavior between episodes

This is especially important.

A baby who cries intensely but then relaxes, feeds, makes eye contact, moves normally, and returns to their usual behavior is different from a baby who remains weak, poorly responsive, or unwell between cries.

When should I call the pediatrician?

Call your pediatrician promptly when:

• Your baby’s crying pattern has changed suddenly

• Your baby is harder to console than usual

• The cry sounds unusually weak, high-pitched, painful, or different

• Your baby is feeding less than usual

• Your baby repeatedly refuses feeds

• There are fewer wet diapers than expected

• Your baby has vomiting, diarrhea, a rash, or other signs of illness

• Your baby seems unusually sleepy or irritable

• Crying repeatedly occurs during feeds

• You are worried despite not seeing a specific red flag

• Your intuition tells you something is different

MedlinePlus advises contacting a healthcare professional when crying continues longer than usual and the baby cannot be calmed, particularly when crying occurs with fever, vomiting, diarrhea, rash, breathing difficulty, or other signs of illness.

You do not have to prove that your baby is sick before calling.

When should I take my baby to the ER or call 911?

Call 911 now when your baby:

• Is not breathing normally

• Has blue or gray lips, tongue, or skin

• Is unresponsive or extremely difficult to wake

• Is limp or suddenly very weak

• Has a seizure

• Is choking and cannot breathe or cry

• Has severe breathing difficulty

• Has a major injury

• Has a rapidly worsening condition that appears life-threatening

Seek urgent emergency evaluation when your newborn:

• Has a rectal temperature of 100.4°F or 38°C or higher

• Is breathing rapidly, grunting, or pulling in under the ribs

• Is feeding poorly and appears weak or dehydrated

• Has repeated projectile vomiting

• Has green vomit

• Has blood in vomit or stool

• Has a swollen or very tender abdomen

• Has markedly reduced wet diapers

• Has a bulging soft spot with illness symptoms

• Has a rash that does not fade when pressed

• Cries inconsolably and appears unwell

• Has a sudden, significant change from normal behavior

The NHS lists seizures, abnormal color, reduced responsiveness, breathing difficulty, repeated forceful vomiting, abnormal temperature, a nonblanching rash, and prolonged absence of a wet diaper among urgent warning signs.

When you are uncertain, contact your pediatrician, nurse advice line, or emergency service. It is better to ask than to stay home with a newborn who may be seriously ill.

Newborn crying checklist

Before assuming the crying is “just colic,” ask:

Immediate safety

• Is my baby breathing comfortably?

• Are the lips and tongue pink?

• Is my baby responsive and moving normally?

• Is there a fever?

• Is the cry similar to my baby’s usual cry?

Basic needs

• Has my baby been fed?

• Is the diaper clean?

• Does my baby need to burp?

• Is my baby too hot or too cold?

• Has my baby been awake too long?

• Does my baby need closeness or quieter surroundings?

Physical check

• Is clothing too tight?

• Is there redness, swelling, or a rash?

• Is a hair wrapped around a finger, toe, or genital area?

• Is the abdomen unusually swollen?

• Is there vomiting or blood in the stool?

Hydration and behavior

• Is my baby feeding normally?

• Are wet diapers continuing?

• Does my baby have calm or alert periods?

• Does my baby return to normal behavior between episodes?

Parent check

• Am I becoming too overwhelmed to hold my baby safely?

• Can another trusted adult take over?

• Do I need to put my baby safely in the crib and take a short break?

• Do I need to call the pediatrician because something feels wrong?

What not to do when your newborn is crying

Do not:

• Shake your baby

• Give water, herbal remedies, gripe water, medication, or supplements without appropriate medical guidance

• Dilute formula

• Change formulas repeatedly without a clear plan

• Assume every cry means hunger and continually overfeed

• Place cereal in a bottle unless specifically instructed for a medical reason

• Use an inclined sleeper, couch, pillow, nursing cushion, or adult bed as a sleep space

• Drive while dangerously exhausted merely because the car sometimes calms the baby

• Ignore a significant behavioral change because someone called it colic

• Blame yourself when a safe, healthy baby continues to cry

You can meet every need correctly and still have a crying baby.

Keep a crying diary

When crying is frequent, write down:

• Start and end time

• Feeding times and amounts

• Breastfeeding sides and approximate duration

• Wet and dirty diapers

• Vomiting or spit-up

• Sleep periods

• Soothing methods attempted

• Whether the baby returned to normal afterward

• Temperature and other symptoms

Patterns may reveal cluster feeding, overtiredness, discomfort around feeds, evening fussiness, or changes that need medical evaluation. The NHS also recommends recording when and how often crying occurs to help clinicians identify patterns and plan support.

Frequently asked questions

Why does my newborn cry for no apparent reason?

Babies sometimes cry even after hunger, diaper needs, temperature, and tiredness have been addressed. Their nervous systems are immature, and they may be processing stimulation, seeking contact, or moving through a normal developmental crying period. Continue assessing the whole baby and call your pediatrician when the pattern is new, prolonged, or accompanied by concerning symptoms.

Why is my newborn crying all night?

Newborns do not yet have mature day-and-night rhythms. Night crying may reflect hunger, cluster feeding, overtiredness, gas, a need for closeness, or reversed sleep patterns. However, a baby who cries throughout the night while feeding poorly, breathing differently, vomiting repeatedly, producing fewer wet diapers, or appearing unwell needs medical advice.

Can a newborn cry because they are overtired?

Yes. An overtired baby may become frantic, stiff, difficult to settle, or unable to stay asleep. Watch for early tired signs and begin calming your baby before crying escalates.

Is it normal for newborns to cry more in the evening?

Yes. Many healthy newborns have a predictable fussy period in the late afternoon or evening. Evening crying commonly intensifies during the first several weeks before gradually improving.

How do I know whether my baby has colic?

Colic describes prolonged, recurrent crying in a baby who is otherwise healthy and growing normally. Because illness, feeding problems, injury, and other conditions can also cause crying, discuss persistent or severe episodes with your pediatrician before assuming colic.

Can holding my newborn too much spoil them?

No. Newborns require help regulating their bodies and emotions. Responding to crying builds safety and connection; it does not create manipulation or bad habits.

Should I feed my baby every time they cry?

Not automatically. Look for hunger cues and consider when and how effectively your baby last fed. Crying may also indicate tiredness, discomfort, overstimulation, temperature, or a need for closeness.

Why does my baby cry immediately after feeding?

Possible reasons include needing to burp, swallowing air, a fast milk flow, overfeeding, fatigue, reflux, or wanting continued contact. Seek medical advice for persistent feeding distress, poor weight gain, blood in stool, green vomit, forceful vomiting, coughing, choking, or breathing changes.

What temperature is an emergency for a newborn?

A rectal temperature of 100.4°F or 38°C or higher in a baby younger than three months requires prompt medical guidance and typically urgent assessment.

Is a high-pitched cry always dangerous?

No single cry sound can diagnose illness. However, a new, unusually high-pitched, weak, painful, or markedly different cry—especially with poor feeding, fever, lethargy, vomiting, breathing changes, or abnormal movement—should be evaluated.

How long should I try to soothe my baby before calling the doctor?

There is no required waiting period. Call whenever the crying is significantly different, your baby appears unwell, or your instincts tell you something is wrong. With a newborn, you do not need to wait for symptoms to become severe.

What should I do when I feel angry or overwhelmed?

Place your baby safely on their back in an empty crib or bassinet, leave briefly, breathe, and contact someone who can support or relieve you. Never shake a baby. Seek immediate help when you fear you may hurt yourself or your child.

Final thoughts: You are not failing because your baby is crying

Newborn crying can make competent, loving parents feel helpless.

I know because I was once the frightened mother taking my own healthy baby to the emergency room. Years later, I stood on the other side of those doors and reassured parents who were carrying the same fear.

Sometimes crying is a warning sign.

Often, it is a normal but exhausting part of newborn development.

Your job is not to eliminate every cry. Your job is to observe your baby, respond safely, meet the needs you can identify, recognize warning signs, and ask for help when something feels wrong.

You are learning your baby’s language.

Your baby is learning how to live outside the womb.

Neither of you is expected to master this overnight.

Learn more in Why Babies Cry

For a deeper explanation of the newborn crying curve, feeding cues, overtiredness, growth spurts, colic, soothing strategies, and warning signs, read my book:

Why Babies Cry: Understanding Your Newborn During the First Eight Weeks, One Cry at a Time https://youtu.be/X7hMZiuIQEk

Watch the companion video

In my YouTube video, “I Rushed My Own Baby to the ER for Something Completely Normal,” I share the personal story behind this article and explain what pediatric emergency clinicians look for when a baby will not stop crying.

Medical disclaimer

This content is for general educational purposes only and does not establish a doctor-patient relationship. It is not a substitute for an examination, diagnosis, or personalized advice from your child’s licensed healthcare professional. Because newborns can become seriously ill quickly, contact your pediatrician or emergency service whenever your baby has concerning symptoms or you feel something is wrong.