Sometimes Babies Cry

A couple of weeks ago I was at target with my six-month-old baby and my Starbucks, obviously, and my little girl started crying. Now she wasn’t screaming bloody murder or anything, but she was definitely catching some looks from other shoppers. However, I had a list that I needed to cross off so I continued on with my search. Honestly, she’s my second child so I’m not even sure how long it took me to realize she was crying.

Shortly after, I see a woman come up to us and start talking to my baby and I could feel myself get annoyed even before she opens her mouth.

“Oh poor thing! Are you getting hungry?”

“Nope” I replied, not even glancing away from the pair of shoes in my hand.

She then turned toward me with a confident look on her face and says, “Oh she must just be tired then”.

I hate confrontation with a passion so without uttering a word, I shot her the best fake smile I could muster. It must have been pretty convincing because she smiled back and walked away.

But what I really wanted to say is that “no, she is not hungry and no, she is not tired”.

Maybe she was teething. Maybe she was trying to poop – we just started solids and she has had some of those crying poops so that’s definitely a possibility. Maybe she wanted to be sitting in the cart with me instead of being left in her car seat. Or maybe she wanted some of my Starbucks.

Who the heck knows why a six month old is crying all the time?

Sometimes babies are full and they cry. Sometimes babies just wake up from their nap and cry. Sometimes babies have a full tummy and dry diaper and they cry.

Sometimes babies cry!

As a new mom, the only thing you want is to keep your baby happy and healthy. When you add in the crazy hormones taking over your body, it leaves moms in a very vulnerable position. We are led to believe that if our baby is well rested, they will be happy, or if you are keeping them dry and full, they won’t ever cry.

I am definitely not saying to ignore your baby’s cries by any means.

What I’m trying to say is that while their cry means something, you know what it means better than the lady at target. The woman at Target didn’t know that my baby had just woken up from a great nap and had just gulped down a bottle, but I did. I was fully aware that she was in the middle of her “clingy stage” and didn’t like to do anything unless she was being held.

When I was a new mom, I would have walked out of the store the minute my baby started crying or I would have believed the lady at target and would second guess if my baby was actually tired or hungry. There are so many amazing moms out there that have given me a lot of great advice and I don’t think I could do this motherhood thing without the help of other moms. But at the end of the day, I know my baby. And I know what my baby needs more than the lady at target.

To the exhausted mom staying up all night with her newborn trying to figure out what you’re doing wrong, sometimes babies cry.

To the mom questioning her milk supply because you have a fussy baby, sometimes babies cry.

To the mom too embarrassed to leave the house with a fussy baby because she doesn’t want to get looks from strangers, sometimes babies cry.

And it’s OKAY.



After being born and raised in Hawaii, Bre went to a Christian college where she played soccer and got her degree in Communications and Public Relations. Now she enjoys organizing, Starbucks, and blogging about being a pastor’s wife and mom of two under two at Maintaining Me. Find her on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.