Today I took my 3.75 month outside in the summer heat by the beach and it was a disaster. What started out from a small cry within 10 minutes went to a full blown screaming meltdown that I couldn't calm down. I knew it was the heat and she just wanted to be home in the air conditioning so I held her in the shade while my husband went and got the car (all while she was still screaming) we got in the car with the air conditioning but she was unable to be calmed down and she screamed all the way home. All this took about 20-30mins. Finally when we got her back home she stopped crying, calmed down, and laughed at some cartoons. Could the 20-30mins of hard crying have caused brain damage? I have read a lot about baby creating too much stress hormone from stress of crying causing a developing brain damage but a lot of that info was unattended crying-it-out babies while I was trying (unsuccessfully though) to calm her every step of the way. Could damage have been done or am I overreacting?
Thanks ladies, that is wayyyy comforting.
Someone had mentioned about heat stroke, maybe she was wanting out of the heat and had minor heat stroke setting in? I was keeping her in shade, put a cool washcloth on her and then got her in the air conditioned car and then home. But maybe her uncontrollable crying was a sign of heat exhaustion/stroke?
All of your responses are making me feel wayyy better. Thanks :)
You are way over reacting. Babies cry, that's just how it works. Calm down and let loose a little or you're going to raise a stressed out child.
Whose brain?
Yours or the baby s?
Anyone with a colicky baby can tell you THEY feel they are going crazy from hour after hour of non stop baby crying.
30 min?
You got off easy!
Oh my, no. Every one of us would have brain damage, wouldn't we?
Overreacting...yeah.
Good lord no, when my kids were little they would scream a lot longer than that. If it could actually cause brain damage we would all have brain damage.
Really guys? She is paranoid that she gave her baby brain damage from crying and you jump to heat stroke? Brilliant! It wasn't heat stroke! Heat stroke is when your organs start shutting down because they cannot handle your internal body temperature. Unless you were baking her out in the sun it was not heat stroke!
My kids couldn't stand any temperatures above 80 when they were babies, made them crabby as heck after an hour!
My husband swears the non stop crying caused his brain damage.. Gosh knows it could bring on my migraines....
Oh you mean damage to the child? Heck no...
Otherwise every child would have brain damage..
No. Some babies will cry for three to four hours a day straight every day from colic.
You are overreacting.
Crying for thirty minutes DOES NOT cause permanent harm to babies.
Hate to tell 30 minutes of crying is nothing for some babies.
Not sure where you got your information but you need to do a little more reading.
Crying is an infants way of communicating it's needs. If it caused brain damage our species would not survive.
I doubt it. If that were true, my child would have serious damage from the colicky nights when I walked the floor til 4AM.
If you want to know more about heat stroke in infants, call your pediatrician. It could simply have been gas or a bad day or needing a nap and fighting it.
LOL, no J., it isn't going to cause your baby brain damage. It might cause YOU brain damage though, being so worried about your baby that you think a little crying is going to develop brain damage in a baby! (Just kidding!)
It sounds like to me that you need to get your baby outside more often. If she isn't used to going out, the beach trip was a bit MUCH on her. Take this in stages. Walks outside in a covered stroller, that kind of thing.
Btw, if you brought her in and turned on cartoons, THAT'S more likely why she stopped crying than that you got into the air conditioning. Sometimes babies get on a crying jag and you just have to let it peter out. The cartoons took her mind off her crying and "redirected" her. I would NOT use the TV to get her to stop crying, J., no matter how stressed out YOU ARE about a crying jag.
Dawn
I'm sorry - are you serious?
No. You are TOTALLY over reacting...excessive crying is longer than 30 minutes and she did NOT deprive herself of oxygen to her brain....
What could have caused the meltdown?
Too much sun.
Too many people - she was overwhelmed with the sounds, light, heat and people...
Heat rash happens. You can get sunburn in the shade...she was uncomfortable...and a 4 month old watching cartoons? Sorry - her brain hasn't developed enough to acknowledge that...
Take a DEEP breath...I realize how daunting it can be to have a baby and one having a meltdown in public....she picked up on your stress as well...you are fine...you handled it right...you took her home..
DEEEEEEPPPP BREATHS mama!! you are okay...
As the mother of a colicky baby I know for a fact that yours will be fine!! My now 11 year old was a nightmare of an infant (she actually likes it when I tell the stories now!). I swear she didn't stop crying for the first 6 months of her life. One night when she was about 3 months I decided I'd try something new - hey, I'll let her cry it out! I don't know what I was thinking. Not that crying it out is so bad, per se, but I let her cry for 90 minutes. 90 MINUTES! I think maybe *I* was a little brain damaged, at that moment. She shrieked the ENTIRE time, and when I finally went in to get her she was soaking wet in sweat and bright red. I've never felt so bad about anything in my life. One of many mistakes I've made as a momma. Anyway, she's in 6th grade now, and she's a straight A student. I'm pretty sure she's smarter than me already. So don't worry, your little girl will be just fine too :)
At least you took her back to the car and back home.
Here I am in Hawaii. It is HOT. I recently saw a woman holding her infant (younger than yours), outside her car while she was standing there talking to her friend. IN the direct sun. The infant, had just a onesie on. The infant was sleeping in her arms. The infant's skin looked pink already, to me. It was awful. I was about to go out of my car, and tell her. But just then, her Husband came, and they both got in their car. The woman was standing there for about 20 minutes. At least while I was there at that time.
Here in Hawaii, a person can get sunburned and tan, in even just 15 minutes... of being in the sun. And that is for an adult. Can you imagine for an infant? Not to mention heat stroke etc. And infants that young can't wear sunscreen.
My daughter was colicky and cried every night from 5 to 10 at the top of her lungs no matter what we did for 6 months. She would cry so hard she would vomit. She is now 15 and in honors math and English and Latin so I do not think crying can cause brain damage. I remember those first months when you feel so helpless. I got to know all the nurses at the pediatrician's office since I called them with every little thing! Getting parent experience here can be comforting, but getting medical advice is also important. And there are babies that live in hot climates without air conditioning so I do not think that hot weather alone is enough to give someone heat stroke, especially if she is well hydrated.
I haven't read any of the other responses, but the answer to your question is NO! I know of babies that have cried hours on end due to a variety of reasons and it does not cause brain damage. And it won't be the last time she cries either. So calm down!
If it could my daughter would be totally retarded by now, lol. She was a fussy baby, and screamed constantly whenever I was at work. Shes fine now. Dont worry, baby will be fine, you sound like a good mama. Its scary when you are unable to soothe your baby, but it happens sometimes. Also, if you felt ok in the heat, then it wasnt hot enough to.give baby heatstroke, especially in only 20 min or so. Thats more like what happens if people leave their babies in a hot car or in direct sun for hours.
Crying doesn't cause brain damage, but heat stroke can.
No-the only likely damage would be to your brain, not Baby's. Around three weeks, colic starts manifesting. Every time the crying begins, the parents try to figure out what's wrong-you're more likely to figure out what will calm the baby-not what's causing the crying. Then around 12 weeks, after you don't know what hit you, it goes away. You're not overreacting, because it is absolutely baffling. All the best-babies with colic tend to be very bright children because of all the attention and stimulation they get while someone is trying to help them stop crying!
My son had severe colic- he cried 8 hours a day or more. We later found out he had multiple food allergies. My pediatrician said at that time that I should consider it a good thing, even though it was hell at the time- Studies show that colicky babies are more social, intelligent, and creative. Mainly because they demand attention and more of it, which they get by constant holding. Lots of holding increases brain development. So when your baby cries, the best thing you can do is hold them. So, no, I don't think you caused your baby brain damage. And I think you did the best thing by trying to calm her. Don't worry!
I hope not! That means all four of my kids have brain damage since they all did this at one time or another...of course now that they are all teenagers it would explain a lot...LOL! Your baby is fine momma.
