I’m watching a documentary and noticed how chill great ape babies are. They’re quite content just holding onto their mom, and you never see them crying in the same shrill, oftentimes excessive way human babies do.
Swaddled wrong? Cry. Gassy? Cry. Hungry? Cry. Too full? Throw up, then cry.
What gives?
In: 5
I think there’s a difference between ‘fourth trimester’ crying, when babies are incredibly vulnerable and dependent, and what happens after (at least) three months.
From that point on, I think the baby’s social environment will influence how they cry. Deaf YouTuber Jessica Kellgren-Fozard is raising her child speech-and-sign bilingual. She’s talked about how sign helped him communicate before he developed speech, reducing his frustration quite a bit.
In some places babies don’t cry often – which may be because they’re always with their mother while in the most needy stage. As soon as they can walk they’re in the care of another child, or an older person – who aren’t going to respond to them like a parent would. Prevalent corporal punishment also leads to kids keeping quiet as soon as they’re able to control their voices.
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