I have a 4 month old son, and let me tell you, he is a handfull! He is probably the fussiest baby I have everencountered. It's hard for me to get a break because he won't let me put him down, he'll cry and cry until I pick him up again. He cries all the time, at one point, I felt like crying myself because I didn't know what else to do, he just kept crying and crying, I've tried to feed him, checked his diaper, rocked him gently, I checked if he was hurt somehow, he'd stop for a while, but he'd resume crying after a few minutes. It drove me crazy, especially when my husband is at work and there's no one else around to help me. I swear to God my arms became toned and I have muscles now because of carrying him all the time. I had to learn how to cook, do the dishes, load the laundry, and clean the house while I was carrying him around, just so he wouldn't cry. That's why we would call him queruLUCAS, because he was just so querulous! Then we discovered the pacifier, he loved it! He would ask for it after every breastfeeding session, it saved my life. Now, he doesn't cry as often as he used to, but it's important to remember not to let a hungry child suck on a pacifier because it will only frustrate the child more. I give my son his pacifier after he breastfeeds, that way I'm sure he's not hungry and I'm sure that he is only satisfying his oral needs. Freud (a famous Psychologist) said that a child who has satisfied his oral cravings or the need to suck as a baby are less likely to take up smoking as an adult, so if giving my child a pacifier will make him less likely to smoke as an adult, then why not. Although there are a lot of parents who are against the pacifier, I believe it's not all bad, I guess that the pacifier doesn't work for everybody, but it works for me, so I use it.

Because of my experiences with my son, Lucas, I've figured out that sometimes babies just want to cry, and sometimes we just have to let them, it's their way of acting out. The only way to console a crying baby is to identify what he needs, like:

1. He's hungry.

2. He's thirsty.

3. He needs a diaper change.

4. He needs to be held, babies love to cuddle, so sometimes they cry to let you know they want you to carry them.

5. He's feeling cold or hot.

6. He's sleepy but can't seem to fall asleep.

7. He wants to suck on a pacifier or his fingers/toes. Sometimes babies have this urge to suck, it doesn't mean they're hungry, they just want something in their mouth.

8. He's hurt. Find the source of his discomfort and he should stop after that.

A baby is a very delicate and complicated creature, and I think it's because they can't talk to us and just tell us what's bothering them. That's the reason why they cry, that's how they tell us what's going on in their little bodies.

However, when you find that after checking him thoroughly, and he is still crying inconsolably, it would be better to call or see a doctor as soon as possible, because he might have a medical condition that needs to be checked right away.

As a mother, you will soon learn to differentiate your babies cries and it will be a lot easier to console him then.