Reading the signs that your baby’s in pain
Until relatively recently, doctors believed that babies didn’t feel pain in the same way as older children and adults. However, more recent research proves that babies feel pain as much as anyone else – in fact, they may be even more sensitive than adults to pain. You may find it hard to tell whether, and where, your baby is hurting, but here are a few signs that you can learn to read:
- Listen to her cries. Your baby’s pain cry is likely different from her other cries. Pain cries are often loud, high-pitched, urgent, and continuous. If you find it difficult to understand what the cries mean, work it out systematically by eliminating other causes of discomfort, such as those listed in the preceding section. If none of these things seems to be the problem, she may be trying to tell you that she’s hurting.
- Check her body language. As well as crying, your baby will give you clues about how she’s feeling by the way she moves her body. If she writhes around in an agitated manner, making involuntary movements with her arms and feet or pulling her legs up to her tummy, then she may be feeling pain. An older baby may touch the area that’s hurting or withdraw when you try to touch the painful area.
- Watch her face. Certain facial signs may suggest that your baby is crying because she’s in pain. Look out for her frowning and squeezing her eyes together and creating a bulge of flesh between the eyebrows, shutting her eyes tightly, or pulling her mouth taut, horizontally and vertically, causing deep creases running down from the nostril edges to the mouth.
If your baby’s crying because she’s ill, she’ll likely display other symptoms as well, such as fever (temperature over 37.5°C/99.5°F), diarrhoea, rapid shallow breathing, and vomiting. She may also show behavioural changes, such as fretfulness, clinginess, or refusing food.
If you’re at all concerned about your baby’s health, call your GP, especially if your baby:
- Doesn’t want to move or be moved by you
- Has blood in her poo or urine
- Vomits or has diarrhoea for more than 24 hours
- Is floppy and listless
- Has a bulging or sunken fontanelle (the soft spot on the top of her head)
- Has a fever (temperature over 37.5°C/99.5°F) and/or a rash, or has a temperature but his hands and feet are cold
- Has mottled skin
Give your doctor as much information as possible about your baby’s symptoms, as this makes it easier for the doctor to make a diagnosis.
Most GP surgeries no longer look after their patients out of hours. But you can phone NHS Direct (0845-4647) 24 hours a day for advice.
