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> Babies are also almost completely unable to move around by themselves and are constantly frustrated by their lack of agency. They are extremely vulnerable and
by fipar 2y ago
> Babies are also almost completely unable to move around by themselves and are constantly frustrated by their lack of agency. They are extremely vulnerable and utterly dependent on the kindness of their parents and other older humans in their environment. They lack language so have no other way of communicating than screaming, which is often also a cause of great distress because of an inability to communicate a basic need (and on that note, even knowing what those needs are half of the time, given that the ability to make sense of ones own senses is still being developed).
While mine did certainly scream when they were hungry (or annoyed, or bored, or I picked the wrong red crayon, etc.), they also had non-screaming verbal communication.
Both my kids started "talking" very early (I wanna say within the first or, at most, second month of being born, but "and we'll remember this when we are old and ancient though the specifics might be vague". In any case, definitely while babies), it's just that we (obviously?) didn't understand them. But they had a very definite "language" of different sounds, which was also different between them if we compare it.
Screaming is a good way for babies to get attention, but it's certainly not the only one!
- throwaway314155 2y ago> Both my kids started "talking" very early (I wanna say within the first or, at most, second month of being born... Well sure if you just redefine what talking is...
- fipar 2y agoThat's why it's quoted, but you knew that already :)
- throwaway314155 2y agoSorry about that. Was in a rotten mood. No excuse though.
- spcebar 2y agoThe technical term is babbling! It's a step on the road to acquiring language and it occurs in different phases at different ages for different infants. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babbling https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babbling
- Seb-C 2y agoI have a 10 days-old baby and I've learned a lot about their communication lately. It is true that there are many other cues, like opening their mouth, trying to suck or lick anything around. My son gets agitated in his sleep quite some time before he actually starts to scream. Interestingly, in many languages it is very common (or even normal) to say that a baby is "crying". But babies are not actually crying. There is no tear or sadness involved. It's a primitive form of communication, aimed at signaling a need and creating a sense of urgency to caregivers, but it's different from crying. I'm still very new to this, but there are also different nuances and pitches within their communication. "I am hungry" and "I am too cold and that makes me feel in danger" are notably different and achieves to communicate a very different sense of urgency.
- frankthedog 2y agoSounds like you’re doing great and picking up a lot from your little one already. Congratulations to you all. It’s extremely rewarding.