Understanding your baby

Right from the start I've been told that I'll get to understand what DD's crying means and that, with her body language, will tell me what she wants from life.

Fair enough, I thought, if everyone says it happens, how hard can it be?

Hmmmmmmmmmm, pretty damn impossible it would appear. I've decided she's actually tapped into the Greek half of her make up to do the crying so me as the English parent has no idea what it all means.

I've been reading a book (something I didn't think I'd resort to but more of that next post) and it lists the types of crying that babies do. Great, I can read the book and figure her out.

So, first of all, the hungry cry. It goes waaa, waaa, waaa in a rhythmic kind of way apparently and can get stronger and more persistant the longer it's ignored. So basically sounds like crying no?

The tired cry. That goes waaa, waaa, waaa in a slightly less rhythmic kind of way and gets stronger and more persistant quicker than the hungry cry. So basically that one sounds like crying too no?

The book even says that the tired cry is often easy to mistake for the hungry cry.

Okay, so it also discusses body language, maybe that'll help. For example, if the baby is making sucking noises or sucking it's fist it's hungry.

Unless of course it's not hungry in which case the sucking is just relieving it's need to suckle.

So the book advises you to couple the body language with the crying type. If the baby is sucking and making the hungry cry, it's hungry. If it's sucking and making the tired cry it needs to suckle and be put down so it can sleep.

Anyone else see the fundamental problem I have with all of this??????

I didn't even get as far as the bored cry, or any of the other examples listed as I figure they all must go waaa, waaa, waaa in a rhythmic kind of a way and sound like crying.....

Maybe I'm missing subtle nuances and I should really pay closer attention, or maybe I should do what I'm resorting to at the moment. If she's crying and has eaten within the last three hours, she ain't hungry, she's tired or bored. If she's crying and has eaten within the last three hours and she ain't yawning, she's bored.

Maybe someone out there reading this can enlighten me further on this whole issue, or maybe I'm expecting too much from a six week old relationship and one day soon it's all gonna fall in place.......