I remember when my sons were babies and they cried. I felt their pain so intensely it felt like my brain was spinning around in my head. When your baby cries, it shoots straight to your heart. That's nature's way of making you want to soothe and calm your baby. Now.

Babies cry at about 130 decibels. That's louder than a vacuum cleaner. And a lawn mower. And a chain saw.

In a given day, most babies cry for two to three hours. (They don't have hobbies, after all.) Babies cry for many reasons: They're hungry, tired or hot. They need to burp, be

changed, be swaddled. It's too loud. It's too quiet. It's a day of the week ending in Y.

Here's what our mommy M.D.s — doctors who are also mothers — did to calm their own crying babies.

"When my older daughter was a baby, she cried a lot," says Eva Ritvo, M.D., a mom of two grown daughters, psychiatrist and author of "Bekindr: The Transformative Power of Kindness" in Miami Beach, Florida. "I used skin-to-skin contact as often as I could. I took off her clothing, leaving her diaper on, and placed her on my chest. It helped to calm her down."

"When my babies cried, I made sure that they weren't hungry, and I changed their diapers," says Lillian Schapiro, M.D., a mom of three daughters and an OB-GYN in Atlanta. "If your baby cries, don't assume it's your fault! Remember that you are a good mommy and that you are doing things right."

"When my son was a baby, he cried a lot," says Judith Hellman, M.D., a mom of one son and a dermatologist in private practice in New York City. "He cried for hours and hours on end, and I couldn't figure out why. Looking back now, I'm sure that part of it was that as a baby, my son didn't have any other way to express himself other than crying. But back then, it made me an emotional wreck. I felt helpless.

"I'd put my son in his carriage and walk him around the hallways of our apartment building," Hellman continued. "If the weather was nice, I walked outside with him. Basically, I tried to cope with his crying as best I could. I sought advice from everyone I knew. Everyone had an opinion, but nothing helped. Finally, when my son was a few months old, he stopped crying."

"It's a common misconception that if you hold your newborn too much, he'll become spoiled," says Hana R. Solomon, M.D., a mom of four and grandmother of eight, a pediatrician and the author of "Clearing the Air One Nose at a Time: Caring for Your Personal Filter" in Columbia, Missouri. "That is untrue. Keep in mind that this is a tiny, brand-new human who has been living inside his mommy, listening to her heartbeat and voice for nine months. Then he pops out into this strange, huge world. Where do you think that baby wants to be? Where will he feel safe and comfortable?"

"In your baby's first few months of life, you should hold him, rock him, sing to him and make him feel as loved and as comfortable as possible," Solomon continues. "If a baby younger than three months old cries, he's crying for a reason. Newborns need to be swaddled and held tenderly but firmly, to mimic the in utero environment. When your baby is 10 months old, it's a different story ...

When to Call Your Doctor

It can be difficult to tell the difference between a baby's normal fussiness and more serious problems. If your baby is persistently irritable or has inconsolable crying jags, call your doctor. It's also important to call your pediatrician if your baby has fewer than six wet diapers in 24 hours. That could be a sign of dehydration and warrants medical attention.

Jennifer Bright is a mom of four sons, co-founder and CEO of family- and veteran- owned custom publisher Momosa Publishing, co-founder of the Mommy MD Guides team of 150+ mommy M.D.s, and co-author of "The Mommy MD Guide to the Toddler Years." She lives in Hellertown, Pennsylvania. To find out more about Jennifer Bright and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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