naturheilzentrum blog: get healthy via the screaming scale

it’s the tone that makes the music - cause and effect

hello! my name is annette rinkewitz and i have been working at naturheilzentrum bottrop for many years. as a trained businesswoman, i take care of all sorts of administrative matters. our patients come from germany and abroad. laws and regulations in the health system change constantly. there is plenty to deal with here.

i like to be equally active in my free time. i walk and go cycling with my husband. i love taking walks with our dog, paddy, but what i enjoy most of all, as a grandmother, is to look after our grandchildren.

parents’ criticism of what grandma already knew

as a grandmother, i naturally like to pass on tips. although it has definitely been a while since i raised my own children, i have not, of course, forgotten anything. grandparents can observe one problem or another with a bit more distance and can give good advice every now and then, if so desired. a big issue with newborns was and always has been the screaming. should we let them scream for a while? or take care of it directly? is screaming important for the child’s development or does it even deliver pain relief in the case of bloating?

i found a british study, which my colleague, the naturopath, monika haase drew my attention to here at work, to be very interesting. this study revealed that babies in various countries scream for different lengths of time. during the first few weeks of life, babies in germany and denmark were found to cry for fewer minutes per day on average than, for example, in the uk or canada. the reasons for this are not yet known and will be investigated in more detail.

experience shows that calmness can be transferred to children

exciting additional information was provided by the creators of the study. around 40% of baby cries in the first months of life cannot be quelled at all, since they are not related to a direct need, such as hunger or boredom. and the calmer the parents remain, the shorter the total length of time that the child spends screaming will be.

that explains a lot. how many times in previous years have i taken one of our grandchildren in my arms when he/she screamed and cried. and how many times did my daughter and, especially, my son-in-law wonder why the baby calmed down immediately? many families know this phenomenon. children are quieter with grandma and grandpa.

this may also be because we do not get as flustered by a baby crying as the parents of the newborn do. through our life experience and our own parenting, we know that all the screaming will soon be over.

did you already know? an infant’s cry is monotonous

incidentally, there is no scientific evidence that parents can identify the reasons for a baby crying on the basis of the acoustics. whether it’s from hunger, pain, boredom, fatigue or feeling unwell - the cry of a child is always the same, only the intensity of his/her screaming varies.

i find that to be a great relief for parents and grandparents. maintaining peace, creating physical closeness, perhaps singing something or caressing the baby gently - all this is often more helpful than immediately rushing to find out what the ultimate cause of the crying is. the bottle can then wait in the kitchen.

screaming is natural - good for a long life

by the way, have you heard of naki-sumo, the screaming contest? it doesn’t matter if you haven’t. i wasn’t aware of it either, until my two favorite bosses, the bottrop-based naturopaths farid zitoun & christian rüger, told me about it. the competition is held every year in several regions of japan. parents even pay a participation fee so that their children can be there. newborns are meant to scream at each other here in a duel. the child who screams the loudest and longest wins.

according to this over 400-year-old tradition, participation in the ceremony brings good luck and a long life to the newborn and his/her family.

this event sounds a bit mean to me. especially because i know from naturheilzentrum bottrop that babies do not need to scream in order to train and strengthen their lungs. in any case, i am very happy that we do not have such an event in germany.

daily practice - from screech alarms to cries of joy

as i write this text, i look forward to our grandchildren’s next visit. it should take place without any screaming because our loved ones are already too big for that. nevertheless, this does not mean that it never happens. there could be, for example, an untidy room or homework that hasn’t been done, or a broken cell phone or or or ... and then we would move right on to the next stage: screaming can sometimes be very liberating, can’t it?

you’ll find more on the subject of screaming in the nabo news under the title of "screaming on a rollercoaster while intoxicated by the speed - is that normal or even healthy?" by the way: you will also find a whole youtube video there and other lifestyle and health tips. it's best to subscribe immediately so you do not miss anything. but first   click here  

anyway, it would now interest me to know: what makes you scream? regardless of whether it’s a dog, rollercoaster, child, football stadium, or husband. i'm looking forward to reading your comments :-)