When it comes to communication, a child's tools are few and blunt. This is particularly true of infants and pre-verbal children. The result? Lots of crying. In a general sense, crying is a great way to let parents and caregivers know that something is up, but good luck figuring out exactly what. The kicker is that, sometimes, a kid isn't exactly clear what they want or need either, which just results in more tears and frustration for all involved. Things can get challenging and, as a result, there are weird things every mom does when her kid won't stop crying.
If you are reading this article in an attempt to figure out ways to make a child stop crying, I'll spare you some time by honestly telling you: I've got nothing for you. I've been a mom for five years now and, in all my 43,800 hours of experience, I have not found out the key to reliably make a crying child stop crying when they are determined to keep it up and cannot articulate their ailment. I suspect this is because there is no reliable (humane) way to accomplish this. Criers gonna cry, dudes.
But in that time I have discovered some excellent (if strange) coping mechanisms to help get you through such fits of childish emotions. In talking (read: lamenting and/or begging for any and all advice) to other moms, I've realized that many of us have discovered these strategies independent of one another. If I may, I'd like to share some of those with you now: