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The Ten Medical Red Alerts Your Doctor Will Consider
Whenever a doctor sees a crying baby who exhibits any red-flag
symptoms, she tries to determine whether this indicates one of these ten
serious—but treatable—medical conditions. Please remember, most of
these conditions are very, very rare. (Excluding babies who cry because
of food sensitivity or acid reflux less than one percent of infants with
severe, persistent crying are affected by the problems listed below.)
1. Infection: From Ear Infections to Appendicitis
You might think the best way to tell if your baby has an
infection is to take her temperature, but many sick newborns
don’t get fevers. So even if your crying baby doesn’t have fever,
you should consider that her fussiness may be a sign of
infection if she acts lethargic or irritable for more than a few
hours. Call your doctor immediately. He may check her for:
Ear Infection—These babies may just get fussy and
upset; they rarely pull on their ears.
Urine Infection—These babies can have smelly urine,
but usually don’t.

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Brain Infection (meningitis)—These infants have
bulging soft spots, vomiting, lethargy, and irritability
that rapidly worsens over just a day or two.
Appendicitis—Extremely rare in infants, it may cause
a hard stomach, poor appetite, and constant
irritability. Intestinal Infection—A baby with “stomach
flu” vomits, has diarrhea, and usually has been in
contact with a sick relative.
2. Intestinal Pain: From Intestinal Blockages to Stomach Acid
Reflux
Some stomach problems cause pain and may explain crying
in ten to fifteen percent of colicky infants (in descending order
of seriousness):
Intestinal Blockage—This is an extremely rare
medical emergency that may occur right after birth or
weeks later. Babies suffer from waves of severe painful
spasms plus vomiting and/or the cessation of pooping.
With intestinal blockages, the vomit often has a
distinct yellow or green tint. (During the first days of
life, a breast-fed baby’s vomit may also be yellow,
because that is the color of colostrum. However, if
your baby has yellow vomit, never assume it’s from
your milk. Immediately consult your doctor to make
sure it isn’t the sign of a more serious condition.)