Do all children cry at birth?

[vtxrider]

Our youngest daughter was born 14 weeks premature. It was not an emergency, but it was also not known more than a day prior to delivery.

They gave steroids to help with the lungs, but told us that she might not cry at birth due to being extremely premature.

So definitely those that are premature and do not have fully developed lungs do not always cry.

FTR, our daughter did cry out at birth and that made my wife start to cry (we were not sure she would survive delivery, so it was a very happy time.

Also FTR, she is a happy healthy 17 yr old starting her senior yr in HS. Her lungs are quite good.

[Guinastasia]

@Broomstick

According to my mother I didn’t cry at birth. She was panic-stricken, thinking I was stillborn, until the doctor flicked the bottom of my foot. I went “wah!” and was quiet again.

Now my parents said I started crying before I was even half-way out. I don’t know if that’s actually possible, but that’s what they told me.

[Exapno_Mapcase]

@Pleonast

An emotion is a type of involuntary response. Perhaps you mean to say there’s no cognition involved.

That doesn’t sound right to me.
Merriam-Webster

Definition of emotion
1
a obsolete : disturbance
b : excitement
2
a : the affective aspect of consciousness : feeling
b : a state of feeling
c : a conscious mental reaction (such as anger or fear) subjectively experienced as strong feeling usually directed toward a specific object and typically accompanied by physiological and behavioral changes in the body

MediLexicon

emotion[ē-mō′shŭn]

Type:Term

Definitions

1. A strong feeling, aroused mental state, or intense state of drive or unrest, which may be directed toward a definite object and is evidenced in both behavior and in psychological changes, with accompanying autonomic nervous system manifestations.

I’m not seeing anything that equates emotion with an involuntary response.

[Hilarity_N.Suze]

All my babies made noises. They were little soft cries, except in the case of the last one who was quite loud (C-section–I was very happy to hear it, since I couldn’t see him). My granddaughter whose very quick birth I also attended (home birth, not planned that way) made little noises prompting the EMT (or whatever he was) on the phone to say that things sounded fine and just keep them that way till the squad got there.

For awhile it looked like my second son had only got a B+ on his first test and I was outraged. He had perfect Apgars. I’m sitting there, stewing saying, “Why not an A? Or an A+?” Eventually enough of my mind returned to realize that was his blood type.

[Waxwinged]

Anecdotally, mine kind of squeaked quietly (this weird two-toned pitch that sounds like sad chuckles and seems characteristic of newborns) rather than cried/screamed outright.

[Pleonast]

@Exapno_Mapcase

I’m not seeing anything that equates emotion with an involuntary response.

Some definitions from EMOTION Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com

@Random House Dictionary

an affective state of consciousness in which joy, sorrow, fear, hate, or the like, is experienced, as distinguished from cognitive and volitional states of consciousness.

@Stedman's Medical Dictionary

An intense mental state that arises subjectively rather than through conscious effort and is often accompanied by physiological changes.

@American Heritage Science Dictionary

A psychological state that arises spontaneously rather than through conscious effort and is sometimes accompanied by physiological changes; a feeling.

An emotion is not caused by conscious effort, cognition, or volition. I call that an “involuntary response”.

And colloquially, no one ever talks about choosing their emotions. Instead, people say how something caused them to feel a certain way.

A newborn baby has no volition or self awareness, but they can certainly have emotions.

[Isilder]

Stands to reason the bub may be quite intent on going back to sleep at the time of birth.

Just been starved of oxygen.

Both my sons were rather sleepy on arrival to the outside.

but there might be womb for error …

[Nava]

@Pleonast

A newborn baby has no volition or self awareness, but they can certainly have emotions.

OK, but that doesn’t imply that the crying is more of an emotional response (an expression of sadness or rage) than a reflex response. The OP seemed to believe that babies cry as an emotional response.

[Pleonast]

@Nava

@Pleonast

A newborn baby has no volition or self awareness, but they can certainly have emotions.

OK, but that doesn’t imply that the crying is more of an emotional response (an expression of sadness or rage) than a reflex response. The OP seemed to believe that babies cry as an emotional response.

I’m not sure reflex vs emotion is a meaningful distinction in a baby, when there’s no way to gain insight into their mental state. A self-aware person will call an involuntary physical response a reflex while an involuntary mental response an emotion. And we can project the same distinction on others.

But is a newborn baby crying because of reflex (like suckling) or emotion (like fear) or something in between (like discomfort)? It’s not straightforward to project one’s own experiences onto a newborn when their body (especially their brain) is so different.

I don’t think it’s possible to rule out either reflex or emotion as descriptors for newborn crying.