Newborns have tiny tummies—and a biological desire to be near you. Crying is a biological way to communicate their needs. Growth spurts can add extra wakings as well.

“In [the] early weeks, assume all crying is hunger, and offer the breast or bottle until your baby is well above birth weight and tracking on the growth chart,” Dr. Jones says. “If they are fed and full, then there are just a few other things that are causing the night waking.”

While you should always peek or sniff for a dirty diaper, not every night waking requires a diaper change.

“At our eight-week visit, my pediatrician, a mother of four, told me to check for saturation by squeezing the center of the diaper,” says one mother who used to change her daughter during every night waking session. “If it wasn’t full, I could leave it, nurse, and go back to sleep. If only I’d known that from the start!”

Many parents unknowingly over-burp their newborn. While some babies find burping soothing, there’s no evidence that it reduces colic, or even that built-up gas causes fussiness or reflux. Some pediatricians even say patting a baby with a full stomach is what causes them to spit up.

One mom simply massages circles on her baby’s upright back for a few seconds after breastfeeding, then puts her baby back to sleep. The take home message: Unless your baby responds well to burping, chances are that you’re over-burping them. Not every baby, nor every feeding, requires it.

For the first few months, the Moro reflex—a normal involuntary response to sound or other stimulation—can cause babies to startle, roll over, and find themselves in uncomfortable sleeping positions. Their pacifier or finger may also fall out of their mouth, prompting them to wake up and cry.

As you learn your baby’s different cries, you may be able to differentiate sounds of self-soothing versus hunger. In these instances, Dr. Jones says, your baby is saying, “I’m helpless! Pick me up!” How you respond is up to you.

Sometimes babies make noises or cry between sleep cycles during what’s called a “partial wakening.” Whether to immediately respond is a personal choice.

Dr. Manisha Panchal, a pediatrician, says it’s safe to let babies cry one minute for every week of life—i.e. 5 minutes for a 5-week-old. If they fall back asleep on their own, they likely didn’t have any needs for you to address.

Sometimes babies wake up and just want to know that you're there.

“If they wake up, and can’t smell you or feel your breath on them, they might scream,” Dr. Jones says. “They cannot see. They can’t understand language. Sometimes they might even fake it to get food, when really they just want you.”