Babies' cries

Last night on the train I was kept awake by a crying baby on my adjacent seat. Although I felt mildly irritated I was not perturbed too much as I had had enough sleep already, but the child's parents seemed a little embarrassed While they made their attempts to put the baby to sleep, a hitherto not pondered over thought came to my mind.

What's more disconcerting - a baby's cry or a baby's silence. A baby cries normally over relatively trivial matters like - hunger, wet diapers, unable to sleep or maybe a simple cry for attention. Seldom does it get any more serious than this. But for a baby his/her cries are the only means of communication. I am not a father yet, but I guess to a baby's parents those wails act more as a signal to take some action than anything else. In that respect I feel a baby's cries are reassuring to a parent's ear, simply due to the repetitive nature of the process. The only time you know your baby is not crying is when he is sleeping or playing or eating/drinking. But imagine the situation where a baby is silent and not doing either of the aforementioned things. Wouldn't that silence be more excruciating than the cries.

I don't know if I made it sound melodramatic, but this thought surely helped me fall asleep. I guess deep down we all are programmed to get used to babies crying, but its not quite the same when an adult cries. I have never had to sleep through an adult's cries, I hope none of us have to ...