I remember that in the early days as a father many people were surprised to see my first child cry crying tears: "What a penite! If you even cry with tears ...", they said. To what I was a little confused, because of course, the normal thing when one cries is that tears fall.
Well, then over time, when I finished pediatrics, I learned that babies cry without tears. Not all, because you see that mine had them, but most. And if you wonder why, as I asked myself, I explain it to you right now.
The tear ducts, barely open
The explanation is very simple. We all have a system that generates tears so that the eye is constantly moist and the eyelids can slide over it. This system begins to produce mansalva when we cry. Babies have some of the ducts through which the tears are still quite closed and therefore They cry without us seeing the tears come out of their eyes.
Occasionally, the ducts are so clogged, so closed, that not even enough tears sprout to keep the eyes in good condition, occurring secretions and, in case of infection, conjunctivitis. It may also happen that there is a constant tearing, a consequence of which the ducts that must collect the tears produced are closed and do not function, leaving the tears in the eye and leaving out for overflow.
"Look how he cheats you, he doesn't even get tears"
Once explained that babies do not cry with tears for a temporary anatomical issue, since as time passes the tears appear without problems, I want to emphasize that The absence of tears has nothing to do with the presence or absence of suffering.
I have come to hear people say "look how he cheats you, that he doesn't even get tears", like comparing a crying baby with an older child who says "buaaaa, buaaa" without any tears in his eyes. One pretends, but the other does not, so that is why it seems important to me that parents know that, even if there are no tears, if a baby cries, you have to attend.
