Many parents think that children usually cry to "undermine parental authority". This is a common belief amongst American parents. Most American parents punish a child who cries over every little thing. The fact of the matter is that children never cry to "undermine parental authority".
The Bible, in terms of the text, commands a secure attachment between parent and child. See Colossians 3:20 KJV:
Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.
The Greek root word translated "obey" is υπακουο (Latin: hupakouo) and is better translated as "trust", as in "trust your parents in all things". This commandment refers to secure rest in the Agape love of parents. Ultimately, this commandment refers to a secure attachment between parent and child in the family home. The biblical context, when used as a guidepost, tells us how to form a secure bond with your child. A good place to start is to respond to the every cry of a child.
Whenever children growing up in the Early Church cried, mother cooed before picking up the child, and from there, she diagnosed the need before meeting it. Maybe the child was tired. Maybe the child was hungry. Maybe the child needed mom's milk. Maybe the child needed mom's milk. Maybe, the child needed mom, period. Whatever the child needed, they got it.
Customary law in the Early Church understood five basic categories of needs behind the child's cries; food, water, shelter, transportation, and attachment - and the greatest of these needs is attachment! Sleep was conflated with attachment then, as co-sleeping was the norm in the Early Church. But, usually, all a child needs is YOU.
Crying, at any age, is developmentally appropriate behavior. Most children cry in order to communicate a vulnerable need that needs being met. Christian parents in the Early Church knew more than parents today that crying wasn't anything personal with a child. Children just needed to confide in parents for their needs in the only way they knew how.
The depraved and entitled parents who provoke their children to anger through punishing crying in children will not inherit the Kingdom of God! Let them descend into the ever-burning Hell of fire and torment, suffering the second death which is the lake of fire and burning sulfur! Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!
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