Babies don't always cry big wet tears. Even better, tearless crying is not usually something you need to worry about.
Very young babies (under a month) don't have fully developed tear ducts, so it's common to see crying, or what looks like crying and fussing sans tears. However, sometimes older babies cry without tears as well. How come? Most studies show that tearless crying is less distressed than crying with tears. Maybe your baby is fussy, annoyed, sort of hungry, or tired, and crying is her way of saying so, but she's not in any sort of real distress or pain, so the tears are absent. You should pay attention to any sort of crying your baby does, but when the tears come, you know she means business. The only time no tears should be a concern is if your baby hasn't been eating well, has been sick, or has symptoms of illness (fever, pain, rash, and so on). In this case, she may be lacking tears due to dehydration. In rare cases a tear duct might be blocked, but it's less common in babies. If you have any concerns about tearless crying simply give your pediatrician a quick call.
