Crying every evening - wind? Overstimulation?

[Laucu]

I am at a loss with my baby! I never had this with my other two kids.

My baby will be 5 weeks tomorrow and since birth she has fussed, cried and strained every evening between 6ish and midnight.

During the day she is generally quite happy but does fight sleep. The only way we can guarantee a decent nap is if we take her out in the pram. However the horrendous evenings seem to occur whether she's had a good or bad day of napping. It doesn't seem to make a difference.

I am desperate for some kind of routine so have started bath, bottle and bed, but she just does not settle to sleep. She loves her bath and is very calm but as soon as I try to get her settled for sleep she starts writhing in my arms, if I do get her to sleep it's a very fidgety sleep and she wakes up and gets upset as soon as I put her down in her cot! I pick her up again, repeat the process but this goes on for hours...I eventually give up and go down to the living room with her once my other two kids are in bed.

She does eventually conk out once we feed her, anywhere between 10pm and midnight. (We do feed her on and off all evening).

What on earth is bothering her? Wind? Overstimulation?

She is bottle fed with Aptamil and Dr Browns bottles.

 

[jessmke]

My LO was like that around that age, but only from about 8-10 pm so it was more bearable. For her it was a combination of the "witching hour" and gas, it lasted about 2 weeks and then she was able to pass gas more easily on her own and the sensation of the gas didn't bother her as much and she stopped being so fussy. From what I've read it's pretty common at that age and usually gets better by 8 weeks at the latest. For us it happened from 3-6 weeks and then stopped. Hang in there!

What really helped my LO calm down was to lay her across my lap on her stomach and pat her back quite firmly alternating hands (like playing the bongos). The pressure on their stomach helps with gas and to calm their central nervous system, and rhythmic patting is soothing as well.

Could you wear her in a wrap in the evenings instead of putting her down in her cot until this passes?

 

[Laucu]

Thanks.

I tried a sling and she hated it!!!

 

[Laucu]

By some small miracle she has just fallen asleep by herself in her Moses basket, in the living room. I'm not sure how long it will last but it's a start!

 

[Cupcake9596]

My DD can be quite hard to settle for sleep also - the fidgeting sounds very familiar. I'd say the bath, bottle, bed routine is definitely a good start! Stick with it and she should soon learn to associate it with going to sleep at night. Have you thought about using a dummy? I also find that helps to settle LO, and once she's in a deep sleep, it usually falls out and she won't realise lol

 

[Laucu]

I spoke too soon, she woke up crying after 5 minutes! She's now sleeping in my arms, which is still an improvement on previous nights. I gave her some gripe water earlier.


Yes she has a dummy, but spits it out half the time!!

 

[EarthMama]

My baby is 6 weeks and we have the fussing and straining here too in the evenings! Drives me crazy, just can't wait until he's easier to settle at night.

 

[Bevziibubble]

I have this with my son. He tends to get so overstimulated by the end of the day. He's exhausted but won't switch off. Sometimes he just screams himself to sleep on me because he's in such a state, even though I'm holding him he just can't calm down. Sometimes lying down in a dark room with him on my chest will help as they like the sound of the heartbeat.

 

[DaisyDreamer]

I've spoken to my ped about this and she had to say that fussiness starts around 4-5 weeks, can peak at 8 weeks, plateaus then goes down after 3 months. Are there certain things you have done that calm her? PP has some good suggestions, I know that Z was a little tricky, he likes to be chest to chest, chest to shoulder and bounced. He even sleeps on his tummy hissy so that's one thing.

Another is trying a bath bottle bed routine but don't beat yourself up if it doesn't work. Also, around this time is the 6 week growth spurt, she could be hitting it early. It will pass!! Might seem endless but as you and your baby get to know each other you will fall into a semipredictable rhythm

Good luck!!

 

[Laucu]

Well we had a bit more of a successful night - she conked out at 8:30 and I was able to have an evening!

It was down to sheer luck I think, and something they just have to grow out of.

 

[Bevziibubble]

Glad last night was a bit better and hope it continues

 

[Marumi]

Mine both did this and it was a mix of discomfort, overstimulation and needing mommy.
Babys don't produce adequate amounts of melatonin yet. Dimming lights as much as possible after nightfall and turning off TV can help with that. Also my lo's start getting sleepy after it gets dark so atm that means a later bed time than in winter.
Discomfort could be gas or a silent reflux. They want to be comforted so to say. And both my babys sleep much better with me. My first would never sleep until I began to cosleep and he became the best sleeper.
My 2nd has tummy aches and reflux and just constantly needs to be comforted and help sleeping. He wakes often but settles as soon as I pat his back and comfort him.
Hope that makes sense..