Difficult evenings

[Shifter]

Jack has been feeding better and better every day, which is wonderful, but he is falling into a pattern of having trouble in the evenings. He will only feed for very short periods, then won't settle; he just screams if we put him in his crib or grizzles if we lay him on his play mat in the room with us. He needs constant cuddling between about 4 and 7-8pm when he feeds well again and settles down in his crib good as gold for about four hours.

Any ideas/advice?

 

[thelilbump]

i'm not sure but maybe he's a bit collicy? they say it's most frequent between 6pm and 11pm. my daughter suffered about 5-8pm. infacol worked a treat for us

 

[Mervs Mum]

Does sound colicy. Hebe had it at about 3 weeks but it only lasted a week or two max.

I used Infacol but I found Gripe water more effective. They say it can be used from a month but I just figured if she'd been born a week early shed be a month old and no one would have said not to!! It's not got alcohol in it anymore anyway. So we used it after feeds for a week to 10 days and she did massive burps and then she started to settle more at that time.

My MIL is convinced that babys have 'a time of the day' - meaning a time when no matter what they are grizzly and it's usually early evenings. But then again my MIL also bought Hebe some chocolate for Easter so what the hell goes on in her head sometimes, goodness only knows....

 

[Shifter]

Thanks guys. I know that colic is often thrown around as an explanation too often... when to say it really is the problem? Hmm. Will get some Infacol and Gripe Water in and see how he is tomorrow evening. Thanks again

 

[jms895]

Interesting, Caine is the same at night and I never thought it was colic, thought he was just a piggie..... I thought colic came a bit later on and normally with ff babies?

He eats that much at night he is sick a bit, maybe he has a bit of tummy ache then confusing him to think he is hungry and wants more milk?
I have got some infacol upstairs but no idea what to do with it? He doesnt burp much.....

 

[Mervs Mum]

Interesting, Caine is the same at night and I never thought it was colic, thought he was just a piggie..... I thought colic came a bit later on and normally with ff babies?

He eats that much at night he is sick a bit, maybe he has a bit of tummy ache then confusing him to think he is hungry and wants more milk?
I have got some infacol upstairs but no idea what to do with it? He doesnt burp much.....

I think it's a bit of a myth about BF babies not getting colic - I think MWs use it as another way to 'sell' BFing. Both my babes had it to different degrees - Hebe was about 3 weeks old an d it only lasted a week or 2 tops. I think you said your let down if quiet fast and that can (not always BTW) lead to colicy symptoms and yes I agree they sometimes may have a bit of belly ache and think they are hungry - I never got the hang of recognising that I have to admit
For Infacol to be effective, it needs to be used before every feed to form a lining in the stomach. I used it with Emily & Hebe but I found gripe water gave much better burps with Hebe and she seemed to get rid of the problem much quicker

 

[jms895]

So infacol, I have not read the box yet but assume you just give them a squirt in the mouth?

Will add gripe water to my list of shopping! Ooooooh I love gripe water

 

[Mervs Mum]

Yah - Infacol has a little pipet in the top and they have a squeeze full in the mouth. Gripe water says from a month but I used from 3 weeks as I figured when could have been born a week early and then I'd have used it! It's only peppermint water really anyway. I used to get her to lap it out of the bottle lid!!! I setrilised the lid though...

 

[Shifter]

Well I'm satisfied that Jack doesn't have colic. He had another evening of crying, but an extra feed sorted him out! It was a really long one too, half an hour on one breast and 25 mins on the other! I know that my milk supply isn't always great in the evenings, so I think his ~5pm feed isn't fully satisfying him and he's getting hungry again an hour or so later.

He is becoming quite a cuddly little boy, cuddles almost always stop his crying when feeding doesn't seem to be required. From what I understand colic is the uncontrolled screaming that nothing seems to soothe.

 

[beancounter]

that was my understanding too shifter. Finn gets wizzly but is easily soothed- I didnt find that infacol did much about this. Cuddles, walks in the buggy to some extent and being in the sling all helped. On the plus side, Finn seems to be growing out of this clingyness, and has started taking naps in his crib and going to bed at 7 or 8. Earlier bed time improves his mood throughout the day, because he warbles when he gets over tired.