I have a 7 week old baby boy. Every night from 6-11pm he is extremely fussy. I can't put him down for a nap until he finally goes to sleep at around 11pm. I have tried to sing to him, hold him, hushing in his ear, gripe water, and letting him cry it out. He doesn't like to be swaddled since he kicks during his fussy time. The only thing that seems to work is putting him in his automatic swinging chair. I just don't want him to rely on the chair since we cannot bring it with us everywhere. Any suggestions?
Well, last night went a bit better. My baby got a good nap in the late afternoon which helped his mood when he woke up. He seemed to enjoy sitting infront of the t.v in his bouncy chair and when he got fussy I put him in his swing chair and he fell asleep until his next feeding. I did this twice last night before he went to bed. Thanks for all of your advice.
I believe that is very common. My daughter went through the same thing. Relief is right around the corner. About the 2-3 month mark it subsided.
Best advice: Get the DVD Happiest Baby on the Block. (Ther's a book, but the DVD is quicker to get through, and you'll see the "tricks" in action.) It's indispensable! We got the DVD too late (it's most useful for babies up to 4mos), but I am a believer! Our daughter was fussy from 6-9pm at around the same age (she's now 1 yr.). My mom was visiting and thought the problem was simply that she was tired. So, we tried putting her down for the night as early as 6pm, thinking there was no way she would go and that she would be down for the night. She did! And was! She would wake up to nurse again every 3-4 hours, but she started sleeping right through the witching hour! It was amazing! In her case, we think she was so fussy because she got OVERtired. And once they get overtired, their bodies kick into overdrive, releasing hormones that essentially fight sleep at all costs, leaving them more miserable.
I think all babies have a fussy time in the evening, but you might not have to endure it for long...
Check out Happiest Baby... and Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. They will help.
Fussy wasn't the word I'd use for my son. He had colic from 10 days old to 5 months and was particularly bad from 9-11pm and from 4-6am and from 3-6pm and so on. During these times we would do the baby dance..rocking and swaying.
Use the swing chair if it works (forget the dependency they are too young to be manipulative)and take it everyhwere you can!
What really helped calm my son was infant massage..and its something both you and your husband can do. There are some good books on it.
Hang in there..this phase will pass.
My son had the same problem. I took a class at El Camino Hospital called the New Mom's Support Group. It helped so much to have the support of others with babies the same age. I would recommend going to a similar class. It saved my sanity and now my son has plenty of friends his age. Anyway, the teacher showed me how to use a good sized baby blanket to swing the baby. With two people you can put the baby in the blanket lengthwise and both hold onto two corners of the blanket and swing it. I found it helpful to tie knots on the corners of the blanket for a better grip. If you are alone you can tie one end of the blanket to something and swing the baby on your own. I used a Full sized flat sheet folded in half and tied to our crib. 10 minutes of swinging and he was asleep. If he didn't fall asleep after nursing (he usually didn't) I had a back up plan. We ended up using the swinging for going to sleep until he was almost one, but not everyday. He eventually outgrew it. He never liked our automatic swing, you can't use most of them past about 4 months anyway. Good luck!
He's in a phase. I have three boys, 5, 4 and 10 months. That phase you're in will pass. All my boys went thru it. It started about three/four weeks and lasted until about 8 weeks. It's tiresome, I know. But, he'll get over. I'm not kidding, one day - it'll be gone. Use, the chair and anything that will soothe him. And, like another lady said earlier, what works now, won't work in the future. And, just when you think you got one thing down, it'll then turn into something else. You just gotta keep being creative!
I agree with the lady that said use the swing if it works! Most likely, it will only work for a while so do what you have to! Babies (And kids for that matter) go through phases and what works today won't work next week and what makes them fuss today won't bother them tomorrow. I think you should use what works to keep yourself sane. Sane is a good thing to be when you're a mom! Hang in there. The world is brand new to him, give him some time to adjust!
Hi E.,
Your son sounds just like my daughter. I took her to the doctor's because I thought something was wrong. Nope, she just had colic. My daughter never liked to be swaddled and hated her swing. I used to put on the Snugli and sometimes it would help. The other thing that would calm her down was if I held her while bouncing on an exercise ball. I read somewhere that newborns prefer the up & down motion to rocking. It seem to help her. At about 9-10 weeks the crying stopped. I have since read that they are doing studies about colic and have found that colicky babies treated with probiotics seem to have less crying. They even make formula with probiotics now. I highly recommend getting the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby" by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. He also wrote a book called "Crybaby" (I think) As soon as my daughter's colic subsided, I started sleep training her and at 2 1/2 months old she was sleeping through the night in her own room. She is now 2 1/2 yrs old and still has a sensitive temperament which a lot of post colicky kids have. Feel free to email me anytime.
Good luck,
L.
i believe most moms can relate. all babies for the most part experience some fussiness in the evenings...your baby may be colicy. i used gripe water as well and it helped. it won't last forever, hang in there. i would use the chair if it works! good luck.
Might be colic... My twins had it bad!!!! I wouldn't describe it as fussy... more like CRAZY!!! Screaming... same thing... started around 5:30 in the evening... stopped at 10pm... one started about 2-3 weeks before the other... overlapped forever... then the other finished about 2-3 weeks after his brother... Anything that calms baby is fine... and not particularily habit forming...I wouldn't expect to be out and about with baby at this time.
I used gripe water, gas drops, and lots of rocking... I also put ear plugs in my ears to lower the volume for me... and often sat infront of the tv. on Mute... reading the programs... and rocking for those hours...Keep the phone and nursing needs near by.
He might have Colic. I use to put my son on his tummy across my knees and rub his back. That posistion helped his tummy.
