Tips for a Fussy Infant??

Cut dairy and soy. Little tummy's gripe. Football hold (carry on ARM facedown. I have a 10 week old, same fussiness. Is getting better. He's on zantac, been adjusted by Chiro, found he loves to be swaddled tight. Good luck!

My daughter is now 18-months old, but she had severe colic as an infant. I tried just about everything mentioned here, and none of it helped. She was just colicky, and that was that. I completely agree with B.P.'s comment. My daughter came into this world with her eyes open, and that seems to be the metaphor for her still -- the most common thing people said about her when she was an infant was how "alert" she was, and now it's how "observant" she is.

The only thing that actually stopped the crying was, believe it or not, running a vacuum cleaner. So, I borrowed one and kept one in two different rooms of the house. I even downloaded an .mp3 called Colic Sweep, which was just constant vacuum noise. I know it sounds weird, but apparently, it sounds like the womb.

The only real advice I have is to just have faith in the fact that it DOES end. All the books and articles we read said it ends at 3 months, and sure enough it did -- like clockwork. My husband said it was as if someone came into our house in the middle of the night and switched babies. :)

I know these days are VERY rough, but our daughter is now (FINALLY) a happy girl who sleeps very well.

how about a swing or bouncy chair? harvey karp (the happiest baby on the block) says the first 3 months are like the 4th trimester. they miss being in the womb. put the swing on high. my son was 3 weeks old when a lactation consultant visited and told me to put him in the swing and put it on high. i was hesitant before because i didn't want him to be addicted to it. well, he loved it and took naps in it.

I would definitely cut dairy from your diet. I won't tell you my long story : ) you can read my other posts if you are interested. : ) Congrats on your new little guy!

My now 3 year old was the same way. It SUCKS. No other way to say it. But it does get better. I read the Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child book and some of what he says helped, some didn't, but the main thing I took from it is affirmation that some babies are just like that. He pretty much splits his advice up by 2 types of babies - "Normal fussy" and "Extreme fussy/colic." So I just accepted that my son was in the latter category and survived. I'm not good at just going with the flow; I was constantly trying to figure him out, if we had a good day I'd rack my brain for what I'd done that could have helped and vice versa for a bad day, and at the end of the day very little of that thinking helped. Just time. I did feel that the concept of him getting overtired was applicable and I did find that putting him to sleep at the first tiny sign of being sleepy helped. But otherwise, I just put a mental check-mark each day, week, month that I was still alive and half-sane and eventually it stopped. I now have a 2 month old...I was terrified of going back to the life we had when my older one was a baby but thank God this one seems to be in the "normal fussy" category and things are much better. They're all so different.

I think this fussiness peaks around week 8 for lots of babies, my son was like this. Have you tried nursing him instead of bottles? My son wouldn't take a paci but found that breastfeeding was incredibly soothing for him. I let him sleep in his carseat and that really helped. You are smart to cut our dairy, I was late in the game when I realized my son has an allergy. He was just irritable and could not be easily consoled, but it does get better. Every child is soothed by something different, keep trying and then do whatever works to help him get over this difficult time. Do not try to fight it. I personally think that colic (assuming it's not an allergy) is the result of an immmature neuro system. Some babies are just too alert. My son is very observant and as a baby, he just couldn't shut it off. It will get better, just try to stay calm...I know, it hard!

If you have tried all of that then I think the next logical step is cutting things from your diet. Keep a food journal and see if that helps. Also remember they go through these growth stages where they just dont want anything and want to cry. I had 3 fussy boys and I feel your pain. During the day try a ERGO Baby Front carrier, he is close to you but you can still get up and get things done if needed. Good Luck and Congrats.

Our ped recommended holding him upright for 10-15 minutes after feeding to help things settle. I ended up giving up all dairy to help with the bf. It seemed to help, however, that might just have been that he was due to get better on his own. by 3 months, he was fine on all counts.

My 2 month old is like this too... we do a lot of comfort nursing in addition to LOTS of nursing session for feeding and co-sleeping. From month 1 to 2 he's improved in leaps and bounds and I moderately stopped eating so much broccoli/cauliflower, dairy, breads/gluten. His gassiness has improved the last month and he started smiling and cooing about 2 weeks ago which made a HUGE improvement to my mood in regards to his fussiness.

I'd also use gripe water and stagger with gas drops in the beginning... now it's not needed as much.

Be sure you're burping him long enough and firmly enough. When you are patting his back, you should really be putting a little oomph behind those pats. You'll find those soft pats and rubbing won't cut it.

I also suggest....the dryer. Before feeding time, put a load of laundry into the washer. When he won't settle, put those clothes into the dryer and put him in his carseat or a basket of clean clothes (put a towel over the clothes to protect them from spitup!)...and put him right on the dryer as it's going. The hum and vibration are wonderful for calming babies!