Night Time Fussiness

My suggestion would be to start trying to feed her earlier/put her down(to bed )earlier. She sounds like my first daughter. If I let her get too tired in the evenings, she wouldn't eat, screamed through the bath she usually enjoyed and then wouldn't even fall asleep without a fight b/c she was soo tired. You have to get her at the first eye rub! Good Luck.

My son was the same way. He is now almost 4 months, but around the time of his 2 month check-up I started having similar problem. Then, he started throwing up a significant amount at each feeding. We were told it was reflux and it can be worst at certain times of the day. Supposedly, it is like having major heartburn and babies arch their backs because the acid burns their throats. You might consider talking to your pediatrician....

Hello,

I'm not sure in what position she naps during the day (elevated at all in car seat or in sling?), but back arching is often a sign of reflux, so it's worth asking your doctor about it. My son suffered from reflux which only an ENT specialist diagnosed. He said it was common for the regular pediatricians to miss the diagnosis. Just a suggestion...good luck to you!

You didn't say what her routine was for bedtime but maybe change it up a bit and see if that helps. Maybe bathtime first and then feeding. Or it just could be a faze and it will pass with time.

One word colic my son had it for 3 months, try to find humphry's #3( probaly online I can look in a bit on my way out) also watch what you eat my culprit was peanut butter sandwiches for my son and cabbage for my daughter.Whatever makes you gassy may also upset her.The best advice I ever recieved was this to shall pass.:)

Babies routinely have a fussy period at sometime everyday, it seems like it's usually in the evening, we give my 7week old a nap around that time 6:30 to 8ish and then feed her when she is refreshed,put her back to bed and 1 last feeding at 11ish she's now sleeping thru the night till around 5 or 6. So maybe just try a nap my daughter sometimes cries for 10 to 15 minutes when i put her in for this nap but it is well needed this is one of her best naps during the day, it's worked with both my daughters so far hope maybe it will help you too, good luck. Oh yeah I also agree with what another mom said and has really worked well for me, feeding when they wake up then keeping the baby up for about an hour and then placing them down for a nap, in a 3-4 hour routine I know this is what helped my daughter fall into a sleeping thru the night routine.

get her evaluated for acid reflux. it kicks in around this age. my son is on zantac, and it really, really helped. keeping upright throughout the day and sleeping on stomach also helped.

Sounds like my colicky babies. She will eventually grow out of it, if that's what it is. Obviously, you will want to rule out other things, but if absolutely nothing (football hold, rocking, jiggling, nursing, singing, and on and on) works, it is probably colic. I've been there and I know it's hard, but try to enjoy the hours of bliss before the colicky time starts. And don't be afraid to say "I've had enough" and hand her off to dad or someone else. You need a break!

wow... this brought back memories. Both of my kids did this at around the same time... we called it "the witching hour". I wish I had a magic answer for you. In retrospect I think they were basically overtired/overstimulated and couldn't fall asleep. With my daughter we used to have to put on music and dance with her to get her to settle down! With my son, rocking worked. I guess it couldn't hurt to make sure she doesn't have reflux or something like that, but barring that, I'd try playing around with her sleep schedule... more naps? earlier bed time? This will pass... seems like for ever now, but will get easier before you know it.

Hi C.,

If it is colic you might need to change formulas. (I'm assuming she is formula fed since you mentioned a bottle...) Also, if it is colic avoid any type of pharmaceutical colic relief like Mylanta or Prevacid. All antacids give temporary relief but have a rebound effect so each episode with the colic/acid reflux is worse. They also train the stomach NOT to produce acid which is necessary to digest food. Lack of that acid can lead to dangerous things in later years, from simple tummy aches to kidney stones, colitis, polyps, Chron's, and cancer. You can consider me a living research paper, lol!

There are a lot of natural remedies like ginger, chamomile, and wild yam, for example. These can be purchased at the health store in liquid form. There are others also.

Hope I helped.

M.

Sometimes the night time fussiness is due to colic type babies. If you are taking in just one teaspoon of cow's milk, you'll need to stop that and any other foods that might cause discomfort for the baby. A lot of colicky type babies only fuss in the evening.

My daughter did something similar. About that same time, she figured out our bedtime routine. It didn't matter what we were doing...trying to feed, putting on PJs, reading...she would protest everything with crying, squirming, etc. We finally just let her fall asleep in our arms while playing or cuddling in the living room. She got over this in a few weeks and we were back to a schedule.

C.,

Welcome to parenthood. Welcome to infant colic. Come to think of it, welcome to reflux as well. Very common. Very difficult when you have such a new little one. We can all attest to that.

Things to try are (1) rocking your little girl in a "football" hold, and gently jostling her while doing so. Very rhythmic and soothing for them. Also try a "shushing" sound, almost like what the surf sounds like when it comes up on shore, very close to her ear. This is a type of "white noise" and helps a lot with a little one's crankiest momemts.

If it does turn out to be reflux, and only your ped can tell for sure, there are a few medications that help them a lot -- Xantac being one. It's in liquid form, and dispensed just like Tylenol would be -- with a dropper.

Also, don't be afraid to pass her off, if you can, to your partner. She won't die of crying, and it might conserve a bit of your sanity. This tends to relieve itseld after about six months or so, so content yourself with the fact that it's not permanent.

Good luck.

E.

After four children I know how difficult it is to get them to sleep at the right times. For me personally I would feed them when they woke up and try to keep them up for at least an hour after they ate then let them sleep for an hour or so and wake them up and feed again that would happen every 3 to 4 hours. I nursed all the babies. Things change like teething that messes things up but generally they seemed to do good. One thing I used was the gas drops. That seemed to help and with the arching of the back she may have gas. I really liked the result of the drops. I know some said it didn't help their baby but I saw good results.
God bless you C.. These days fly by and even though it is hard right now it will be gone before you know it. My baby is now almost 4. My oldest just turned 11. It truly is zooming.
Love on her a lot.

my daughter had the same problem. she may have acidrefulx. my doctor said arching of the back indicates that the baby is in pain due the the refulx. i would ask your doctor. after we started giving her medicine she did better at night. good luck!

I'm due with my fourth and I've found that all my babies go through a stage at 2-3 months when they are fussy almost every evening. It only lasts a few weeks. Just try to make your baby as comfortable as possible while it lasts.

I have a 9 week old too! She did the same thing around the same time at night(8 for us), and I've discovered that if I don't put her to bed at 8, she will get very fussy, and like yours, she is a very calm, quiet baby. If I miss the time and she gets fussy, we put her in a sling, and she's out like a light.