What does your 3-month-old want?

[pastrygirl]

He's awake from his nap, fed, burped, and has a fresh diaper. Your 3-month-old is still fussing a bit, but not crying. What does he want?

[MadiMamacita]

comfort nursing, or to walk around.

[elmh23]

With my dd, she'd want to be nursing again (that kid was rarely off the boob until she was like 18m!) With ds, he'd have wanted to be put down or to have someone moving him around.

[Louisep]

Another nap. DS still napped the day away at that age. After a feed and diaper change and perhaps ten minutes of play, he was in need of another nap.

[pastrygirl]

These are all great ideas. Thanks!

[texaspeach]

a walk outside

[larzanna]

Mine would have wanted a change of scenary....a walk, a different room, a short errand.....and then another nap.

[BekahMomToOliver]

to be popped in the sling or Kozy, so they can either see what's going on around them, or fall asleep again against mama.

[ElliesMomma]

i vote comfort nursing. it's my go-to for everything. if it's once in a blue blue moon and he pulls off and still fusses, then i'll try something else. but comfort nursing works 99.9 percent of the time for us.

[bajamergrrl]

Mine would want more nursing, another nap or a change of scenery. However, most of the time more nursing is the answer.

[dislocator3972]

When I try to nurse my DD (also 3 months) and it's not what she wants, she gets almost violent with my nipple! Lots of yanking and twisting and weird stuff, lol.

If she's fussing after all you've done, I give her a view of the Christmas lights, the TV ( - what can I say, she LOVES the TV!), or we play 'flying baby' and I raise her over my head a few times.

Or every once in a while, she calms down when she sees her daddy. I don't think she's established object permanence yet but she does love DH.

Good luck!

[samikashi]

Maybe he wants to just look at you! My guy thrives big time on eye contact and conversation.

[BirthKathy]

To be upright, or off the floor. He got bored laying down all the time.

A change of scenery. Going or looking outside is great. I used to put his swing in front of our back door at this age.

To pee or poo in the potty. This was the biggest reason for fussing at that age for us.

[Limabean1975]

Originally Posted by BirthKathy

To pee or poo in the potty. This was the biggest reason for fussing at that age for us.

[Limabean1975]

Originally Posted by BirthKathy

To pee or poo in the potty. This was the biggest reason for fussing at that age for us.

[pastrygirl]

We don't do much comfort nursing around here. I have overactive letdown and oversupply, and he has reflux. It makes for a bad combination! If he comfort nurses, he ends up constantly barfing the rest of the day. He makes it pretty clear that he doesn't want to nurse. Or rather, that he wants to, but fights it. That's when I know he's had enough. (He's over 15 pounds at 3 months old, so I know he's thriving. )

I wear him, carry him, or nurse him all day long, so he's hardly ever laying down. He'll go down for 30-minute catnaps in the crib, though. When I wear him, he'll sleep for 2 to 3 hours, so maybe if he's fussing after a crib catnap, he really does want another nap. I hadn't thought to try getting him back to sleep.

My older son was fussy/cranky, too, but I don't remember at all what I did with him all day! It's different now, having a baby and a 3-year-old. I can't devote all my time to the baby anymore...

[Limabean1975]

Originally Posted by pastrygirl

My older son was fussy/cranky, too, but I don't remember at all what I did with him all day! It's different now, having a baby and a 3-year-old. I can't devote all my time to the baby anymore...

I know, eh? I remember saying, when I had only DS, that I would absolutely not be able to give to a second child what I was giving to him. Fortuntely DD is an easier-going baby than he was, but still - she doesn't get as much attention as I'd like to give her, partially because DS is *still* quite needy!

[Llyra]

If it was my DD1, what she wanted would probably be more sleep, even if she just woke up. She was a big sleeper, and she'd surprise me by wanting to sleep only ten minutes after she just woke up.

DS would have wanted cuddles and some comfort nursing, and maybe a nice walk outside on mama. He's my cuddly baby, and when he fussed, it was mostly for affection and holding.

DD2 probably wanted to be put down on the floor so she could kick and look around. She was a floor baby, in a big way, even early on.

[pastrygirl]

I tried out these suggestions... and the winner is... more sleep! He only naps for at most 30 minutes in the crib, which I guess isn't long enough for him. My older son took 30-minute naps when he was a baby but he always woke up happy and rested, so it worked for him. Caleb wakes up crying, so I guess it's not working for him!

I try to wear him for naps, too, but it doesn't always help. He's sometimes just as restless in the wrap even if I'm walking/bouncing/etc. Sometimes I get a 2-hour nap that way, though!