3 week old and the witching hour

[snowangel182]

I need to know if anyone else experienced this with their babe - every day at around 2:00 pm my little girl, who is normally pretty peaceful and content, turns a 180 and becomes fairly inconsolable and fusses for the next two hours. I cant coax her into sleeping and she refuses to nurse...so i just hold her and try my best to keep her calm. Is this "normal" ? It brings me to tears everyday....

Any suggestions? What am i doing wrong?

[jess5377]

You're not doing anything wrong. It sounds like you're doing everything right.

Look on the bright side - at least it's predictable

Seriously though, I get a mid-day fussy too and I just swaddle her in an arms only/double swaddle and then pop her in my wrap (any carrier, doesn't have to be a wrap or just holding her works too) and bounce, sway, etc. I'm not saying that's going to work for your baby, but it seems to work for this one.

[Gimme Pineapple]

*raises hand* My 5 week old boy is so calm usually, but most evenings at 6:30, he becomes another baby. Crying, fussing, inconsolable. I think he gets bored. I have been working on preventing it before it starts. Today at 5:30, I put him in the Moby and we went to get the mail and hung out on the porch for a bit. Then I put on Pandora (internet radio) and swayed and sang. No fussiness at all! And he took a good nap.

[firewoman]

My calm baby was like that, too. It lessened around 7 weeks old and then completely went away. She is a very calm, easy baby now. Anytime a baby gets like that I'm all for changing the environment while keeping it calm. I feel that very young babies are easily overstimulated so with a fussy one like that I would put her in the wrap and go outside. Even if you have to stay in your yard/driveway. There are different sounds/temperatures outside and as long as it isn't really noisy it gets their attention and can stop the inconsolable crying. A bath can do the same thing and may settlr baby down enough to nurse. Good luck!

[buttercups.nest]

I have found that putting babe in the mei tai and pacing the halls, bouncing him etc is what works. I would go outside for a walk with the toddler but its still chilly here! I also try and change the scenery for me...put on some music, or a tv show, it gets rid of my stress and if he's feeding off my stress, makes things easier for him too!

I like what a PP said about being proactive and changing things before his fussiness starts....really good idea! I'll try that too

[orangatan]

Aw, yes, us too!
Come 4:30 pm you'll find me in the dark bathroom, bouncing on a ball, babe in sling, hairdryer on...I'll be out at around 5pm with my lovely sleeping baby...but as soon as I hit light and are away from the hairdryer, ds starts screaming...so back in I go till dinnertime.

This was my routine from about 2 weeks till 7 weeks, pretty much every evening. Good thing I was too sleep deprived to remember it clearly, the memory is all hazy even though DS is just three months.

Not doing anything wrong!

[hakeber]

Ahhhh! I had this...she was sleeping three to five hour stretches and nursing then going back to sleep, then at about 1.5 weeks, she stopped and started waking up at 1 ish and not being able to go back to sleep until about 5 or 6am...about three hours before DS gets up for the day full of vigor and vim...this was not working for me.

Soooo...The night before last and last night I swaddled her good and tight (around 11pm) and she just drfited off to sleep while nursing, stirred at 3am, nursed in bed and went back to sleep, and again at 6am, and she is just waking up now at 8:30 with DS and me, and we are all well rested and happy to face the day...I am hoping this is not a fluke!

[BetsyS]

My first did this from 5-8pm every night for several weeks.

What finally helped was the time change. He was about 8 weeks old, so I think it was just coincidental. But, with the time change, I switched his bedtime to 7pm, and that seemed to do the trick.

Good luck! I know how frustrating it can be.

[honeybunmom]

Originally Posted by buttercups.nest

I have found that putting babe in the mei tai and pacing the halls, bouncing him etc is what works. I would go outside for a walk with the toddler but its still chilly here! I also try and change the scenery for me...put on some music, or a tv show, it gets rid of my stress and if he's feeding off my stress, makes things easier for him too!

I like what a PP said about being proactive and changing things before his fussiness starts....really good idea! I'll try that too

For my son it was 10:30 am (give or take) and 5-8 in the evening. I would pop him in the sling and run outside as fast as I could. We lived on a 3rd floor walk up last spring and, sometimes, by the time I got down to the first floor, he was asleep. It rarely took more than a walk around the block. And yes, on the still cold Chicago mornings, I was wrapping dd up, too, if necessary. She loved to get outside anyway and it was a good way to ward off her 3.5 year old tantrums.

[Abraisme]

This is totally normal. It should go away in a couple of weeks. My DD did it from 3-7w or so and now she's an easy going 5mo. You're doing great and at least it's not in the middle of the night!