"Evening Colic" Anyone? - Page 2

[gradstudentmommy]

I've tried getting my guy down for the night at 6:30 or 7:00 but he won't sleep by himself. He'll doze off and on if I'm wearing him (in between he wakes up screaming). I've been trying to get him to take lots of naps in the day but this week he stopped napping on his own and will only nap while being worn. I guess he realized, "Hey, why sleep all by myself when all I have to do is cry, and I get to nap snuggled up next to mommy all day."

But he's still been sleeping great at night so I can't complain. It's just hard because DH works nights and it's hard to get dinner and bath and bedtime for my 3 year old when the baby is crying so loudly.

When DD was this age we'd go to sleep for the night at 6:30 but now that I have two kids and a DH who works at night, it's not an option.

Evenings are seriously killing me...

[porcelina]

Originally Posted by gradstudentmommy

I've tried getting my guy down for the night at 6:30 or 7:00 but he won't sleep by himself. He'll doze off and on if I'm wearing him (in between he wakes up screaming). I've been trying to get him to take lots of naps in the day but this week he stopped napping on his own and will only nap while being worn. I guess he realized, "Hey, why sleep all by myself when all I have to do is cry, and I get to nap snuggled up next to mommy all day."

But he's still been sleeping great at night so I can't complain. It's just hard because DH works nights and it's hard to get dinner and bath and bedtime for my 3 year old when the baby is crying so loudly.

When DD was this age we'd go to sleep for the night at 6:30 but now that I have two kids and a DH who works at night, it's not an option.

Evenings are seriously killing me...

OMG, I don't know how you do it! DH tried to get out for a dinner with his colleagues one night, and he never made it out because it was so impossible to put down my 34 month old with a crying baby!! Huge hugs to you for this impossible task!!

Our LO has become more and more of an evening screamer. However, he's with DH while I put down DS1 for the night, and I can hear him screaming. Then, I come down, and he calms. Not instantly, and not completely, but it's like a whole different level. After all that we went through when DS1 was a high needs baby, I just have a level of calm now through the crying that I didn't have last time, and I think this baby senses that. DH on the other hand is becoming desperate. Last night, he practically threw LO to me when I came down he was so frustrated. I think we're going to try switching tonight, so I put down baby while DH puts down DS1...

[gradstudentmommy]

Thanks for the validation Porcelina. It's nice to know I'm not just a complete wimp about parenting at night by myself.

My little guy has been getting increasingly more fussy. Last night he slept in the sling for 4 hours from 7:30-11:30 and then in bed for 2 1/2 but then he was up for 2 hours and kept crying and screaming. And he's fussier during the day.

I had two cups of coffee yesterday. Normally I only have one. I was thinking of giving it up (though I'm loathe to do that because it's the highlight of my day). But maybe the baby is sensitive to caffeine.

I too am doing better with the crying than I did with DD but it still bothers me.

My child sleep book said fussiness peaks at 5-6 weaks and Kellan is 5 weeks today so hopefully this is temporary. Even the the magic boobies wouldn't soothe him!

But after a hard night and no coffee, boy am I cranky today!

[reneeisorym]

We go through the witching hour every night at 9:00-10:30. I read that putting her to bed earlier might fix it. I tried last night putting her to bed at 8:00 and we skipped the evening colic completely. I was excited and I was telling a friend and she asked "What are you going to do when daylight savings time hits?" ... Now I'm back to square one.
I can keep putting her to bed at 8 but 8 will be 9 in two weeks. Today I am trying to adjust her whole day an hour later and see if it works. Dad gets up at 5 and I usually feed her then. I get her up again at 8:00 for the day. This morning I woke her up for the day at 9:00 (ok she woke me up at 8:57). Maybe I can trick her into thinking I'm putting her to bed at 8:00 today by shifting the whole day forward an hour. And I secretly loved the extra hour of sleep. In two weeks when the time changes we will have already changed. I'll just have to hope she sleeps until 5 (6 daylight savings time) when DH gets up.

[bri276]

Idk if it's colic or what, but she nurses nonstop from about 7-11 and is ver very unhappy if there isn't a boob in her mouth the entire time. She kicks her legs and acts frstrated and hungry, but even a couple ounces of pumped milk doesn't calm her down. it's hard because I can never eat dinner like a normal person. we're supposed to go over my mom's fri nite so people can finally see the baby and I'm sure I'm just going to end up holed away nursing Fussy McCriesalot the majority of the night.

she also never, ever sleeps without being held.

[bri276]

also, I might be the biggest idiot in the world, but what do you guys mean by "put them to bed earlier" in this age group? I know how to do it with an older kid but for my babies they've just slept when and where they wanted to pretty much regardless of what I do.

[Kelly1101]

I don't think the actual numerical time matters at all... the baby can't read the clock

I think the big thing is just to make sure they aren't awake for super-long stretches. If Ozzy has been awake for two hours, I will actively try to get him to sleep.

[LoveToBeMom]

just the thread i wanted to see. i'm glad to hear all the ideas and moms in the same boat.

[LoveToBeMom]

...subscribing to this thread!

[Lit Chick]

Yesterday DS2 was "colicky" and it's because he did not nap well. He had one glorious morning nap, and then was fitful for the rest of the day (pretty much because I had DS1 as well and thus was rushing getting my sleeping baby off me). Here's hoping today is better!

[birthjunkie27]

Ugh me too! My little guy is 5.5 wks and he starts being fussy around 6 but it peaks from 7-9. If I'm lucky he'll fall asleep for short 5 min naps here and there in between all of the crying, rocking, bouncing, feeding, etc.... but then at about 9-9:15 he conks out for the night (on me, on the couch). I'll fall asleep with him there until about midnight or 1 while bf is playing video games. When bf is ready for bed he'll change baby's diaper and then we'll all move to the bedroom.

I remember thinking that my last baby was starving (ie I thought I wasn't producing enough milk) when she was 5 wks but in retrospect maybe she had the evening colic thing too.

[porcelina]

IMO, putting them to bed earlier in this age group means decreasing the stimulation, having them in a dark room, or with just dim lights, and working to soothe them into a calm sleep. With DS1, we would just keep him downstairs and try to get him to stop crying, to no avail, during the witching hour. With DS2, it's remarkable. All he does is scream with DH if he has him from 7-9. With me, he settles down. I take him into the room where he will be sleeping, lights off, and bounce him on the exercise ball until he falls asleep. If I wait until the deep sleep (after the REM), then I can put him down, and he stays down.

That said, yesterday he slept practically the entire day. I tried waking him at 5 to change his diaper and get him up for a bit so he'd sleep, but all he did was cry and look tired, so I let him go back to sleep. Then, we had our "witching hour" from about 10-12. That was no fun!

On the other hand, yesterday I had some peanut butter, which I hadn't had in about a week. A friend of mine whose LO had sensitivity to dairy and soy (which I've eliminated) also had sensitivity to nuts, so I think I'm going to eliminate nuts from my diet to see if he goes back to those calm evenings!

[gabbyraja]

Originally Posted by porcelina

IMO, putting them to bed earlier in this age group means decreasing the stimulation, having them in a dark room, or with just dim lights, and working to soothe them into a calm sleep.

Yep. It's a good time to begin building your bedtime routine. Around 7:00 turn down lights, give a bath, a massage, put on the nighttime diaper and pjs, etc. Then swaddle, turn off lights and nurse to sleep in mommy's bed (at least that's how we do it here in my house ). That usually ends up with baby asleep between 7:30 and 8.

When daylight savings time hits I will begin at 6:00 and every night or two I will move it later by 15 minutes or so (per NCSS). 15 minute increments at a time are imperceptible to baby, apparently.

[gabbyraja]

Originally Posted by porcelina

A friend of mine whose LO had sensitivity to dairy and soy (which I've eliminated) also had sensitivity to nuts, so I think I'm going to eliminate nuts from my diet to see if he goes back to those calm evenings!

Peanuts are not nuts. They are legumes, like soy beans and peas. If you think LO's allergic to peanuts you would also want to consider eliminating those things.

[porcelina]

Originally Posted by gabbyraja

Peanuts are not nuts. They are legumes, like soy beans and peas. If you think LO's allergic to peanuts you would also want to consider eliminating those things.

Thank you for this!! In fact, he reacted after I ate beans in his 2nd or 3rd week, so that is totally consistent. I will look up what else to stay away from! In fact, he had green mucusy poo and I was wondering what it could besince I'm dairy/soy free (though the other day I realized there was some soybean oil in a store bought hummos I had eaten -- stuff is hidden everywhere!).

[gabbyraja]

No problem! Here's a good resource to find related foods/food families.
http://www.calgaryallergy.ca/Article.../botanical.htm

[mangopaco]

We found a pretty good way to make evening colic go away with our baby. NOTE: I'm sure this is not going to work with everyone, each baby is different, but just in case...

Dr. Sears in one of his articles recommended a few things that we do all at once:
- dim the lights
- white noise - I hold Santi and take him to the kitchen and turn on the kitchen fan
- do the evening colic dance - it's a one-two-bounce step... "and a one and a two and a one and a two," kicking out the heel of your foot when you come up from the bounce
- shushing over baby's head - something about the shush and the air breathed unto the top of the head, calms him down

When we do these four things together, he's usually out withing 5-10 minutes. You do have to put up with some of the loudest screaming ever, some pounding, pushing away, etc. But that goes away after about 5 minutes. Patience is key.

I keep it up until he's been asleep for a full five minutes. Meanwhile my wife uses this time to get ready for bed. I'll bring him to her in bed and sometimes he wakes up, calmly, to nurse, and sometimes he just keeps sleeping.

Of course, if evening colic comes back, and sometimes it does, start all over again. But for some reason this formula works for us.

[porcelina]

Originally Posted by mangopaco

We found a pretty good way to make evening colic go away with our baby. NOTE: I'm sure this is not going to work with everyone, each baby is different, but just in case...

Dr. Sears in one of his articles recommended a few things that we do all at once:
- dim the lights
- white noise - I hold Santi and take him to the kitchen and turn on the kitchen fan
- do the evening colic dance - it's a one-two-bounce step... "and a one and a two and a one and a two," kicking out the heel of your foot when you come up from the bounce
- shushing over baby's head - something about the shush and the air breathed unto the top of the head, calms him down

When we do these four things together, he's usually out withing 5-10 minutes. You do have to put up with some of the loudest screaming ever, some pounding, pushing away, etc. But that goes away after about 5 minutes. Patience is key.

I keep it up until he's been asleep for a full five minutes. Meanwhile my wife uses this time to get ready for bed. I'll bring him to her in bed and sometimes he wakes up, calmly, to nurse, and sometimes he just keeps sleeping.

Of course, if evening colic comes back, and sometimes it does, start all over again. But for some reason this formula works for us.

Thanks Christian. I so applaud you for being so active with your wife and LO! And, for reading Dr. Sears!!

What works for us is very similar -- dim/dark room, bounce on exercise ball (that's a bit lower impact than having to dance, but does kill the back after 30 mins which is what it often takes us), pacifier (if accepts), side or up on chest position, swaddle (sometimes), shushing, and sometimes, finding a position where his eyes are shaded to decrease stimulation (another option would be a nursing cover). This is a fail-proof method for us, though sometimes it can take a while, especially if he's been sleeping a long time before starting this routine. We also try to get him down by around 7, 7.30, though sometimes he has something else in mind and we end up doing this at 8 or 9.

Our problems are burps, reflux, gas and poo. Sometimes after nursing he is all worked up. Some time on the ball usually relaxes him, and burps come out. Sometimes, he gets some reflux in his mouth and chomps on it (doesn't come all the way out). He'll be almost asleep, or has just entered REM, and then his little face gets all twisted and uncomfortable, and he starts to cry. This happens several times before he can finally sleep, poor little guy! Hence, the 30+ minutes sometimes on the ball...

[jee'smom]

"put them to bed earlier" to me meant that i put them to sleep in my bed at 8pm, instead of 9-10, when i would go to bed. i use to just let my babies fall asleep whereever i was, and then they went to bed with me. but #2 and 3 started showing clear signs of being unhappy... screaming all of the time... etc. around 8pm. so i started nursing them to sleep in my bed around 7:30-8pm, and it worked!!! they fell asleep and everyone was happy (i just couldn't be stuck out with them after 7pm... WOW!!!)

[gradstudentmommy]

Originally Posted by xekomaya

It wouldn't be "evening colic" if its 11-4am right? <sigh> Our new drama is reflux. 3 hours of sleep and a non-napping toddler does not leave for a happy mama.

My DS just got diagnosed with reflux. He doesn't like the swing or bouncy seat much so I'm just holding him upright for a long time after he eats. This is a pain in the butt in the middle of the night but it seems to be helping him. It's a bummer that we can no longer just nurse lying down and then both fall asleep. I HAVE to burp him. Bummer. But there are worse things.

He is six weeks today and this is the first time he hasn't cried all evening long. He just cluster fed for a few hours then fell asleep in my Moby.