who has a fussy baby?

[meowee]

I do! Oh my does this little girl scream! I'm getting very stressed out from lack of sleep (last night was a very bad night ). I've had one other fussy baby but had more help from DH then. Now I'm pretty much on my own for baby care (he is not here at night).

Anyone else suffering?

[Autumn Breeze]

She has her fussy periods, and periods where she acts hungry (sucking things, rooting) but doesn't actually want to eat (will latch on, and let go crying)...

Since pinpointing her fussy period of day it's gotten better, I'm slightly more prepared for the fuss, but also have started giving mylicon drops a few hours before hand with feedings. Her fussiness seemed to be linked to gas, mostly because she'll eat and be so asleep that she doesn't burp, no matter what I do...so, a few hours later she's a tootin machine!

[meowee]

my baby will sleep and be peaceful all day, will nurse pretty well... and then somewhere around 1-3 am will just start screaming! She wil nurse, pull off, nurse, pull off, nurse so much she spits up/ throws up, screams some more. Ugh! And she kicks and squirms. This goes on for a couple hours.

So only 2 fussy babies for September? Lol. I have just one other who was this fussy (worse actually), out of five. The other three were peaceful, one never even cried!

[danaan]

Mine has been very fussy -- similar to how you others describe your babies. But today was so much better! I played with positioning when I nurse her. The Boppy pillow with me careful to sit upright and ling down on our sides both seem to work pretty well. All the stuff I gave her like gripe water and colic tabs just made her eject the contents of her stomach!

We went to Babies R Us today, and dh carried her in the Baby Bjorn. She screamed almost the entire time until we left. Then she was all alert -- was either her hat made her too hot or just blowing off steam from the higher stimulation than she's had at home.

It seems like every transition makes her scream -- new stuff, changing clothes, etc. I guess she's just learning to be a human being!

[Melaniee]

I think Dd has a dairy sensitivity. There are times, usually in the late evening, where we cannot get her to be comfortable, and she refuses to nurse. We've essentially had to force a pacifier on her (I feel so un-AP) and then she will settle immediately and usually fall asleep. She's so different from Ds, he took a paci and loved it. I have no affinity for the things but after having her scream or fuss from 9:30p-12:30a one night I gave in. She doesn't seem to want it, though it's hard to tell as she won't nurse until she settles either.

So far, I think I can attribute it to dairy though. One night I had eaten Pizza, one night ice cream, and last night I gave her dairy-based probiotics.

[matts_mamamama]

me! me! me! assuming you want to count the 1-3am I was up last night because he ate and then didn't want to go back to sleep and didn't want to be awake! Also, about 6pm for the last few days he's been just crying and fussing...the witching hour, I suppose

[meowee]

I am vegan, so I know it can't be dairy intolerance with my baby. With her the worst hours are at night but in general she is rather intense-- although she will sleep soundly during the day, which she doesn't at night. I was able to take her out to the mall a bit on the weekend, and she wasn't screaming her head off (well she did in one store, and I got a lot of "looks").

I am so exhausted from the constant night nursing. Ugh!!! I am waking up feeling worse than when I got to sleep.

Lol Melanie, about the pacifier. I am worse than you, I have considered getting one of those robot rockers : to keep her quiet at night so I can sleep. I have 4 other kids to care for and it's just not fair to them that they have a zombie mommy. But so far I'm just trying to persevere.

[Shell_Ell]

*raises hand*

I do!

Riley is such a crankypants! If he's not eating or sleeping, he's fussing. He has about 1 hour a day all totalled where he'll sit in the bouncy, in our arms, in the swing, or in his boppy and be content. My mom even commented the other day on how crabby he was.

[curlyfry]

Meilana's being a little fussbucket today. It's pretty out of character for her, since she's been so peacefel these last couple of weeks. We're going through that same "I wanna eat/don't wanna sleep/don't wanna be awake/wanna be rocked all day long" phase.

She just fell asleep in my arms (OHT) so we'll see how long this lasts *fingers crossed* Of course I'm terrified to move an inch, so I'm paralyzed in this position!

[musicmaj]

Ryan is quite fussy too, and it is an all day thing. If he isn't asleep or nursing, he is fussy and crying. He looks just like my dd, who was a high needs baby, and acts quite a bit like her too. I am so thankful for my sling and mei tai. He likes both of them and will stop crying as long as I am moving while wearing him. I think Ryan is gassy and I bet I will have to figure out which food I am eating that is causing his problems. I know he is getting enough milk. He nurses every 1 -1 1/2 hours and has many, many wet diapers. He acts satisfied when he is done nursing. He usually falls asleep for a few minutes (10-20) after nursing before he wakes up fussy again.

[imgr8ful]

my wee one gets a bit fussy at night - a friend suggested block nursing...

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...&postcount=136

it seemed to help last night, don't know if it was coincidence or not, but i'm going to keep it up

i *might* try gripe water, i've heard it works wonders for some babes...

[musicmaj]

What exactly is gripe water? I have never heard of it before. Is it for gas?

[Mama K]

oht
i do

crying again gotta go

[danaan]

We tried gripe water, but it seems to constipate her a little. Her poo is thicker and slimy. So we're not giving her any for a while to see if her elimination normalizes. It's supposed to be really safe, just herbal, but her digestive system is just so new. It is ginger and fennel in a glycerin solution, BTW.

I've been doing some craniosacral on her and that seems to help a lot. I am not an expert in pediatric craniosacral, but am a professional bodyworker. I recommend trying it if you can afford to, or can do it yourself. (Pediatric is a little different than adult, so look for a specialist).

I also just started reading the No Cry Sleep Solution. I'll let you know what I think. Anyone else read it?

[Mama2Mila]

Luca is a fussy one as well (another Sep.'05 babe). It started right after he was 2 weeks old. He's doing ok during the night, but during the day he's mostly fussy when he's awake. For him it seems to be a combination of spitting up (which bothers him a little I think) and being very gassy (which bothers him a lot). He loves being carried and will calm down relatively quickly if I do carry him...I'm feeling quite exhausted and also sad that he seems to have such a rough time .

Alex

[danaan]

Originally Posted by Mama2Mila

I'm feeling quite exhausted and also sad that he seems to have such a rough time .

YES. Some days Sophie is fine, but we're having a rough one. I suspect maybe the chocolate I ate, but WHO KNOWS??? It may just be her today. We had such a peaceful day yesterday. I feel so bad for her. She seems fussier on the days I am tired. Maybe she just picks up on my energy and magnifies it.

Yay for slings, is all I have to say.

[imgr8ful]

Originally Posted by danaan

I also just started reading the No Cry Sleep Solution. I'll let you know what I think. Anyone else read it?

it's a good one, lots of ideas to try - but takes some work :LOL

another good book is the happiest baby on the block by harvey karp - i read it before ds1 but he was so calm and easy, i didn't use much, i'm re-reading it now and using the ideas, the past few days have been sooo much better! i'll try to share them if i get a chance in the next week or so (parents are here now...)

[matts_mamamama]

is anyone using the exercise ball to bounce on? seems to work pretty well here - kind of exhausting though!

[nolajen]

Claudio has had some insanely fussy days!

I was wondering if it was a dairy thing, but am now suspecting chocolate. I do remember it making him extra active in the womb as well.

But I've also heard that at 5-6 weeks thay go through a fussy period - maybe related to growth. Who knows? It's all new to me! And hard to figure out with a demanding squeaky little babe.

He's been pretty gassy, which seems to be the root of the fussiness usually, and we've finally broken down and given him gas drops for the past few days, but I feel really guilty doing so. They seem to help, but he gets sleepy afterwards, so I feel like I'm drugging him. But maybe it's just giving him the relief to be able to sleep after a feeding which is what he used to do...

[imgr8ful]

Originally Posted by imgr8ful

it's a good one, lots of ideas to try - but takes some work :LOL

another good book is the happiest baby on the block by harvey karp - i read it before ds1 but he was so calm and easy, i didn't use much, i'm re-reading it now and using the ideas, the past few days have been sooo much better! i'll try to share them if i get a chance in the next week or so (parents are here now...)

this book has saved my sanity! i don't have time right now to share the whole theory, but the main idea is babies miss the womb - so use the 5 s's...

1 swaddling - needs to be tight! and w/ arms down, sling works the same as swaddling pretty much
2 side/stomach - more comfortable
3 shhhhhh'ing - sound they heard in the womb
4 swinging - jiggling, bouncing, whatever movement feels like the womb
5 sucking - on the breast, a pacifier, a finger, whatever

dade hates the process of getting wrapped up in the tight swaddle, but as soon as i pick him up and start moving, he's completely calm, it's like magic...he explains in detail how to do them all and do them all together, but combining 1, 2, & 4 always works for dade.

anyway, highly recc the book, easy read (i haven't finished it yet, he has tips for sleeping too at the end) - and it's not too late, most fussiness peaks around 6 weeks and then fades around 3 months when they're brains are a little more developed, their stomachs more mature, and the newborn reflexes have disappeared. hth