Colic?

kristinyoung111

I can't figure out what is going on here. For about the past two weeks, from about 7 pm to 9 pm, sometimes until 10 pm, my LO will start being extremely fussy and start crying. She sometimes will be calmed down if she is held constantly, but not always. She isn't hungry, she isn't clusterfeeding. She doesn't seem to be gassy. I haven't changed my diet. This seems to only happen when she is home with my husband ( I work Sunday through Thursday, she is fine Friday and Saturday). It is trying my husband nuts.

Emerald27

This is very common and normal. Many babies are fussy in the evening hours before bedtime. After a full day of stimulation, they've had it, and on top of all that, mama's supply is lowest in the evening.

"Contact, carry, walk" is the adage of soothing the fussy baby. As much skin to skin as you can give will help lower her stress hormone levels.

Remember, a crying baby who is being held is less stressed than a crying baby who is left to cry alone when his parents have run out of ideas. So even if she can't be soothed, do skin to skin anyway.

Whether in a carrier or just in your arms, walking around with baby, and bouncing her, can help soothe her too. There's also the "colic hold" which can soothe fussy babies. DHs are really good for this one:



Here are some more ideas for soothing fussy babies:
https://www.llli.org/docs/0000000000000001WAB/WAB_Tear_sheet_Toolkit/09_fussybabyideas.pdf

Technically, "colic" is described as 3 or more hours daily of nonstop, inconsolable crying. Your DD may have colic, or she may suffer from the common "fussy baby in the evening" syndrome.

To rule out other causes, here are a couple questions:

1. Is she often gassy or does she spit up painfully/excessively?

2. Does she have lots of good poopy diapers, and what color is the poop? (Green and frothy can be a sign of tummy troubles and allergies)

3. How old is DD?

4. Is she just fussy at this time of day, or is she unusually fussy at other times too?

JJ_13

Is your LO 19 weeks old (based on your siggy)? IF so, it's not colic if this has just started up.

Second all of Emerald's suggestions on soothing.

I would  also suggest an earlier bedtime and more daytime sleep. Fusiness in the evening hours is often a sign of hyperstimulation and tiredness. Many daddies, as wonderful as they are, are often guilty of hyperstimulation. :-) Most babies that age should be getting between 14 and 16 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period.

Hang in there. Good luck! 

musicalmama5

JJ_13 said:

Is your LO 19 weeks old (based on your siggy)? IF so, it's not colic if this has just started up.

Second all of Emerald's suggestions on soothing.

I would  also suggest an earlier bedtime and more daytime sleep. Fusiness in the evening hours is often a sign of hyperstimulation and tiredness. Many daddies, as wonderful as they are, are often guilty of hyperstimulation. :-) Most babies that age should be getting between 14 and 16 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period.

Hang in there. Good luck! 

Ummm yes! This is so my DH. DS will be tired and therefore cranky, and what does DH do? Nothing calming or soothing, but all this crazy stuff that winds him up even more! And then I wonder why my baby is hyper and fights sleep all the time....

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the post. 

If you have a carrier, I'd suggest going out for an evening stroll during the fussy period. This is what I do. It's the only way I can calm DS enough to go to bed. After his bath/lotion/massage/PJ's, I put him in the Ergo and we walk around the neighborhood for 30 minutes or so. (this is also my time to catch up on phone calls since my family all live far away) By the time we get home, he's relaxed enough to nurse and fall asleep. Sometimes a change of scenery goes a long way in calming a LO.

kristinyoung111

Yeah, she is 19 weeks old. She definitely needs more daytime sleep, I'm sure. She is a cat napper and usually only naps for 30 minutes max. I have finally started to get her to go down for an hour and a half if I put her down at 12:40 ish but it isn't consistent yet. She sleeps great through the night though!

That is SO true about DH's! He loves playing with her, and I think he has a hard time resisting trying to play when she needs to settle down.

She isn't too gassy, less so than she use to be actually. Her poops are good, not frothy, normal yellow brown color. She isn't really fussy other times of day unless she has a fever. She was finally fussy for me during these hours last night, I couldn't figure out for sure what was wrong. She seemed to be better after we played on the floor and looked at books. I'm having a hard time figuring out a way for her to go to sleep without requiring nursing. Sometimes it almost seems like she gets upset in the evening because she doesn't get to nurse when I'm at work in the evening, so she is mad that she can't go to sleep. Sometimes she has stayed up until I got home (way too late, I get home about 10:30 pm).

Emerald27

@kristinyoung111 19 weeks is too old for "colic", really. Babies tend to have colic as newborns and age out of it between 3 and 4 months.

I'd have her evening caregiver give the suggestions above a try, because it's likely overstimulation and she wants to snuggle and nurse, and she's grumpy because you're not available.

I wouldn't worry about her being able to fall asleep for YOU without nursing. She will distinguish between caregivers pretty easily, and it's always going to be comforting and natural for her to fall asleep for you while nursing. Instead, I'd give her evening caregiver a few suggestions to try, and see if they can't work out a system for falling asleep that works well specifically for the two of them.

For example, my DS always nurses to sleep with me, but if he's with DH, DH will either wear him and go for a long walk outside or he'll rock him, rub his back and hum. Of course DS would prefer to be nursing and snuggling with mama, but he knows that this is how he falls asleep with DH.

So I'd suggest some things like that to her caregiver, let them find their own rhythm, and not worry about making sure you do the same. Just enjoy your LO.

kristinyoung111

Wow, she has gotten much worse this week. She is screaming bloody murder for hours at a time until she exhausts herself (we arent doing CIO, this is when she is being held, etc.). She isn't responding to anything he is trying to get her to bed. Sometimes she wears herself out enough to take a quick nap but she wakes up again an hour later. It seems like she is wanting to wait to go to bed until I get home and fighting to stay up, regardless of what pain is causes her. Im at a loss. I cant change my schedule yet.

kristinyoung111

Nope, no ear infection, no illness. The only thing we can think of is that she is tired and wants me to be there before she goes to sleep. She is fine when I am home with her.

kristinyoung111

Its ok =[ I was under the impression this kind of stuff didnt happen until children developed object permanence. Apparently that is not true!