6-8 week peak of fussiness?

mkflower3000

I'm so frustrated... DD has always been slightly fussy, but over the past week has become increasingly so. She has a really bad period every evening around 7-10PM when she just cries and screams and seems unhappy with everything - she even cries while eating (we know that she doesn't have reflux, and we give her meds for colic, but nothing seems to work)! Now she's also started to be fussy in the mornings... I think it's too early for the next growth spurt (she won't even be 5 weeks until Saturday), but I have read that fussiness often peaks around 6-8 weeks and then starts to decrease.

I was wondering if this has been anyone experience too - a fussy newborn that became happier as time went on? Has anyone else's LO increased in fussiness and then started to improve after this 6-8 week period period? Did they seem to improve follwing the 6 week growth spurt, or sometime later?
I just want so badly to have a happy baby, and it seems like she's always angry about something! I still haven't felt like I could truly enjoy her, and now the only stretch of time when she was a lot more pleasant (the mornings and afternoons) seems to be diminishing too. I know that it's silly to set an age marker for myself like that, and that infants don't run by clocks and calendars, but I'm kind of desperate and grasping at straws here... 

TIA! 

ssumargo

Hi, I went through the same thing. LO would cry ALL THE TIME. I was going insane, and started wondering if I was going through postpartum depression. Her 6 weeks came by, she got even more fussy. Her sleeping schedule at night regressed as well. It got so bad, me and DH would constantly be yelling at each other due to frustration. And then her 2 month pediatrician visit came, he gave her all those shots, said she was going to be even more fussy. I told DH that I don't know how much I could take it, so after getting her shots, we brought her to the mall, so that I could pamper myself before she went crazy. She ended up sleeping through the day. Since then, when she's awake, she's playing or is satisfied with the pacifier or she's napping for long periods of time. It's the 3rd day after those shots, I'm crossing my fingers. I can't say if you will find yourself in the same situation, but hang it there. 

soontobeabrown

Your LO is probably going through a growth spurt

k8edgerton

I have been going through the same thing... I read a great article about the 5-7 week fussy baby. Basically the 6th week growth spurt (or whenever your LO has it around then) is the biggest spurt that they will have as a newborn. Therefore we are left with one growing fussy baby.

In the article that I read that a lot of babies around this time get over stimulated very easily. Basically the world is still so big for them that they can't take it and then get super fussy, over tiered, and in turn... Will not sleep which just repeats the cycle over again. 

The article suggested to get rid of any additional stimulation. Make everything womb like and cozy for LO so they can ride out the storm of this last newborn growth spurt. I basically wore my DD for the mornings, put away the play mat, toys, etc... We would take walks, hang in the Moby, nap, etc... Doing this for a few days and I had a brand new baby. Happy, no fuss, and would go down at night (we even had two nights of STTN!).

Basically every week past 6 weeks... baby is supposed to get more and more awesome each day and begin that turn towards STTN which they should be able to do by 3 months. It has worked for me so far... I started this around 5 weeks because my DD was going through a spurt. We have continued through this week and next... I plan on starting to stimulate again to see what she will do.

I hope that helps. Good LUCK!

 

gatogrrl

I'm always recommending this book: The Wonder Weeks.  It's very reassuring to read.

Basically, it says babies' brains are growing and changing so much during these first weeks.  They get pretty scared when the way they perceive the world suddenly changes, and they want to be near you.  Or they're just plain crabby about life.  It does pass, at least it did with my first DD.  And the great thing is, after the 8th week fussy phase, your LO will really start to show her personality.  It gets more fun after that!

PotomacSt

I just went through the exact same thing. I read a bunch of different sources and they all said 6-8 weeks was the peak of fussiness and would get better after that, and it was true for us. Reading the 6-8 week peak was the only thing that kept me going and gave me hope that it would get better.

At 3 weeks my daughter started getting fussy around 4 PM and cry, sometimes non-stop, till I could finally get her to sleep around 6 or 7. Everything I learned about soothing from Happiest Baby, etc only helped a little, or would only help for a few minutes and she'd start back up again. Other things like limiting stimulation and noises and staying home all day also only helped a little.

I don't know if I'd say the 6th week was the worst we had, but it was definitely pretty bad. We're now at 8 weeks and the fussiness is not gone, but it's at least much, much better. This past week has been crazy and our loose routine (I wouldn't call it a schedule) is completely different. For four days she was awake ALL DAY with only 20 min naps here and there, then she started napping better but ONLY in my lap and no matter what I did or how long I waited after she fell asleep, she would not let me put her in the swing or her crib and would scream. But hey, the fussiness is getting much better, and I'm so thrilled about that. My husband doesn't get home til 10 PM two nights a week and spending those evenings alone with her was so hard.

I hope that helps. She does seem to be happier this past week, and it's so nice to see her smile and not feel like she hates life. It's still not easy but so much better than hours of nightly crying

mkflower3000

Thanks everyone! This is all really encouraging I had my sights set on getting through week 6, but I'm resetting them on getting through weeks 8-10 now... It feels so close, yet so far away. I'm just ready to see something in her face besides a wrinkly angry red/purple ball of fussiness! I feel like I know her crying face better than any other...

Jazzyashes84

Our pedi told us at our 1mo appt that the 2nd month they get pretty fussy (they've leaned by then how to vocalize when they need something) and then once they are 9-10weeks they seem to get a lot happier. that seemed to be the way it went for us. LO will be 10 weeks on Sunday. As long as his needs are met he's not crying as much as he was