Nighttime fussiness. Any suggestions?

wanderlust2006 · July 2009

My DD is fussy every night from about 5:00 to about 8:00. It seems nothing I do will consol her.

I have read in several books that this is common, but they didn't really offer any advice.

pkate98 · July 2009

frequent feedings and an earlier bed time. One thing you can try is put her in front of a mirror when she is fussy to see what she does when she sees herself fuss.

PlannedChaos · July 2009

That was Chloe's fussy time too. We tried Gripe Water, which sometimes seemed to help, but most of the time we would just end up holding her close and doing "the baby walk" until she fell asleep in our arms.

jacksjerseygirl · July 2009

I learned at about 1 mo that DS liked to 'cluster' feed during the late afternoon/early evening and that an early bedtime (starting routine around 5:30/6pm) resulted in less witching and more/longer sleeping.

MamaA2009 · July 2009

I agree with cluster feeding, swaddling and lots and lots of holding. This stage will pass, for us it lasted about 5-6 weeks. Hang in there. The book The Happiest Baby on the Block helped immensely!

asnowracer · July 2009

My pedi said its because they are awake longer during the day and they're just exhausted but don't know how to fall asleep. We moved the bedtime routine up to 7:00 and had great results. Have you read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child? It's really helped us to learn drowsy cues and soothe to sleep. If you get them to fall asleep prior to being overtired it's so much easier. We're not there all the way yet though!