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"Witching Hour" vs Colic

New_MrsPNew_MrsP member
in Babies: 0 - 3 Months

What's the difference between the witching hour and colic? My 6 week old is very fussy in the evenings, crying, clusterfeeding, etc. Once he goes to sleep though, he'll sleep 4-5 hour stretches. Last night, he was fussy from 5-10 p.m., fed at 10, slept from 11-3:30, fed again and slept until 7:30. It's 10am now and he's still asleep from his 7:30 feed.

From what I've read, it sounds like the witching hour, but I'm confused as to how that's different from colic. Is it just less severe?

TIA

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Re: "Witching Hour" vs Colic

  • historychick79historychick79
    I think the witching hour is less severe, and based more on the baby being overtired or overstimulated. They'll cry for a bit, but you can calm them down for short periods. And witching hours seem to last longer into toddlerhood, as they fight going to sleep even when exhausted. With colic, I think it's pretty much unconsolable crying for at least 3hrs straight, it is possibly tied to digestive issues, and they tend to outgrow it by 4 or 5 mos.
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  • erless22erless22

    I'm very eager to hear the difference as well. I have a 5 week old who follows almost the exact same schedule - from about 5pm, she'll be happy in spurts. One thing will capture her attention and she'll be nice and content and then out of NOWHERE, she'll cry and scream for ten minutes.

     I'm sure others have had it much, much worse - but is this colic?

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  • CherryStarburstCherryStarburst member
    Colic is all the time uncontrollable, inconsolable crying/screaming, I think it usually stems from reflux, food allergies, etc.  It sounds like you have a happy, healthy, normal newborn.  I always think of the nighttime clusterfeeding as them stocking up for a good nights sleep, just try not to plan things for the evenings and go with it :)
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  • J+MSJ+MS member

    Colic is diagnosed by 3's. Began in the first 3 weeks of life, crying for more than 3 hours a day, more than 3 days a week. HTH.

    ETA: keep in mind, there is a huge growth spurt at 6 weeks. My DD (6 weeks) isn't more fussy, but she is clusterfeeding a ton and sleeping weird hours.

    "Seriously, mommy forum people are some crazy ass bitches." New Year New You
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  • drewiekcdrewiekc
    Yeah, that sounds like "fussy time", as our pedi called it.  When we went in for her one month appt, I was in tears because thats what she was doing every night and I was just exhausted and felt like I was doing something wrong.  Our pedi said that *most* babies are more fussy in the evenings, and that the worst of it should pass within a month.  Sure enough, a couple weeks after that she started getting better.  She's still more fussy in the evenings, but not NEARLY as bad, and she doesnt do that cluster feeding nonsense for hours on end.  Just this week we've started a routine of play time from 7-8, bath, boob, bed.  She's down by about 9 or 9:30, and by keeping her occupied like that we've been able to skip out on any major fussing so far (knock on wood).  Hang in there, it does get better!
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  • azsheenaazsheena
    We have Colic. My son SCREAMS every night for at least 3 hours, sometimes 5. He cries like someone is cutting off his arm and there is nothing we can do to console him. We have tried 5 S's, white noise, Moby Wrap, singing, car rides, swing etc etc. He is fussy during the day, but is able to be consoled usually. But, right around 7:00- oh boy. I will say, the last two nights it hasn't started until 8:00 so I hope hope hope we are starting to see the end of this.
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  • abeer26abeer26
    One of the things our pedi told us when were starting to lose hope is that nightime is their unwind time so screaming and fussying is how they do it. She told us to keep all lights low ( we switched a lamp to a really low wattage) sounds low and a general calm and it helped tremendously. Good Luck.
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