Screaming baby!!!

Lauren&Joe · February 2011

Our perfect little baby has all of a sudden changed. Sometime between 5 and 7 she just starts to scream and nothing will comfort her. This is really out of character for her. She'll be 8 weeks tomorrow and up to this point has rarely cried. We havent' changed anything. But for the last two nights she just cries and cries. Any ideas on what could be causing this "witching hour?"

kel716 · February 2011

Could it be reflux? Babies don't have to have spit up issues to have reflux. And DS had the most pain from it between 4 & 7:30 each evening. Other signs include lots of hiccoughs, arching back, amongst others that I can't remember.

Anyway, at our 2 mo well visit, our pedi prescribed Zantac, and that seemed to help until he sat up most of the day. The other thing that helps is letting her sit upright for 30 minutes after eating (even if it's sleeping on your chest)

buckeyethor · February 2011

You are BFing, right? Have you eaten something in the last couple days that could be making her very gassy? (broccoli, cabbage, spicy, etc)

Mrs.Cooley2bee · February 2011

My daughter had that issue and it lasted for about 6 weeks and it sucked. It was just a bad time for her, but we ended up realizing that she needed an earlier bed time. Once she started going to bed around 7 she was much better. Even if your LO doesn't have a bed time I would suggest trying to get her to sleep during the crabby time, even if it's just a nap. Try a carrier like the Moby wrap if you can't get her to sleep. Good luck!

notguilty · February 2011

Caroline had a witching hour around that age and around the same time of night. She would have a melt down for about an hour at six o'clock every evening. She grew out of it after about a month. I have no idea to this day what the heck was wrong with her. Isn't it strange that it's the same time every night? I hope she grows out of it soon or you figure out what it is.

Superchicy · February 2011

I highly recommend the Moby. That was DD's happy place. She was colicky and as soon as I put her in and walked around a few minutes she'd calm down and go to sleep, and I just wore her through the witching hour.

teacherjess · February 2011

I think a lot of babies have that "witching hour" at night at that age. DD was a great baby almost all the time, but for the first two months, she was fussy every.single.night from 5-7. She was just inconsolable. It went away all of a sudden one day and she was fine from then on.

Lauren&Joe · February 2011

Thanks for all the replies. I'm just not sure what's going on tonight. Charlotte has been getting fussier in the evening which we have started referring to as the witching hour. I thought that was what we were dealing with, but tonight was something else. We just got her to calm down after nearly 4 hours of screaming. We called the pedi, because it's such unusual behavior for her. Prior to the call we gave her a dose of Mylicon because we could literally hear the air and gas in her little tummy. That calmed her down for a about 15 minutes and then she geared up again. We just got her down and she seems to be calm for the momment in her crib. But even as we watched her sleep for about 10 minutes she was farting and her little tummy was gurgling. Pedi said since she had no fever and really no other major symptoms it was just gas. Poor thing, I think she finally just fell asleep from screaming.

(And I did have broccoli yesterday. If that is what is causing this, I'm never eating broccoli again!)

Mrs.Cooley2bee · February 2011

Lauren&Joe:

Thanks for all the replies. I'm just not sure what's going on tonight. Charlotte has been getting fussier in the evening which we have started referring to as the witching hour. I thought that was what we were dealing with, but tonight was something else. We just got her to calm down after nearly 4 hours of screaming. We called the pedi, because it's such unusual behavior for her. Prior to the call we gave her a dose of Mylicon because we could literally hear the air and gas in her little tummy. That calmed her down for a about 15 minutes and then she geared up again. We just got her down and she seems to be calm for the momment in her crib. But even as we watched her sleep for about 10 minutes she was farting and her little tummy was gurgling. Pedi said since she had no fever and really no other major symptoms it was just gas. Poor thing, I think she finally just fell asleep from screaming.

(And I did have broccoli yesterday. If that is what is causing this, I'm never eating broccoli again!)

That stinks. To make matters worse, when babies cry and scream they take in a lot of air which makes them even more gassy! Gas drops might be your best friend for a while. You may even try burping her frequently throughout the day, even when she hasn't just eaten.

margauxa1 · February 2011

Lauren -

Lila had the same witching hour when she was that age. "sometimes" putting her in the swing helped but mostly just nursing and holding would help (but not completely ending it).

Now that she is older, she still fusses a little around 7:00/7:30 but I know that means she is ready for bedtime.

Want a personalized experience?

Screaming baby!!!

Re: Screaming baby!!!

Choose Another Board

Search Boards