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April 2016 Moms
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Witching hour(s)

myla14myla14 member
in April 2016 Moms
We are in the midst of ours right now, and I'm curious what others' LOs do.  DS is almost 6 weeks old and since around 4 weeks has a witching period from about 6-10. He sleeps A LOT during the day and is an average sleeper overnight. He is not a comfort nurser, so dealing with him when he is inconsolable involves much standing and bouncing. He will not accept a seated bounce, rocking him in a rocking chair, or the swing. He normally takes a quick catnap sometime in his witching period before gearing up again for a while, then doing his first longer stretch of the night. DS1 was a comfort nurser, so I could at least sit!  Anyone else in baby scream-ville?  How long does it last at your house, and do you have any good tips?
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Re: Witching hour(s)

  • jonesl12jonesl12 member
    Ours is 6-8:30 . Currently dealing 
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  • loveymayloveymay member
    LO usually fusses between 6-8 or so. Thankfully he doesnt scream, just fusses but the only thing that works to get him to fall asleep is to swaddle him, give him a paci, and cuddle him tightly while rocking in the rocking chair. I also turn off the lights and gently stroke his forehead with my finger while either shhing him or softly singing/humming. Once he falls asleep he is out for the night (meaning he wakes up to eat but always goes right back to sleep). He is almost 6 weeks old and the fussiness is getting better. Swaddling him is the key to calming him down though, maybe try that along with minimizing the distractions in the room, like lights and sounds. Try using a fan or white noise sound machine to help. Good luck!
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  • korpatchkorpatch member
    Ever hear of purple crying? If not, I'd look it up if I were you because that is exactly what you're describing.
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  • myla14myla14 member
    Thanks for the replies!  I have looked at the purple crying site, and it is helpful info. I guess I'm wondering....do others have LOs that DON'T have witching hours?  DS1 did this, too, so I guess I just thought most babies did? Gonna be jealous if others have peaceful evenings, lol. 
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  • redseligredselig member
    I don't think my LO has a witching hour, he just has bouts of terrible gas pain, usually in the evenings. It's actually quite unpredictable, I cross my fingers every night hoping it's not a gassy night.
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  • nikkinbonnienikkinbonnie member
    Elli is a generally happy baby so far but does have bouts of fussiness in the late afternoon early evening. She sleeps a lot during the day still and does pretty good at night so I try to put a positive spin on the afternoon fussiness thinking her energy use is buying me more sleep later. She then is usually awake and happy for an hour or so late evening before she goes to bed. That's our favorite time!
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  • imrachelleaimrachellea member
    edited May 2016
    So far we don't have a witching hour, she'll be 4 weeks tomorrow. That being said though, she's kind of a fussy baby in general. She struggles to sleep without nursing, and since I have a 2.5 year old, it's not feasible to always nurse her to sleep. I can't leave my toddler alone for that long to nurse her quietly in my room or hers, and my toddler is LOUD and unpredictable so trying to quietly nurse around her isn't helpful. LO seems to love her big sister and can be entertained by her to a point in the evening hours. I usually try and nurse her to sleep while DH is putting DD1 to bed. I do this either in the dark of our room and put her to bed, or in our dimly lit living room watching TV. I lay back in the recliner and side lay nurse her with a muslin blanket over her head because she's SO easily stimulated. I have a paci at the ready for when she's comfort sucking and asleep. Worked great last night and I laid her down without a peep in the PnP around 9. Woke her at 10:45 for a bottle dream feed.
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  • myla14myla14 member
    Hmm, I'm starting to think I should focus on putting him down for bedtime closer to the start of his fussy period instead of trying to ride it out in the living room where there is more stimulation. I'd been avoiding it because he can sleep thru anything during the day, and I also didn't want to disturb my sleeping toddler by being upstairs, but it's worth a try. He sleeps sooo much during the day it's hard to imagine that what he needs is MORE sleep, especially when he's staring at me with those giant awake owl eyes, but he's certainly not pleasant company in the evening:). 
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  • mybigfatgreekfetusmybigfatgreekfetus member
    Our witching hour fun started early - around 3 weeks. It let up around 4 weeks to some extent and now it's back with a vengeance at 5 weeks! We realized the best way to handle it is put on Pandora Relaxation station on the TV and bounce/Rock/swaddle until he falls asleep. Apparently binge watching Game of Thrones in the evening is a bit too loud and murder-y for a baby to fall asleep to (glad we figured that out, lol!). It's still a good 3-4 hours of fussing and crying every night, though.

    I'm looking forward to this phase wearing off! Hopefully not much longer now! Newborns are tough!
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  • nikkinbonnienikkinbonnie member
    Come on baby, you gotta love Game of Thrones!
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  • ladylolly89ladylolly89 member
    DS will be four weeks tomorrow, and we don't have a witching hour yet. He has fussy times that can go on an hour or more, but we have found that these happen when he is either going through a growth spurt or overtired/stimulated. He nearly always calms when we snuggle him in a dark, quiet room and then put him down for a nap. 
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  • MrsZkoMrsZko member
    Not nearly as bad as my first son who cried and was inconsolable in the evenings (was more like colic) but this LO is not as happy and easygoing in the evenings as the rest of the day. He has a harder time settling and wants to eat a lot more frequently. It's fine but it's also harder to spend time with the rest of the family being tied to the couch to nurse. I know it will pass though and it's really not that bad compared to our first so we see the silver lining!
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  • korpatchkorpatch member
    My only sorrow in this is that he does it starting when his daddy gets home and is fussy till we go to bed.
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  • jonesl12jonesl12 member
    korpatch said:
    My only sorrow in this is that he does it starting when his daddy gets home and is fussy till we go to bed.
    Same 
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  • WiseUsagiWiseUsagi member
    redselig said:
    I don't think my LO has a witching hour, he just has bouts of terrible gas pain, usually in the evenings. It's actually quite unpredictable, I cross my fingers every night hoping it's not a gassy night.
    Same here. He always has gas throughout the day but have no idea when it might start. The evenings are almost always worst and it makes it really hard to have a regular "bedtime"
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  • adifrogadifrog member
    Midnight.  Every night.
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