All She Does Is Cry....

[Jewels]

Kali cries and cries and cries in the evening
It starts about 5:00 and goes off and on (mostly on) until 8 or so. I feel like I am just dreading every evening now.

It's like she's overly tired or something?
Colic?
Formula?

How can you figure it out? AGHH my whole family is going bananas, nothing we do seems to help her.

Heather

[Lula]

barge...

Sorry to hear about the crying. How old is your LO? My DS was very fussy in the evenings from week 1 and it started to decline at week 7. We would do the Happiest Baby on the Block techniques like swaddling, shushing, etc.

Good luck to you!!

[eClaire]

Oh Heather, I'm so sorry. It sounds like classic colic, given the hour of the day and the duration of the crying. Gil was the same way. It was so hard!

Does Kali have reflux? I know that added to Gil's problems. There is also silent reflux, where they're not spitting up, but their throat is burning with stomach acid. Does she ever arch her back during/after a feeding? This is classic for reflux.

It could also be the formula. Milk intolerance is a possibility. What kind of formula are you using? Are you using the powdered? With Gil we weren't able to use the powdered kind until 6 months because it was too thin/watery and his stomach sphincter couldn't keep it in his stomach. We had to use the ready to feed kind.

As far as dealing with symtoms (whatever the cause)...

What really helped us was having a list of "comfort measures" posted somewhere, and we would just go down the list until something worked. Swing, bouncy seat, walking around and around (DH wore treads in the carpet!), pacifier, white noise (a life saver) - fan, running water, music machine, vacuum when really desperate. There's the "Happiest Baby on the Block" techniques too - swaddle, a loud shhhhhh, swinging motion, sucking on a paci, and holding her on her side (although this might exacerbate reflux).

It definitely could be overtired. I know some babies just melt down at the end of the day from stimulation (not necessarily even OVER stimulation, just getting used to life kind of stuff).

Hours and hours of a crying baby is SOOOOO hard. Just make sure you get a break from it too. It can be overwhelming. I know I had many nights when I just broke down from it all. It gets better. For Gil, it was like a switch went off and he just got better and better. Of course, he still has his moments but the colic thing was the WORST! Have you talked to your pediatrician about it to get his/her input?

[A_A_AMom]

I think Claire had a lot of good advice, unfortunatley evening seem to be the fussy time for most babies, and hopefully you can figure out what is making Kali even more so for you.

All I really have to offer is hugs. Also, don't feel guilty if you need to remove yourself from the situation for a few minutes in the evening. Even 10 minutes can make a HUGE difference in your tension sometimes. If DH isn't around to help and your tension level is reaching critical level put Kali in her crib or somewhere safe and step outside for a few breaths of fresh air. I had to do this once or twice with DS #1 in the early weeks. I was sleep deprived and I know my tension was making him even more tense. I know there is a light at the end of the tunnel for you, and I hope you can see it soon.

[InvitroMom]

Barge......

I am sorry you are going through this. My DD#2 started fussing at 6 weeks old at 6 pm every night and would go on until 9pm or 10pm. This didn't stop until around 12 weeks old. Instantly it just stopped.....many books do say there is the honeymoon period in the beginning and then the crying period and it gets better. I am here to tell you it does get better. I found if I went out with her until her last feeding it wasn't so bad. She was fine looking at the lights in Target. I hope it gets better soon. I can remember all too well what you are going through and what it put my family through.

[eClaire]

Originally Posted by A_A_AMom

I was sleep deprived and I know my tension was making him even more tense. I know there is a light at the end of the tunnel for you, and I hope you can see it soon.

This is SO true, and true even now. I think they can definitely sense when we are losing it. I remember on more than one occasion him crying, me crying. What a mess!

[Jewels]

My second DD had colic SOOO BAD. Anyone that had been around her in the evening hours was like . I just feel like I was able to deal with it so much better back then. Now my other 2 are so demanding and with a crying baby on top of it, it's much harder this time around.

She hardly cried at all up until about 9 weeks then this started EVERY evening. (she is 12 weeks today) It made me wonder if it was truely colic because with my 2nd DD it started way earlier than that.

I am feeding her the powder Good Start natural cultures formula. We try all of those soothing ideas and we can usually get her to calm down for a short period of time.

Claire, she is not arching her back during the feedings. However sometimes it seems like she is crying like she's in pain.

Thanks for your advice. Heather

[BC-nette79]

Lillie has days that there is non stop screaming in the evening time. But Ive noticed days that she takes good naps she's alot more delightful in the evening. Since youve tried everything else do you think thats the case? Its so hard when you just can't figure out what the heck it is!

[JandBC]

Bella was a pretty fussy baby...but she has gotten better as the weeks have gone on. I read a lot about it, and read that colic usu. peaks at 6 weeks, and is gone by 12.

When I asked my doc about her fussiness (I called them the "PM fussies", he called them "the witching hour"), he said it was probably that she was overtired. He said in most cases, those evening fussies are related to that...not napping enough during the day. That's why it's become my mission in life to make sure she gets her naps...even if they're on me during the day. Some days I literally get nothing done. I can imagine with 2 other kids, this would be pretty hard to do though.

I am so sorry...I feel your pain!

[ctd]

so sorry to hear kali is being so fussy. I don't have any advice just wanted you to know I was thinking about you and I hope it gets better SOON!