6 week old fussy at night between 8pm to 1am

[Obiwan]

And we are tired and worn out

Baby has been pretty much feed and sleep during the day but every night after his evening feed he will be very awake and when it gets to about 8 to 9 pm he will start getting very fussy. We will try all kinds of methods to soothe him but it seldom works/only works for a while. This will go on until his last feed (we feed every 3 hours) at 11pm to midnight and he will eventually tire out and sleep at 1am to 2am.

It's been very tiring, I am even wondering if it could be colic? And what we can do about it...

Any advice?

 

[Gataloca]

I fell your pain. My baby (now 13 months old) used to be fussy at night around that age as well.... I remember that once I had to carry him the whole night on my sling.

I used to think that I didn't have enough milk, and in some occasion, I top him up with formula for him to sleep. But I found out later that this might not be the case, and the fussiness might be normal. See these articles from Kellymom:

http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/fussy-evening.html
http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/fussybaby.html

 

[Obiwan]

Thanks Gataloca! How long did it last if I dare to ask .... ?

 

[Gataloca]

Don't really remember... probably till he was 3 months old??? It wasn't always that bad... I think was harder when he was in a growth spurt.

Your baby is 6 weeks old.. could he be going through a growth spurt?

 

[catan]

My baby was fussy around those night times as well when she was about 4-6 weeks old. We breastfeed only, and I dealt with it by nursing her almost every hour.. she still cried alot, my nipples were incredibly sore, and I was really tired. I just tried my best to get more rest in the day so I can be ready in the evening to handle things.

It didn't last forever, maybe a few days. However, similar episodes of fussiness seem to happen every couple of weeks or so. I *think* they are growth spurts as I can't see anything else wrong. Good luck! Babies grow so quickly.

 

[Obiwan]

Thanks Catan!! We didn't dare to feed too much (tho I just read the Kelly on article on cluster feeding) cos firstly we worry that he gets too fat, and secondly the doc says that too much food can cause colic ...

It's so hard trying to figure out babies ... Not nappy, not temperature, not hunger (just fed), not tiredness (just woke up not too long ago to bathe and feed) ... So the only thing we can think of is gas. He passes gas quite a bit at night.

I bottle feed him ebm in the day and formula for night. I was wondering if it were intolerance for the formula but on the occasions he gets formula in the day, he seems fine ....

Wits end!

 

[Obiwan]

Just bought infacol ... How's your experience with this? Effective?

 

[Obiwan]

Spoke with our ped he thinks that the baby might have his days and nights confused!!!

Any good methods of correcting this ?

 

[catan]

Babies change so much it's hard to say what's bothering them. What used to bother last week may not be the same this week... Our days are still filled with trial-and-error to figure baby out

For me, I nurse my baby when I don't know what else to do, and nursing calms her down... I don't think it's possible to overfeed via breastfeeding only (If I am wrong please tell me!) because even though she suckles very often during those fussy periods the milk comes out drop by drop. So I think it is the suckling that soothes her.

I read in a book that it is very easy to overfeed with a bottle due to faster milk flow especially if used to soothe a baby and baby wants to suck more but not necessarily hungry.

Another thing I noticed during fussy periods in the evening-- my baby fusses when she was tired and there's too much stimulation (lights and TV and people talking). So I would go into our room with lights dimmed and just nurse her to sleep. Other times I tried to carry her in a sling and walk around, but for me this did not work if other people are around.

Do try to rest more in the daytime whenever possible, having energy to cope helps tremendously for fussy baby periods!

Thanks Catan!! We didn't dare to feed too much (tho I just read the Kelly on article on cluster feeding) cos firstly we worry that he gets too fat, and secondly the doc says that too much food can cause colic ...

It's so hard trying to figure out babies ... Not nappy, not temperature, not hunger (just fed), not tiredness (just woke up not too long ago to bathe and feed) ... So the only thing we can think of is gas. He passes gas quite a bit at night.

I bottle feed him ebm in the day and formula for night. I was wondering if it were intolerance for the formula but on the occasions he gets formula in the day, he seems fine ....

Wits end!

 

[Gemma]

I remember that with our 13 month old as well when he was around that age. We used to wonder and worry what was going on, is he hungry, is it his nappy, is he tired, is he overtired. He'd get so fussy between, oh I'd say 7pm to 11pm, and we tried everything. Sometimes a top up bottle with a little bit of milk helped. Other times, a bath soothed him. Unfortunately I think it's just one of those phases some babies go through, I think it lasted for several weeks and then just wore itself off. Hang in there, it will get better!!