baby crying inconsolably - no idea why & how to stop

[fennho]

hi mommies

Its me again, reporting back with my gal's crying! She is now. a few days shy to 4mths. She has been doing alot of those inconsolable cryings lately. I hv brought her to the PD to clear off any medical reasons. At least now I know:
1. She is not teething
2. She does not hv ear infection
3. Her reflux is some sort under control (I was told rflux babies cry but will and can be soothe when u carry them upriht)
4. She is waayyyy past her colic days by now and no, she doesnt scrunch up her legs to indicate wind in tummy when she cries

So now I'm utterly puzzled. I am worried its her personality, is she going to be one of those kids hat scream and yell when not give wat she wants?

She screams and truly cry her lungs out. Usually its in the evening. Around 6-ish, she can be all smiles and cooing and then like dr Jekyll and mr Hyde she will suddenly scream in a fierce way. At first I tot she was in pain, seeing her tears roping down, I was convinced to trust my instincts tat she's in pain. But the PD says nothing is wrong with her. He took an educated guess and said it cud be her nose got alot of mucus..but why cry only in the evening??!


I dunno if its overtired but usually she'll wake up from her last afternoon nap btween 4-5pm, then by 630pm she will start her crying and demanded to go for her bdtime routine. We'll be scrambling to do her wipe down amidst her fierceful cries, quickly swaddle her and I'd nurse her. She would suck and promptly fall asleep. Its not hunger either cos for eg today I fed her last feed is 5-ish! By 630pm she cant be THAT hungry rite?

Im totally lost! In the day..she is such a happy bb. I hv no idea wat makes her cry. It is so frustrating tat makes her entire daily bedtime routine to b so stressful instead of calming and nice.

comments pls? Thanks!!

 

[jools]

Don't feel that your child is going to turn into one of those screamers who have a tantrum to get there own way. That happens with older children, and only if their parents have given in after a tantrum and the child has learnt that screaming gets them what they want. If you don't give in, they quickly learn it's not worth it. But that's not what we're talking about here, your little one is too young to be using such tactics.

Two of my children went through this phase. We used to call it the 'witching hour', for no apparent reason they would cry and not calm down, at about the same time of the day that you're describing. I used to walk around alot singing to them, until they calmed down. It was a phase with my two and it passed. Hopefully your little one is going through the same phase and whilst it can be a bit alarming at the time, they will grow out of it.
Good luck

 

[adahc]

I'm not sure what it is but just a quick tip, babies normally cry loudly and shut heir eyes to shut out all the communication. As long as you can have eye contact with her it will all be better. What I do is that when my son is like that (he is about your age whicj I'm sure you know by now) I turn on the hair dryer, put it close to her ear (not too close and point the air away from his ears) and he stops. Then we go from there......

 

[joyofliving]

I am with you on this fennho, my two month old daughter is an angel through out the day so happy and playful but around 5-6 pm all hell breaks loose and starts to cry inconsolably. I try to sing to her, put her in the swing, take her out in her pushchair, put calming music but nothing works for long. She feeds in between for a few minutes but even that seems to irritate her. Finally around 10- 11pm she goes to sleep after a lot of effort on my part. It?s taking its toll on me since my energy levels are quite low by evening. But I read its normal for babies to be fussy in the evening for no apparent reason. We just have to try different things to make them feel better. Here is an article on the same
http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/fussy-evening.html

 

[jens-babes]

Don't despair...I know it feels like it will never end. But, I'm sure it will. My firstborn did the same thing. She had "colic" until she was exactly 4 months and 2 weeks. I thought at 3 months it would be over, but it kept going. Suddenly and 4 1/2 months it just seemed to STOP! It was a miracle. I understand your feeling of desperation...like there is nothing you can do for your baby that is in pain. I attempted an "elimination diet" but that didn't seem to work and made me even more miserable. We did all the doctors checks, and even had an ultrasound of her GI and stomach...nothing unusual.

Just hang in there! I remember I would just nurse my daughter on demand during the early evening (5-7 ish), because it was the only thing I could do! I just thought "what if she IS hungry?" and many times your milk supply will be less in the evening.

Also, the previous posts are great...maybe try to keep stimulation at a min in the evenings, hold her close, swaddle, and keep close eye contact while shushing her.

I feel for you. This will not last forever! Today, my daughter is a joyful, loving and happy 4 year old!

I hope it ends soon for you. Good luck!
Jennifer

 

[carang]

if she's eager for her bedtime routine, a feed and sleep, then why not start the bedtime routine before she starts her crying? if she usually starts around 6:30, then why don't you try starting your routine at 6:15 or 6:00? it may seem early to you, but i know many kids in canada that go to sleep by 7pm (i used to be one of them!). if you start the routine earlier, then it might head off the screaming....

good to know that you've ruled out the other possibilities, she may just be tired, even though she's just woken up.

good luck!

 

[fennho]

thanks everyone

Actually its only for the past few days that I noticed her fierce cries are in the evening...last weekend she cried like we slaughter her in Harbour city. I was trying out a Chicco carrier in one of the shops and she was smiling at me from the carrier..the salesgirl even commented tat she likes it and look very adorable..then suddenly and literally the next SECOND she broke into a cry - loud and fierce, so much so ALL the sales pple came to chk on us and one even ask if she is sick! She is not whimpering or jus making cranky cries but LOUD ones, which led me to think she's in pain..now dat I know she's not, I'm worried this is her "style" of crying to get the things she wants!

Adahc
I agree with u... I do note her cries are inconsolable cos she shuts everything down like as if she can't hear us, she jus cry and cry. BUT there are times we manage to get her to open up her eyes and point interesting things to her, she'll pause for a few seconds and barely 1min, she'll start again.

Geomum
your bb cud be jus colic...not surprising as she's jus 2mths old

 

[fennho]

Thanks jennifer, I can jus hope this will go away one day - miraculously!

Carang
I will try but my poor hubby comes home around 7pm ad hekept saying all he asks for is jus to see his gal before she sleeps even if its jus 1-2mins. He used to be the one doing her wipe down for her every night (her bedtime routine used to start at 8pm) but now it seems to be getting earlier & earlier! It gt to 7-ish and now it starts 630pm! Hubby knock off at 630 and rushed home jus to see me in time doing the wipe down..I can tell he's very disappointed becos I'm doing full time direct latch, he doesn't have any bonding time with baby during feeding, so he has taken the role of bathing her durng weekends and wipedown for her in the evening...yet now dat baby is demandng earlier bedtimes, even this is "taken away" from him. He was lamenting sadly that our gal don't really smile at him as readily as when she sees me and it breaks my heart to hear him say that. Sigh

 

[Lucylou]

They call this phase in the evening the 'witching hour' which is when a baby will scream for no apparent reason and you can do nothing to console them - my 8 month old used to do the same but stopped this at around 6 months. I wouldn't worry about it - if she really is inconsolable perhaps a little dose of calpol will calm her down.

 

[barbwong_130]

Does your baby like baths?
When my baby cried a lot in the evenings and wouldn?t nurse my husband would give her bath. This would usually clam her down and when she came out she?d feed and sleep ? at least for a little while.