I know all babies are different, but....

[alison]

my 6-week old goes batshit crazy from around 6pm-8pm. Lots of crying, lots of flailing, lots of wanting to be held. When 8 rolls around, and just as dh and I are about to throw in the towel, she calms down. It's like a light switch!

A neighbor of ours said that that was the case for his daughter as well. Something about the early evening. Is it that the stimulation that they receive over the course of the day finally gets to them?

M has got terrible sleep habits. I can't help but attribute it to the fact that we were waking her up every 2 hours when we first brought her home from the hospital in order to feed. She barely makes it to 3 hours, and then wants wants wants to eat NOW!!! Waaaaah waaaaah waaaaah hiccup waaaaah waaaah hiccup

She seems to have her days and nights figured out, and i'm trying to teach her that after bath she gets to chill on the sofa with us for a little while, have a night cap (of formula), and then go to bed.

Does this all seem like a good way of getting her on track with sleeping? I just have no clue what I'm doing. I've got no one here to help me with this kind of day-to-day stuff. SuzySunshine? Cupcake? Jane/Jenn? Anyone?

TIA

It's the witching hour. It's pretty common. My M seems to lose it from about 4 to 6PM. I think you're doing well -- it's just a fussy period. You can try to plan to do what she likes in that time -- maybe move bath time to that period? Take a walk?

You're doing great. You really are!

It's the witching hour. It's pretty common. My M seems to lose it from about 4 to 6PM. I think you're doing well -- it's just a fussy period. You can try to plan to do what she likes in that time -- maybe move bath time to that period? Take a walk?

You're doing great. You really are!

Ditto all this! It lasted until about age 3 months for us. I used the swing or bouncer or even put them all swaddled into the infant carseat next to me and rocked it back and forth. The Happiest Baby on the Block's 5 S's helped to an extent, but they both still fussed occasionally.

http://moxie.blogs.com/askmoxie/2006..._witching.html

[Momo]

Alison, get her a pacifier...seriously, once I caved and realized that Adam wouldn't suffer from nipple confusion it was glorious!! When Sophia, Tess and Laith were born, I let them havea paci in the hospital...oh gasp!
It really helped to calm them and allowed for a longer sleep period.

Yes to the pacifier. Have you tried it and does she like it? Has she tried a swing? That, my friend, is the witching hour. She will outgrow it. I sarcastically call it happy hour. Wait, we still have it but now they talk.

I used to put some music on and dance around with DS like a crazy person during witching hour. He would freak if I stopped moving.

[alison]

She doesn't like pacifiers, unfortunately. You stick it in her mouth and she jabs it back out again with her tongue. Plip plip plip and it's on the floor.

We bought her a swing and she doesn't like it. We just ordered a rocking chair, and it's supposed to arrive in a few days. I'm hopeful that it'll help, because she does like to be held and rocked.

She doesn't like to be swaddled... Sigh.

The only thing that works is putting her in a sling and walking, dancing and singing. I need to buy a second sling, because there isn't enough time to wash it before she goes into her next crazy phase!

Is 3 hours of sleep at a time alright for this age?!

[Deebs]

First of all, six weeks is a tough age and babies typically go through changes then(like eaing more, sleep changes,etc). DD did this, and I took my pediatricians advice - made ourselves dinner and put her in the furthest room from us in a cradle while we ate. That might sound mean, but there was no consoling her and she'd either fall asleep or I'd feel I had enough of a break to go back and sooth her. It only lasted a couple of weeks for us.

[Michele]

She doesn't like pacifiers, unfortunately. You stick it in her mouth and she jabs it back out again with her tongue. Plip plip plip and it's on the floor.

We bought her a swing and she doesn't like it. We just ordered a rocking chair, and it's supposed to arrive in a few days. I'm hopeful that it'll help, because she does like to be held and rocked.

She doesn't like to be swaddled... Sigh.

The only thing that works is putting her in a sling and walking, dancing and singing. I need to buy a second sling, because there isn't enough time to wash it before she goes into her next crazy phase!

Is 3 hours of sleep at a time alright for this age?!

Sounds all normal to me! Is the sling getting so soiled you need to wash it? I wash my carriers only when they get nasty....and Kai sucks on the straps/edges EVERY time he's in it (Daegan did too) and I just let it dry (mostly) before popping him back in. My wrap was the only way I got through "happy hour." Is it a time you can go for a walk outside? I tried to convince myself it was good exercise....though usually at that point I wanted nothing to do with them and just wanted to sleep. It gets better!

[alison]

The sling is getting soiled, because I drop the food I'm eating on it! She's always nuts just as I'm preparing (or eating) dinner. I know it's not safe to eat hot food over her, but I usually arrange the sling so that the food will hit it and not her. Eeeks! That sounded so bad!

[alison]

I wanted to add that this is especially hard on dh, because he feels like he is unable to soothe her. He comes home just as M is kicking into high gear, and just as he's ready to take over for me, she does this. So he really feels like she only likes me. I try to show him that it's not just he that she hates during those two hours, but it's heartbreaking to see dh hand her back to me feeling like he's not home enough for her to have grown attached to him.

[Vanquisher]

The sling is getting soiled, because I drop the food I'm eating on it! She's always nuts just as I'm preparing (or eating) dinner. I know it's not safe to eat hot food over her, but I usually arrange the sling so that the food will hit it and not her. Eeeks! That sounded so bad!

Puhleeze. That did not sound bad. How else are you supposed to get things done? You newbie moms crack me up. Just wait till you tell her something along the lines of, "cry harder. You're not trying very hard. I'm not convinced that it's all that bad." Then you mock her by doing her fake cry sounds right back at her.

The guilt will go away - I promise. You gotta do whatever you need to do to get yourself to 8/12 weeks when they start to settle down, their tummies settle (somewhat). Gripe Water and the Bjorn were my best friends between week 6 and 10 between time of 5 and 8. And also - don't feel guilty if you need to strap him in the bouncer (after he is fed and has a clean diaper) and put him in his room with some music and CLOSE THE DOOR. I did that several times b/c no matter what I did, DS#2 screamed....Then 10 weeks came and VOILA! It all went away.

[HouseofWool]

Allison, it all sounds very normal. To make your li8fe easier, what about doing some of the meal prep earlier in the day - chop what needs chopping and stick it in the fridge. Consider it your mis en place and think of yourself as a gourmet.

If moving makes M happy, can your DH take her for a walk? E always handed a fussy baby back to me, but I would hand the baby right back so that he could learn how to comfort the little one. Yep it is stressful for everyone, but he will get the hang of it and M will grow out of this stage.

Oh, and Heidi has it exactly right - you will tell her that it isn't very convincing - huge cry and no tears? Yeah right.

[SuzySunshine]

Everyone has already said what I would have said - A did it to from about six weeks to 8 or 12. Hers was ALWAYS during dinner time as well. You said she doesn't like the swing,do you have a bouncer that vibrates or a vibrate setting on your swing? That seemed to help A. What also seemed to help was laying her on her back on a blanket and doing the bicycle with her legs, because that helped our doc thought it might have been an intestinal thing, they're still growing and developing too.

Have you tried a different pacifier? I know that sounds weird but just like some babies don't like certain bottles A would only take the Avent pacifiers until she was much older.

Hang in there, you're doing the best you can and know we've all been there! (As you can tell by the responses)!