My dd never cried for food much, but did get extremely cranky in the afternoons. She would absolutely scream and the only thing we could do to calm her down was to hold her and bounce on a fit ball (one of those big inflatable balls from KMart). This worked every time, there was nothing the fit ball couldn't cure, including teething and after she had surgery on her ankle. The other thing we found with Chloe was noise - she always settles better with someone talking or a radio or tv on. She will sleep through anything (except quiet!) now.