Help!!!! unhappy baby...

Hi Im having some problems in the evenings with my 9 week old. She is sleeping a good 5 or 6 hours from around 11pm ish to 6am ish depending on the night, plus shes a pretty good day sleeper, with 2-3 sleeps during the course of the day varying anywhere from 1 hour to 4 hours. Its just the evenings now...She turns into a maniac from about 730pm and Im not too sure what to do about it.

Its Kind of like she misses out on a sleep but there is no way she will go down, then she seems to get overtired and goes spastic until finally collapsing about 11pm. Its exhausting. The whole evening she seems to be upset with wind..the botom kind. She screams unconsolably and farts and this happens in waves, kind of like she has cramps. I offer her the boob for comfort and she may suck for a bit but fusses, drps my nipple and shakes her head, hurting my nipple. She seems to be happiest slung over my shoulder and in positions on her tummy ie over my knee patting on the back. She also sleeps on her tummy, unwrapped as I have tried everything and this is the only way she says asleep.

She is fully bf and there is plenty of wet and pooey nappies but I wonder am I feeding her too much and causing it? What would give her such bad wind pains? I should add she has been on reflux meds for almost 2 weeks now which has not eased the crying in the evenings but has coincided with a lessening of the crying during the day.

Last night it was so bad I gave her some baby panadol but I think she was pretty close to flaking out and today she slept until 830am and seems really sleepy. I know I should be grateful for the sleep but its like she is still drugged up. I dont want to sleep well because she is drugged kwim?

I know there can be an unsettled period etc but I think Ill go insane if keeps up, I am dreading the evenings and we cant plan anything because we know she will crack it so dont want to make it worse by being out etc...

Thankyou for reading if you got this far and can you give me any suggestions or your own experiences with this? Anything would be helpful.

Natty

:hug: Sorry Nattyfred no advice, I'll be keeping an eye on this thread through as I'm having similar prob's with DS at the moment.

i had some sleep issues with DS like this around the 2 month age.
My paed advised me to get him into a 2 hour sleep cycle.

pretty much every 2 hrs put him to bed. EVERY 2 hrs.
SO if he wakes at 6am - put him to be at 8am - if he wakes at 9.20am - put him to bed at 10am, if he wakes at 10.40am - put him to bed at 12midday and so on.

I started doing this and within a day or 2 he was an angel! sleeping beautiful regular cycles and back through the night.!!

worth a try

I wish I had some amazing solution Natty, but all I can really offer is :hug: I totally understand.
Nate did this for a while. I wondered if he would ever settle before 11pm.
But he did eventually.....except tonight when he's being a right poohead....but we'll put that down to the molar that came through today.

They're still working out how they fit in thw world, and about that age I think they start to become aware of their bowels/wind at that age and it becomes an issue with them.

She sounds like she's got a great mum.

Every child is different, and I think it stresses every mother out at some ponit thinking they don't know what they are doing wrong, they have tried all the usualy tricks in the book. what worked yesterday dosn't work today. You think you baby is is pain as their cry is so distressing and you just want to make everything better.

I personally think there are a number of factors, and again every child will be differnet.
We found going outside helped, turning off the TV, walking with bub in a sling, it was more like marching. But as I said what worked one day didn't work the next, it can be so confusing.

The baby does gradually improve and is less fussy in an evening from about 12 weeks on. I hope you bub settles for you soon.

I had this EXACT problem with sophie around the 2nd month as well. I think this is the time where they are trying to get used to sleeping longer through the night. I called that time the "Withching Hour", because all she wanted to do was cry until about 10:30pm and then sleep. So here is what I did but ,again, all babies are different so I cant promise anything.

1.) Do you have a mobile in the crib???
I noticed that we didnt have a mobile and when we put it in Sophie would just stare at it and it would help her to fall asleep.

2.) Colic drops??
We used to put gripe water in her nightime bottles and it would help a little bit with the reflux

3.) The good old bounce around!
We used to put her in a football hold facing us with and then we would bounce her as we walked. She would fuss for the first couple minutes but then she would pass right out!

After a couple weeks it will pass... its not that your overfeeding. Some babies just have a hard time digesting there food and at about three months there stomachs get a little bit more comprable.

Hope this helped!!! :)))

Thanks so much ladies for your replies Ill definately take alot of that on board. I can see things getting better with her slowly, I just think she is a bit of a challenge and hopefully by approaching this gently we will build a close loving relationship. I have the wonder weeks book on order too so am eager to see what that says too.

She does love the mobile over her changetable but cant leave her on there in case she falls off so I might get her another for the cot although I usually take her to snuggle with me if she is really distressed as cuddles in bed are her favourite thing. We coslept for a while but I found we both sleep better apart especially as she is on her tummy.

lindsaymaree I hope your DS improves for you too :)

Just an update as I always wonder how these things turn out....

V has all of a sudden started sleeping from 10ish through the night for about 6,7 or even 8 hours. Nothing changed from my end but she is now not screaming at me for hours before she sleeps..Just some babbling and some lovely smiles. This coincides with the 2 weeks being up where the paed said would make a diff with the reflux meds.

I now feel like she and I can build a lovely relationship and begin enjoying each other. Its like someone has swapped my baby with a very agreeable one...Im so relieved.

I have put a nice floaty mobile above the bed for her which she loves. Dont think it made a diff but hey...

Thankyou for all your advice
xx Natty

:hug: I'm so glad!!

Oh Natty, I only just saw this thread. I'm thrilled for you and for Violet. :hug:

Hey Natty, I only just saw this thread!! Was going to post that 12 weeks is a wonder week and also that the 'arsenic' hour is so so very common at her age. You sound like you did a wonderful job and I'm really pleased it was all over (relatively) quickly and you can enjoy her in the evenings again.