I know that prolonged crying is a reason to take a baby to the doctor, but how prolonged is prolonged?
DD, who is 15 weeks old, nearly, has just cried really loudly, screaming really, for an hour. For no reason that we can tell (surely she wasn't that upset about a pooey nappy and the quick bath we gave her!?).
She's normally very calm and never cries for longer than a few minutes at a time, and mostly doesn't cry at all.
She seems upset now, but not quite crying Would you be going to the doctor? Or is this just one of those things they do?
Sometimes they cry about not much at all and can take a while to settle. Our DS (16 weeks) has had a few sessions where he will be inconsolable for an hour or so, and we have checked everything, wind, tried to feed again, checked nappy, made sure nothing uncomfortable was in his clothes, dummy, wrapping for sleep, checked temp etc and eventually he has exhausted himself and gone to sleep. Having said that he does have a tooth coming up (very early I know, but it has cut through already) so we have put it down to that....
Trust your motherly instincts and if you are worried then see a medical professional, or maybe try the parent helpline in your state? They might be able to talk you through what the issue might be on the phone, and its nice to have some immediate professional advice (google parent helpline and you should be able to find one applicable to you)
I've now got a second big-cryer-baby. Phoebe doesn't cry as much as I remember Natty used to, but yes, there are times when she'll cry and cry and it seems there's nothing I can do for her.
By all means, check things out. I took Natty to the dr about it because it seemed to be happening all the time. The dr recommended giving Panadol and seeing if it had an affect (Panadol isn't a sedative, so if bubs stops crying you can assume they were in pain, KWIM?) but it did nothing for Natty - she just needed to cry. Once she was 6-ish months old she became heaps more settled and happy.
With Phoebe, I just assume that it's tiredness. Particularly if she's flailing her arms about the place. And even if she's just had a nap. If she is crying 'excessively', I wrap her up tightly and rock and shush her.
I hope you find some answers soon - crying babies are very tiring.
After she'd cried for about 2 hours I phoned the nurse hotline and they said to take her to the doctor, so we did that. She settled down as we walked to the doctor and by the time we got there she was basically beaming at everyone. Doctor checked her out and everything seemed fine. She got upset again as we paid the bill, and then was crying all over again by the time we got home. She wouldn't feed from the breast, but took a little EBM in a bottle. Then I put her down to sleep (some two hours later than usual), and she did stop crying after a little while and sleep. I guess this is the first time I've seen her cry herself into such tiredness that she would sleep anyway even though the problem probably isn't solved.
She has now done two large-seeming very sloppy poos. So we're wondering whether that is connected to the problem. Maybe her bottom is sore or something, though it doesn't look especially sore, certainly no nappy rash. We've creamed her up good with sudocrem, in case she is sore around her anus. And I'm hoping that even though she hasn't had much to eat she'll sleep for a few hours now. Wish us luck.
It's been a hell of an evening. It's so upsetting not knowing what the problem is. I've just had my first beer in more than a year (since I first got pregnant). That, at least, feels great!
Hi Tenar! Sounds like she had a tummy ache to me. I'm sure you get a sore tummy when you get diarrhoea. It's probably just a one off. If not, it's most likely lower wind pain or silent reflux. Babies do cry for a reason, they're trying to tell you something... you've just got to figure it out. Tired, hungry, too hot, too cold, wind pain, the list goes on. Good luck!
usually calm baby screams for an hour :(
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