When did your baby grow out of their witching hour? My 12-week-old DD reminds me of the kitten I used to have who would, like clockwork, wake up at 7pm every evening and start dementedly climbing the curtains as if overtaken by demons.
Whether I spend all day watching her sleepy cues like a hawk and pouncing and getting naps into her (she's a serial catnapper and takes 5-6, 30-45-minute naps a day, usually sling, occasionally pram or BF to bed, 45-75 mins awake time max – less in the morning, longer as the day wears on), or go "fuck it" and don't try too hard but end up with a similar amount of naptime (4 hours or so total), she goes batshit somewhere around 6pm to 8-9pm at least 5 evenings a week.
It makes any introduction of a bedtime routine impossible, and she won't be consoled with feeding because she's too angry. I'd happily cluster feed her all eve but she's having none of it. We basically just have to hold her while she screams until she drops off for 20 minutes, wakes for more screaming then nods off for 45 mins, then will happily feast away on my boob.
I keep being told she'll grow out of it – by 9, 10, 11, 12 weeks. Here we are at 12+3 and she's as bad-tempered as ever from 6-9pm – just louder now she has bigger lungs. It's not quite colic as it's not non-stop, but it's wearing and obviously affects her sleep and feeding.
Pretty sure I can't change it but would happily hear your similar stories of wakeful cranky babies who magically stopped their witching hour overnight! (Please no "at that age mine dozed happily in their Moses baskets each evening, waking only to feed"; that's not my baby.) Or dire warnings that it didn't wear off til they were 6 months or whatever.
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Behaviour/development
Witching hour(s)
4 replies
burritofan · 19/07/2019 13:59
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