12 week old crying all of a sudden

[CiaraB]

My DD is 12 weeks old today and has been the great up until about 3 days ago. She has started screaming uncontrollably and I have no idea why. I can't seem to get her to calm down. I think she could be teething as she has been dribbling lots and trying to get her hands in her mouth, but also think it is early for teething. My other thought could be that she is having a growth spurt - but would that last this long? She is still sleeping well at night and feeding well, so not sure why she is crying so much. I know it is hard to tell from the few lines I have written, but does anyone have any ideas??

[SnoopDog]

same here,

dd 15 weeks (but was 3 weeks early)

think teeth are a part of it, and jabs this week, and growth,

waits for wise mners to save me post,

[ohIdoliketobebesidethe]

How is her daytime sleep? Bit early for teething imho.

[CiaraB]

She has no real pattern to her daytime sleeps - I just let her sleep when she wants. She will usually have about 3 naps though - but not at any particular time. They would vary in length for 30 mins to 1.5 hrs. She sleeps 11 or 12 hours at night, and has been for about 4 weeks. Should I be getting her into a daytime sleep routine as well? I was wondering if she could be overtired as this has coincided with her becoming a lot more curious. She has been really studying things and starting to communicate more, so it is possible that she isn't sleeping enough during the day.

SnoopDog - I feel your pain

[ohIdoliketobebesidethe]

That doesn't sound like a lot of sleep for a 12 week old. On the other hand it doesn't really make sense that she should necessarily be overtired this week if she wasn't last week. However, say it was being overtired, then instead of waiting for her to fall asleep whereever and whenever, try getting her to sleep earlier. Watch for a yawn and then do everything that's needed to get her off before she gets overtired.

Is her crying before falling asleep or unrelated dto it?

How do you feel about dark rooms for sleeping? Personally they were a revelation for us.

[ohIdoliketobebesidethe]

BTW I have an 11 week old at the moment who is only awake for about 6 hours in 24. But that's down to a lot of effort to get him to sleep and he is miserable with any less than that!

[TexasChainsawMoussaka]

I could have written this post and did but with a slightly different title! DS was colicky but got over it at 10 weeks and was lovely up until 12 weeks when he went into total and utter meltdown.

I've never figured out what really caused it - he wasn't feeding more often so not a growth spurt, no teeth appeared so not teething, manages to sleep the same amount without melting down the rest of the time.

On the positive side he just got back to normal after a few days so I think it's just something developmental that really effects some babies. It didn't help that everyone said 'it gets easier at 12 weeks' and we suddenly had a screaming nightmare.

Not a lot of help I'm afraid but I found it easier to cope with knowing the same thing had happened to other people.

[CiaraB]

Thanks for all your advice. I think she should sleeping more during the day. She seems to be developing so fast at the moment that she must need her sleep to process all that she is learning.

Texas - It is very reassuring to know that it should pass in a few days. I know exactly what you mean about people saying it gets easier after 12 weeks. We have been really lucky with her up to now, and I would hate to think that she was going to be difficult from now on.

Thanks again!!

[pudding25]

I can't remember what she was doing (she's only 5.5mths now -have lost any brain cells I had!) but when dd was 12 wks, she went through a funny phase for a bit. I just remember it was then as I was thinking that everyone had told me it would get easier at 12 wks and it got worse! It must have got better again though soon after that. Can't believe how quickly I have forgotten what she was doing only a short while ago.

[Mij]

As well as good info offered by PP, 12 weeks is around the time when one of the 'fussy' weeks falls. Researchers (no, real ones, honest) discovered that if you watch a load of babies, corrected to their age by due date, they exhibit changed/fussy behaviour at around the same time, throughout the first year of life.

They're often learning something new. That's hard to see with a 12wk old, but she could just be realising that, eg, she has control of her hands. How much would that freak you out! See if she's trying to master a new skill - you may find she calms down in a matter of days, once she's made progress on it.

If you interested in the concept, the original publication (now out of print) was called Why They Cry, and the US version (still obtainable, just) is called The Wonder Weeks. We were loaned a copy, but I only checked if when we had 'unexplained' changes in behaviour (ie not illness or teething) and bugger me if the weeks didn't coincide every blooming time. It was very reassuring, and I wasn't anticipating it at all, in fact I was quite sceptical.

[CiaraB]

Thanks for your responses. It is so reassuring to know it should be just a phase. In fact, I think she was already more like herself yesterday.

Mij - I am very interested in the book and have managed to order a copy from Amazon. I can't wait for it to arrive. It is good to know there is a scientific reason for this, and not just me being an inexperienced first-time mum!