Baby cries at our meal time every day!

[heartmoonshadow]

Hi,

I know this is a very silly thing to ask but my baby is nearly 8 weeks old and since he was born every time we eat he screams the place down. Half hour before we eat we feed him, burp him, change his nappy etc. If by chance he falls asleep he instantly wakes up the second we begin our meal. Anybody any ideas as it is beginning to wear me down not knowing what is the matter with him.

I also thought it could be colic so tried infacol with his feeds, to no avail, I am pretty sure he is just attention seeking - would you leave him to cry just for the 15mins/half hour you are eating.

Thanks in advance for advice

HMS

[aGalChangedHerName]

My 4 dc all did this. He is not attention seeking,he is a baby. That's what they do. I ate most of my meals with the dc on my knee/or bfing them while DH spoon fed me.

Just hold him?

[heartmoonshadow]

I have tried that he just seems to get more and more fractious - they only thing that seems to settle him is for me to leave my food completely and devote all my attention to him.

It is just annoying that he is only this way at our main dinner time, no other time of the day does he get so worked up even if left for a little while say in his cot. But I will persist and maybe he will learn sometime in the next 18 or so years!!!

[fairimum]

Yep DD was the same - only thing that worked at about 3ish months was a swing! even that only worked about 50% of the time - we just ate in shifts!

[lou031205]

Bless him, attention seeking! He is 8 weeks old. He can't manipulate you. I don't know why they do it, perhaps it smells nice, but all 3 of mine have done it. You will get used to it.

[dogofpoints]

Do you mean your evening meal?

Both my babies used to be grizzly and whine away throughout the whole evening. S'normal.

I seem to remeber dh and I eating in shifts in the evening with dd1 or else eating very late

[dogofpoints]

har, fairi - we weren't the only ones

[BertieBotts]

Interesting theory lou it probably is the smell of dinner being all interesting!

Yes, eat in shifts. We ate a lot of meals like spag bol that you can just leave in the pan without them going all dry so that one of us could eat first and the other second. And I did a lot of eating one-handed while feeding.

[sazlocks]

another vote for eating in shifts. I found that I lost my appetite whenever I tried to eat while DS was crying. Sometimes it was easier to put him in a sling and eat with him close to me - although I did drop bits of (cold) food on his head on more than one occasion

[MrsBadger]

at an 8wo being called 'attention seeking'

I ate with one hand for about 4m, then with one foot bouncing the bouncy chair for about another 4

please do not 'persist' and leave him alone in his scot to cry while you stuff your face. At the very least have him in a moses basket downstairs where he can see you. Or eat in shifts as has been suggested

[becky7000]

Mine all did this. Second baby round I put DD in a cloth sling and ate over her, which worked. Worth a try. And if this fails just remember it's not for long!

[dogofpoints]

You got to change your whole outlook. It's hard.

Just have a quick snack in the evening and treat yourselves to a tasty little smorgasbord and a can of sweetheart stout later on when the baby is asleep for a couple of hours.

[rubyslippers]

i agree with the PPs re sling, eating in shifts or eating one handed

at 8 weeks old he has no idea it is your dinner time

young babies tend to be fractious in the early evening

DS used to cluster feed for ages at this time

really, having him on your knee and cuddling him will be best all round

[littleboyblue]

Both mine did this. With ds1 we waited until he'd gone to bed to have our dinner and then with ds2, I just ate quickly.

[traceybath]

Its very normal - we called it the witching hours. Just eat one handed.

[TreeTrunkThighs]

Both mine did this too. I cooked meals that could be eaten one handed or that could be eaten cold. And we ate in shifts, taking it in turns to get the food hot! It will pass and probabl quite soon. Hang in there.

[TreeTrunkThighs]

tracebath - called the witching hour here too

[allaboutme]

Yes v normal.
Do you eat your meal at the same time every day? If so, maybe have a snack and then try eating an hour or two later?
If not, its a good idea to eat in shifts.
We have done this with both our DCs when little (up to 3 or 4 months) and we used to eat one at a time in front of the TV with subtitles on (as we couldnt hear over the yelling) with the other one walking up and down trying to comfort the baby

[lightwind]

My li'l one did this too. I have a feeling he smelled the food and felt left out of the action. When your partner is around maybe you could take it in turns to eat/entertain the baby? And when you're on your own - either you eat in a crazy one handed way/ while b-feeding or you pop the babe into a pram/ basket/ on the floor right next to you and let him cry while you eat (five minutes of crying really won't hurt him). Maybe you could have the telly on, if his crying is really bad - sometimes it settles them. I wish I had done this, I used to go hungry and ended up feeling miserable. Or I wish I had made myself a sandwich and gone to the park with him.

How wonderful it is to be retrospectively wise...

[Laquitar]

Sorry but i was at 'attention seeking' 8 weeks baby.

I almost typed 'have you tried counseling'? (i mean for him)

[MrsGravy]

It's just one of those things babies do - probably because it's the evening and babies are always more cranky at that time of day!

I used to eat with them in the sling (poor DS used to end up with food in his hair!) or pop them in the middle of the table in their car seat - almost like a table decoration

I would just go with it - the baby will start sleeping in the evening at some point, or at the very least will be able to join you in eating when they're weaned.

[ExtraFancy]

I used to eat with DS slung over my shoulder, fast asleep. I have a lovely photo somewhere...we ate like this for the first few months

[anchovies]

Oh what a lovely photo, really made me chuckle I wish I'd taken one of those!!

[bodiddly]

my ds was like this and used to drive dp potty. I remember when he was about 3 months old we used to put him in his baby bouncer whilst we ate .. he loved it and I used to save it until we were serving up so he would be entertained whilst we ate in peace!

[Tee2072]

Fantastic picture, extrafancy!!

My DS did this until the day he, I swear, turned 9 weeks. So 2 weeks ago. Now he sits in his bouncy chair next to the table and we talk to him while we eat and he babbles at us.

Before that worked, we ate in shifts.

[heartmoonshadow]

Hi

thanks for all the positive advice you have given me - as for the people attacking me for writing attention seeking I am a new mum who has never done this before - I have no mother to ask advice from as she passed away and my MIL has alzheimers, I have no friends or family with new babies as I am the youngest in the family by some margin so really I am relying on support from strangers which is really quite sad so please think before you judge a person.

HMS