What do you do when nothing stops the crying?

[WhyAreYouStillCrying]

As the title and name suggest my 7 month old wont stop crying. He's always been a difficult baby but today is on a whole new level. It's been pretty much full on hysterical crying since about 5am.

In that time.

I've fed him milk and his breakfast.
I've winded him.
I've rocked, cuddled, sang and tried to play with him.
Ive tried him in the sling.
I've changed his bottom.
I've given him calpol.
I've checked temperature, for injuries, stray hairs wrappes around fingers etc (all fine).
I've given him his dummy.
I've tried in vain to get him to nap (I'm pretty positive he is now over tired and obviously that's now exasperating the situation).
I've tried leaving him in his cot to calm himself down with no imput for 20 minutes.

Throughout all of the above he has continued to scream as though he is being tortured.

Please can anyone suggest anything I may not have tried, I'm desperate to get him to calm down.

I second the car, pack a drink, snack and book for you. Put on the radio at a mid volume to provide background noise. Drive until babies been asleep for a few minutes then pull over somewhere safe and relax. I had to do this a lot with my first, luckily the second was a relaxed zen baby :)

Care for yourself as well as baby. Being cooped up at home with crying is the worst thing, it is always best to get out of the house if you are struggling to settle a baby. Whether it is a walk or a drive, but the crying is less loud and distressing if there are other noises.

Also, hairdryer noise on YouTube. Instant calm for the month it actually worked.

Thanks for all the lovely kind words. He is now asleep in the sling, lets hope it lasts! He fell asleep after literally exhausting himself.

I found the worst thing about this sort of crying was the way it made me feel - all desperate and panicky.

This resonates so much!! Everything tells you babies crying so much is bad for them and whilst obviously hes going to cry the fact he screams so much and for so long makes me really stressed out. However, I know tjis in turn probably makes it worse as he can sense I get stressed. Its like a self fulfilling prophecy.

yy to earphones/earplugs.
both my DC had awful colic. with DC1 I drove myself crazy thinking that I'd failed if I didn't stop her crying.
with DC2 I was more zen, and reconciled myself to the fact that my babies cry a lot, and that's ok. I would sit on the sofa holding her, with earplugs in, while I watched something undemanding on TV with low volume and subtitles.

they're both great hulking teens/preteens now and appear entirely unaffected by being epic, unconsolable criers.

x-post
glad he's nodded off

Have you tried calpol? As a last resort it could help with the teething and help him to sleep. He does sound overtired. White noise and pacing in a darkened room with a sling helped my LO nap.

I just want to say thank you again for alk the advice.

Is it weird to find it reassuring that other people have bloody miserable babies? Honestly all the babies I know are delightfully giggly smiley bundles of sunshine and mines like the ugly duckling he really doesn't fit in. I mean I love the bones off of him but it wouldn't kill him to crack a few smiles.

I had a baby who cried for hours non stop. I totally understand. All I can offer is, my friend is a neurosurgeon and he said to me calmly, “no baby ever died from crying”.

It helped me because I got so panicked and anxious when the screaming started, I was in a state of terror.

Oh I so feel you. When mine turned one it was like a switch flicked. It really was that quick and such a huge change in her temperament. For me it was giving up breastfeeding they did it, she want from crying and whinging all the time to being an actual delight. I’d got to the stage where I was really struggling to be around her tbh. But now almost 3 months on I adore her and I so wish her first year had been easier on both of us. But it really will get better I promise

My first was a miserable baby until walking. Second was easier in some ways but not others. I found the chatty groups of parents with smiley babies on laps or in high chairs/push chairs demoralising as I walked past sweating with grumpy baby in sling. It gets better!

Take them outside or put them in water. Old advice but it's always worked for my daughter. If it's raining outside, can you run him a bubble bath & take lots of toys for him to play with? It'll either work or he will continue crying so I guess there's no harm in trying?
I assume you've tried playing with him too? Pop him on the floor with some toys, maybe some messy play and lay with him?
I hope you get some respite soon. Motherhood is bloody hard!

Hand in there OP. My best friends baby was the same and she was borderline PND for a while. He would cry until he almost vibrated! She looked at me once and just said 'I'm going to have to put him up for adoption!' she was joking but he was so so fretful. He turned a corner around 9 months but can be quite a sensitive kid even now. Sometimes its there little personalities.

Has your health visitor helped at all? There are definitely no issues with allergies or anything that would cause him discomfort. If not try walking or driving, movement to get him to give up and sleep? If he is getting so wired it may be the best thing so that you can both cope. It won't be forever so so what you need to, to stay sane.

Take them outside or put them in water.

This gave me a really clear image of dunking the baby in a bucket of water. Tbh anything is worth a try.

White noise worked for mine. He liked the sound of a tap running.

Also car rides, going in the pram but it had to be bumpy, sitting in a dark room with white noise and one of those light projector things.

@CarlottaValdez not what I meant however as you say...

Glad he's nodded off. Your comment about the rain cover made me laugh. My first child used to love the rain cover and so it was a horrible shock to me when DS came along who would get hysterical at the sight of it. He was a "glass is empty" kid too!