HELP! Advice needed for unsettled baby every evening!!!

[HBelfy]

Hi
I am desperate for some advise as my 7 week old has an unsettled period every night between 6-11 she is well feed with a clean nappy but like clockwork from 7pm until 11 ish she is so unsettled moaning & crying so my husband and I have tried everything rocking, singing, going for a walk or car ride! Will it ever end? She is fine during the day with feeding and napping and also goes through the night from 11 to 4 feed then back off until 7.
We have a routine bath/feed about 6.30 but still no change, we have tried to put her down to sleep and cry it out but she is wide awake and just wont sleep until 11.
She did have reflux but is now on Ranitidine which is working so I know she isn't in any pain now as this is different.
Any advise would be appreciated
Thanks

my sympathies - it sounds like colic....
It is likely your baby has stomach pains and is in some degree of discomfort. Many babies get this, and often at evening time.
I had it with my DS thought not with DD.
It does pass......though you may not feel it will.
I used to give Infacol before every feed and it appeared to help.
Not much you can do, other than try and soothe as best you can.
As theri digestive systems develop, colic symptoms fade.

Definitely sounds like a touch of colic or maybe the Ranitidine is not working too well any more. Maybe go back to the docs?
One of the best things I got for my DD reflux was a Lilla Kudis baby pillow so she wasn't laying flat.
I do sympathise as we has many half eaten meals and car journeys. In the end we use to sit with DD on our laps til she dropped off. It didn't harm her routine, she's now in bed at 7 and asleep every night.
Good luck!

Hey, I'm not sure if my advice will be any use but I remember feeling quite this desperate so just wanted to start the ball rolling before others reply.

Presume you've gone through the usual reasons for crying list (hot, cold, hungry etc)? More milk, less milk? Tried swaddling? Or not swaddling if you are? Tried walking her in a sling (soft one, not a bjorn type)? I used gripe water for colic, others use infacol - wind problems? Move the bath until a bit later say 8pm? Try calming the house downstairs at this time - low lights, soft music etc. Baby massage might help digestion. Try cycling her legs and doing soft but firm strokes with your hands in a clockwise rotation over her stomach. Lying her over your leg and rubbing her back.

Sorry, they're only ideas you've probably already had but maybe you'll hit on something. And whilst you're trying out these different techniques a few weeks will pass and she'll probably change her habits. That's what I found but at least keeping busy trying to solve it felt like we were doing something.

Good luck, try to take heart in the fact that this is pretty normal newborn behaviour and probably not something you're doing / not doing. And it will pass (I hated people saying that!)

Thank you for your help so far however I know its not colic or that the Ranitidine isnt working as I have now learnt her different crys and she isnt in pain its as if she is fed up and winges.
I haven't heard of the Lilla Pillow so I will have to look into getting one of those thanks.
From your experience when will she start going off to bed at a reasonable time in the evening? and any further tips on how to help put her down???

Thanks again

Sorry should have posted the link so you can read about them. It's here
We worked out that our DD hated being in another room from us in the evening and also preferred to sleep in her chair. So up until about 10 weeks she slept in the living room til her 10pm feed when we transferred her upstairs with us.
Also, is she napping ok during the day? Sometimes babies can fuss terribly if they are overtired. My DD is 7 months, normally goes off like a dream, but as we had loads of family round today she was knackered and couldn't get herself over to sleep.

sympathies - our DD was like this when tiny too - she wanted to feed to sleep, but cluster fed and wasn't that good at falling asleep. Could she be overtired? in retrospect our DD was, and we just didn't realise

My dd used to do this. I don't THINK it was colic but there again no-one really knows what the causes of it are.... You have my sympathies. I used to dread the evenings - she'd start screaming from 4 onwards and nothing seemed to help apart from rocking her and let her suckle on me to sleep all evening. Looking back and knowing her little personality better now (nearly 2) I think she was just over-stimulated and over-tired and whilst an afternoon in star bucks didn't seem like much to me it just frazzled her. Might not help much now but it's a bit like morning sickness... Feels like it will never pass and truly miserable at time but then one day at about 13 weeks things just start getting easier. In meantime, I'd say have a routine eg bath at 6, massage, story, dim lights etc, keep her in her bedroom and in her cot if it all possible but chances are it won't be for a few weeks yet she begins to settle properly in evening and the best you can do is be there for her to comfort. If it helps any at 5 months or so I worked out her true bedtime was 610pm and until she hit 12 months if she was still up at 615.... Meltdown.

Ps not sure if this is your first or not but generally until babies get much older (6 month mark ) crying it out doesn't work. If you leave them yo'll find they just keep crying until they throw up or are in such a tizz (plus your nerves are shot through too!) no-one knows what they want anymore...

As this is my first I appreciate all your help and advice, I will just keep at it and hopefully time will make a difference.

If it helps you too I kept with my little routine and calming her and wherever possible putting her to np in her cot when I could and since maybe 4 months she began sleeping through night, going to bed at same time, in cot etc i very much doubt you're doing anything wrong. Babies are just random and such sensitive little creatures... Good luck and keep us posted!

Seven weeks is prime evening-fuss time - all babies go through it whether they have colic or not! It gets better from about 12 weeks. We found the best thing was wearing dd in a sling for as much of the day as possible - the more physical contact she had during the day the less fussy she was during that early evening wind-down-for-the-night period. But practically every baby has it! Also if they're bf-ing then it's usually when they want to feed and feed and you've got nothing left!

Are you breastfeeding? Ds2 fed almost constantly from about 6 till 10 until he was about 14 weeks. You don't think they're hungry but they are or they're trying to get your milk supply up.

Failing that, I can only suggest as much contact as possible - sling etc.

It will get better in a few weeks - honest

I think the general thought is it's colic. I know you say you don't think that's what it is but if it is I suggest if she is bottle fed atall to use DrBrowns natural flow bottle. It is designed to stop air getting out.

If you google you'll be able to buy them online but if you want them today I think boots sell them.

Hope this helps.

For those who have just googled this and found this thread - its called the arsenic hour (allthough lasts all evening!!) Google it. It ls very common and normal and WILL end!

7 weeks is very young for a 7pm bedtime. Our routine was like yours but started around 10pm at that age. It crept earlier until it hit 7pm at around 12 or 15 weeks I think.
We did 'baby-led bedtime'... just put him down when he seemed ready.
Also, would constant feeding help? Maybe she just wants to cluster feed.
Good luck.

I always swore by a short 30min nap between 4-5pm for a good bedtime. Mine would get overtired and impossible to settle without it

Is the ranitadine dose increasing with her weight? If not she might have outgrown it and is back in pain again. It is also not enough for some refluxers who need omeprazole. Does she have cmpi? Half of refluxers do. If she does no meds will alleviate her reflux until cows milk protein and potentially soya have been removed from her diet, which means yours too if you are bfing. Most paeds now think there's no such thing as colic it's varying degrees of temporary cows milk protein intolerance, which clears as babies grow able to tolerate it.

Unsettled baby? See an Osteopath!

The best advice, is to go see an Osteopath! One who is specialised in treating unsettled crying babies!

Just type in 'Cranial Osteopath' or 'Baby Osteopathy' in google to find one near you!

Here is a great one with branches in Epsom and Sutton: www.thekingclinic.co.uk

Hope this will help you!