Late afternoon meltdown

[NoodleDoodle]

DS1 is 11 weeks old. We are roughly following a 4 hour EASY routine starting the day at 7 (if he sleeps that late). However every evening after his 4.30ish catnap he cries almost non-stop until we feed him about 6.30 (he is bottle fed, previous feed at 3pm). Most routines, EASY or otherwise, seem to suggest a short cat nap and then a final feed at around these times. I am sure I have read somewhere that it is not unusual for babies to get cranky as they have the full day's worth of events for their minds to process.

Pacing the lounge floor with him (doesn't necessarily stop the crying but tones it down slightly) when he was 6 weeks old seemed manageable, now that he is getting really quite heavy I just need to know whether the end is in sight.

Is his behaviour normal? When do they reach a stage when they can be awake after this nap but not meltdown?

Gina Ford suggests split feeding babies before and after their baTh as it is very common for them to be cranky at this time of day. I tried this and it worked a treat. I fed my DS after his nap at about 5.00pm and again after his bath, just before bed at about 6.45pm.

A few of my friends have also tried this and it has really worked well.

HTH

4 pm to 7 pm has been a nightmare with all mine. Cranky, crying and don't think you can do anything about it. I think after 4 crankiness lasted for a long time in our house and my 13 month-ds still really grumpy at this time.

Thanks for the advice. Update on how it went today:

Been a funny day for his naps (combination of him waking himself with big dirty nappies and me needing to be out and about collecting DH from hospital). So his sleep was back weighted towards the end of the day which isn't usual.

However the extra feed at 5pm seemed to keep the crankiness at bay till a bit later. An added bonus is that he fed more efficiently at 6.30pm - previously he would get tired part way through, as it was a smaller feed he got all the way through before tiring meaning he was down for the evening that much sooner.

i agree with tipex! just feed him!
he knows when he is hungry, not gina ford, or any other book!
if you were hungry/thirsty you would get yourself some food or a drink.... why would you expect an 11 week old baby to go without just because a book says otherwise?

just realised that sounds a bit harsh.. don't mean it that way honestly!
just sometimes you have to listen to baby. my ds was fed every 2 hours when he was that age. he now varied between 2 and 5 hours between feeds!

Starlover - I didn't think he could be hungry as my SIL's HV had said that bottle fed babies did not need to be fed more than every 4 hours as their tummies couldn't digest it quicker than that - I am beginning to learn that HV's opinions are not always accurate.

The 11pm feed was 'interesting' - DS took more than usual (presumably because he had less at 7pm) but took till gone 2am to settle to sleep! However with such a full tummy he did then sleep through till 6.30am (previously he was usually waking about 4.30am). I am hoping the difficulty in settling was a one off but that the going through till 6.30 is the start of a pattern (no harm in wanting the best of both worlds ).

many young babies cluster feed from mid to late afternoon to late evening

Its an 'I'm tanking up for a whole night's sleep' instinctive reaction

I think you should feed him when he cries

by 3 to 4 months he'll be over this stage and more likely to follow a routine, but hopefully one he sets himself .. although I quite like the guidelines with EASY

I'm not a fan of Gina Ford and her strict routines but found the advice about split feeding your baby before they hit that meltdown state really worked for us. My DS is now starting to have solid foods and I have just replaced the pre bathtime milk feed with baby rice.

I'm glad it's made a difference Noodledoodle and here's hoping it works today as well

the BW advises feeding every 3 hours or so up to 4 months and to cluster feed in the evening (feed every 2 hours before bed).

Thanks for all the suggestions.

The additional feed after his afternoon nap didn't settle him as well as yesterday - I think he would happily have fed more but I was concerned that it would affect his 6.30pm feed.

At the 11pm feed he didn't take as much formula as the previous night but did settle much quicker - back asleep by 11.30pm. Unfortunately only made it as far through as 5.30am - however this time last week I would have been very pleased with that, also he had broken free of his swaddle so that might also have contributed to the earlier waking.