4 Week Old Crying

[Clairemac2004]

Need advice. My DS is 4 weeks old. He is my second child. Every evening around tea-time he has his feed and then cries uncontrollably for hours.

This is every single night. He gets so worked up he won't go onto the breast. When I do get him on he calms down eventually and goes to sleep. I have tried swaddling which is a hit or miss.

Help! Exhausted mummy!

Ooooooooooooh sounds like "colic", which in my own experience was due to overtiredness in a very easily stimulated baby. But a degree of fussiness is normal in the evenings, so I was always told!

We got by using a sling loads, but it was really tough going. If you search Mumsnet for colic you'll find oodles of suggestions, some of which work better for one baby than the next.

Much sympathy, it's tough goin.

going sorry

My DS1 used to do that, actually most of the day, but especially bad from 5-9pm. First thought it was colic but turned out to be reflux (He was very chucky-uppy as well). My DS2 would also cry inconsolably around 5-6pm before he went to bed at 6:45pm. His improved around 8-9 weeks (the early evening issues improved with DS1 too despite the reflux at 10-12weeks). I think alot of it can be over-tiredness or over-stimulation. Does he have a routine? Is he getting enough sleep? Difficult getting into a routine with no. 2 though and not getting them too stimulated with a first DC running around. I think I used to try...giving a mini-feed around 5pm, a sort of top up (kinda cluster feeding) before their bedtime feeds. Using the swing or bouncer. Sometimes the colic hold can be good - you put them over your forearm face down (cradling head in your hand, their body over your forearm) - meant to give relief to their bellies if that's the problem. Maybe a bit of baby massage (altho' if its overstim then that might be more stimulating...depends on your DC though). Infacol....think my DS1 had his weight in Infacol! If you're really desparate you could try cranial massage - had friends try that for various things and was quite good. With DS1 I used to go for hour long walks between 5-6pm and that seemed to help to calm him and he would drop off a little - enough to not be beside himself with tiredness for bedtime at 7pm (difficult to do with an older child though). Good Luck....hopefully in a few week's time he'll improve - just got to get through this bit!

Had the same problem with my DD. It does stop at around 3 months though although that must seem like a long way off at the moment. I never really found a solution, although next time round I think I will make sure I wind the baby fully, even if it means waking them up

Hello, I too had Colic hell from a couple of weeks old until the day my Dr Brown bottles arrived in the post. They changed my life overnight but if you are breast feeding then it wont be the answer for you. I literally went from having a crying baby from 4pm until around 3am every single night (my husband and I slept in 4 hour shifts) until the bottles arrived in the post from amazon and then she stopped the screaming, slept right through from 8pm I think until about 6am. It saved my life. Another thing that did help which might be of help to you was Colief, some drops from the chemist that you add to their milk, there are also instructions for adding to breast milk so that could be a great help. Quite expensive at £10 for the drops but worth every penny if you are getting sleep and it is saving your sanity.

Good luck, hope this helps, also Colic usually stops around the 12 week age I think.

It used to help with DS if I stripped us both off to the waist and sat outside the bathroom BFing with the extractor fan going... sounds bonkers now but it did calm him down.

I also got on very well with the Dr Brown bottles - also really going for it with making sure he was winded.

At 8 weeks old we're now having one episode a week rather than nightly.

How are you doing with the winding?

Skihorse is right - you need to go for it, I mean not a gentle 'tap tap tap' on his back but a full on handclap. You will know if it is too firm, don't worry.

this is what I did with ds2 and he almost never cried till 6 months when teeth started.

You have to wait for the burp. Sometimes takes a few minutes.

you can get colief on prescription

I use Infacol before each feed (formula fed baby) which has helped a great deal, also I put my 5 week old over my shoulder and tap his nappied bum rhythmically - this helps bring wind out from his bum also and soothes him.

Don't despair, it does ease in time, although I know it feels like it will never end.

Sometimes a burp can take 20 minutes if it's well wedged in and accompanied by angry screaming - but well worth the perseverence.

Over the shoulder walking up and down stairs is good for winding.

DD1 had deadful colic, you have my sympathy, it's bloody awful

He's normally very easy to wind but lastnight I had to use the gripe water to help him out which was a first. He was upset lastnight but managed to have him calm by 9.30pm and then he slept through till midnight and then again just before 5am which wasn't too bad. He seems to get awfully grumbly after his 4/5am feed though for some reason, keeps me awake making noises.l Then he sleeps after his next feed right when I have a toddler to get organised and can't catch up with my sleep.

Since its my No2 the fact that I know these things get easier with time keeps me halfway sane, my DD had bad wind too but never got as upset as DS.

My mother and MIL swore blind you have to wind babies (they both did bottles, not bf) but then a friend told me that was rubbish and so it proved. You can't 'get wind up' - it comes up on its own or it doesn't, which is why sometimes a burp takes two minutes and sometimes it takes 20.

Fussy in the evenings at four weeks is entirely normal, but you might find using a sling during the day helps a lot. Also make sure that you are getting enough rest during the afternoon so your milk supply isn't too depleted by the evening - sometimes babies are fussy in the evenings because they've got hungry and if you've been rushing around your milk will be in shorter supply.

I've just given him his first bottle. He's starting to cry during the day now too for his feeds and its just getting too much for me. I have a 2 year old daughter too and not getting any time with her at the moment which is heartbreaking too. I'm going to express for as long as my supplies can manage so that at least he'll get some breastmilk but obviously eventually it'll be just formula. I just did a bottle feed with him and it was so easy. He only got worked up when I stopped to wind him. Think he's able to feed at his own pace with a bottle. My let down is too much for him as sometimes he just wants to leisurely feed not guzzle.

I'm trying not to feel too guilty about it. I gave him a month of breastmilk which is a good boost for him.

Clairemac - if you come over to the bf/ff forum we have a FF support thread. :)

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/breast_and_bottle_feeding/1022940-Support-for-those-FF

this link from the above thread is well worth reading, I'm BFing but even so I wouldnt mind FFing after reading that :-)