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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Any suggestions?

20 replies

troublesmummy · 03/11/2005 10:49

I really don't know whats wrong with ds, but i'm at the end of my tether.

He's 4 1/2 months old and has always been good. He's a contented little baby most the time. But for the past week or so he's never happy, and i'm starting to get concerned.

Sometimes he has his bottle and sometimes he doesn't. The only time he seems happy is when he's either having his bottle or he's asleep. Apart from that, he just screams and screams for no apparent reason.

I seem to cry at least once every day and i can't carry on like this as i am starting to resent him.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

dot1 · 03/11/2005 11:17

Hi,
my 2 are older than this, but ds2 screamed through most of his days and nights up until about 16 weeks - when we started giving him solids! The change in him was amazing and he's been a happy little thing ever since!

I know current advice is to wait until they're 6 months, but maybe your ds is hungry? Have you thought about introducing solids?

Mammybadgirl · 03/11/2005 11:22

Teething? Try Ashton and Parsons powders from Boots. They are magic.

Nasher · 03/11/2005 11:30

my ds is 5 months and last month he did the same, crying for no reason... sounds silly but have you updated your toys?i got a few more rattles, things he could hold and now he can play for up to an hour on his own without crying! i also bought a bouncer thingy (that attaches to the door frame u know what i mean?
) and he loves it!!

Original poster

troublesmummy · 03/11/2005 11:57

He used to be quite content lying on his play mat for an hour or so, now after 15 minutes he gets bored, so i put him in his bouncy chair and after about ten minutes, gets bored, so i sit play with him with some rattles and other toys and he starts crying after about 5 minutes. Think he gets frustrated with it to be honest.

I thought teething too, but not so sure. I suppose it could be so many things. I will try getting him those powders, see if that does the trick. If that doesn't work, then i guess i'll try weaning him. I really didn't want to do it yet, but if i have to, then i have to. Anything for a bit of peace and quiet

It just seems to be so bad at the moment, and dp is away with work and my mum is on holiday so i'm all on my own trying to deal with him, and at the moment its not easy!

Thanks all.

OP posts:

dexter · 03/11/2005 12:07

Definitely could be hungry! Me and friends compared and definitely found the boys hungrier. My son was. Obviously would never tell anyone to go against health advice, but the six month old thing is just ADVICE. Three years ago when my son was born it was four months...and when I was a baby my mum was advised to wean at ten weeks!!! So I'd really consider a bit of baby rice....remember your son has his individual needs, not every baby fits into government guidelines! This is a fashion, like all government advice.

Also with my son, found he was grumpy for weeks when incubating a bug or cold, so take his temp. and see if you think he's going down with something?

But I really reckon he may be hungry, cos you are doing everything else you could be re poss teething, boredom, etc. Maybe go for a bit of baby rice and see if it makes him happy! I used the contented baby book about weaning (gina ford) and it was really useful.

Well done for coping with this difficult time on your own - keep going!!

Original poster

troublesmummy · 03/11/2005 12:18

Thank you! Don't feel like i'm coping, but am trying! Can't wait til dp walks in the door tomorrow night!

This is why i love this site. If you forget all the bitching its really helpful as i don't really know any other mums.

Thanks

OP posts:

Easy · 03/11/2005 12:22

Do try offering him some solids, a little baby-rice won't do him any harm at all, and may well help him to settle.

My ds was 3 months 3 weeks when I first added rice to his diet (advice then was weaning at 4 months). He too was becoming discontented, as he was growing well, was a big baby, and IMO needed more energy to support this development.

And think how you feel if you are hungry?

Original poster

troublesmummy · 03/11/2005 12:29

Thats whats confusing me though. Sometimes he won't touch his bottle. Maybe he's bored of milk. Its disgusting so i can't blame him if he is! cheers

OP posts:

Easy · 03/11/2005 12:31

Hey if you think milk is vile, try it when you've mixed it with babyrice !!

LIZS · 03/11/2005 12:40

tbh he sounds as if he is either teething/feeling under par or bored. Developmentally he may well be frustrated as his current inabilities to move or sit. I wouldn't bother weaning him yet, it may well make very little difference, unless he is clearly demanding more frequent, larger feeds. Try lots of distraction, fresh toys, walks in pushchair, door bouncer, get him into a good daytime sleep regime so he doesn't get overtired and perhaps join a social/activity group to get you both out regularly and relieve the tension a bit.

hth

KVG · 03/11/2005 13:24

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

JessieParker · 03/11/2005 13:37

I agree with the baby rice thing. My ds (now 2.6) started that at roughly the same time. Tried him with Farleys babyrice, just a tablespoon of the rice stuff, and he loved it, and settled pretty much immediately.

My sis had her ds 1 year later, and didn't wean him till 6 months, he was a nightmare! Yelling all the time, not settling, maybe chewing on a rusk, but not happy. I looked after him for 1/2 a day once, and he was ravenous. Gave him some rice and he tucked in with a will.

Oh well, live and learn as they say. Try it, and good luck

melissasmummy · 03/11/2005 13:54

Don't forget that if you are anxious & upset he will feel it & react, easier said than done, but try to be as calm as you can. Babies get easily over stimulated too, try not to wave TOO many toys at him, sometimes they just need a good cry to work out their frustrations.

I weaned my DD at 3 months as no amount of milk would satisfy her.

He will start teething around now too, so that could be a factor, even tho it may take a while before you see any teeth.

Make sure he has lots of sleep too, DD always cried at 6.30pm, at least twice a week. Took me a while to realise she was just tired.

dexter · 03/11/2005 16:01

Hope you have a good night....felt for you as you don't know other mums etc - we've all felt isolated at times and it feels like you're the only person on the planet doing it....How's his sleep? Does he sleep in the day? Something that really helped us was a sleep routine - we did 12 - 2pm and then he was (still is) in bed by 6 / 6.30. They're all different and we found our son needs a 6 bedtime instead of 7 or 8 as some people do. He just got overtired if we aimed for 7 instead of 6.
Just thoughts! Good luck.

Original poster

troublesmummy · 03/11/2005 17:37

Wow. Thanks. I'm grateful for all your responses. Been out shopping. Feel so much better now. I've brought some of the powder for his teeth and will try him on that for a few days, and if that doesn't work, i'll try some baby rice, and if that doesn't work, i'll just have to think of something else. I'm very reluctant to wean him yet, so i'll try everything else first.

His sleep seems to be the only thing thats going well. He wakes at about 7am, has a feed, then goes straight back to bed til about 9am. Then up, til about 11am, when he has a two hour sleep. Then i usually go out so he cat naps when we're out but only for about half an hour at most. Then he has an hour between 4.30 and 5.30pm, and then its bath, bottle and bed by 7.30pm latest.

Thanks to all, especially Dexter for thinking of me. And thanks to Nasher, and KVG. It helps to know i'm not the only one

OP posts:

Original poster

troublesmummy · 05/11/2005 10:31

I'm back. Powder seems to be working well, however, for the past two days he's been waking up at 5am and refusing to go back to sleep. So i think he's hungry, but when i give him his bottle he leaves half of it. He does have a bit of a cough, but it really is a bit. But maybe that is bothering him. Anyone?

OP posts:

foundintranslation · 05/11/2005 10:39

Are you demand feeding? How much milk do you give him at once? He might be hungry, but might need more frequent milk feeding rather than weaning (and the evidence that it is better to leave weaning until 6mo is strong, so I'd avoid that if you can).
He might just be needing less sleep and/or adjusting his sleep patterns. It might take a while for the 5am waking to settle. He does sleep quite a lot during the day.

KiwiKate · 05/11/2005 11:42

Have to agree with other posters that each baby is different regarding weaning. Had EXACTLY the same problems with my ds (now 2.5yo) when he was 4 months. I thought he was hungry. Everyone was pressuring me not to introduce solids. He was driving me mad, and eventually I tried him with some mashed ripe banana (I have to be careful what I feed him because of a family history of allergies). I felt really bad and guilty because of the recommendation to wait to 6 months. But this is only a RECOMMENDATION. He immediately became calmer and more settled, and a very happy and content baby.

Remember that when you start introducing solids, you still give them their milk, but only offer the solids AFTER they have had their milk feed. Also, you may offer solids only once a day at first. You can try giving two or three solid feeds over a couple of days, and if that does not settle him (or if he refuses to take solids) then you can leave the solids for a few weeks/months and try again later. However, if he settles right away - then you will have a solution to your problem.

And btw - ds has not had any health problems or food allergy problems (despite the family food allergy history). His "early" weaning did no harm to him at all. In fact, it was the best thing I did. It settled him. Made him more content. Helped him to sleep, and when he was awake he was altogether much happier. This all made me calmer and happier and more content! I now have a second child and would not hesitate to wean at 4 months if she showed similar signs of agitation as ds did.

harj27 · 03/01/2008 21:29

i've been using the powders, but i find that the Calpol teething gel seems to work a little better

chankins · 03/01/2008 21:34

Hi - my ds was like this at that age and I considered early weaning, but looking back now it was mainly just teething. So I let him suck on the juicy bit of an apple, cucumber, suck and lick a few tastes from my fingers, but avoided actually feeding him anything properly until he was 6 months, when we tried blw, which I would totally recommend.
Once he got 2 teeth at 6 mo he was a different baby and started sleeping through the night. Teeth do have a lot to answer for !

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