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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

Evening screaming

16 replies

marshmallow2468 · 30/04/2013 22:12

DS (3m) has had fits of inconsolable screaming every evening for the last three weeks. Prior to this he'd sit quite happily in his bouncer next to the table while we ate dinner. Nothing makes him happy. He's not hungry, wet, dirty, cold etc, refuses to be held and looks like he's in real pain. Early in his life he was quite gassy, but I think that's mostly passed now. You could actually set your watch by the screaming. It coincides with DH getting home from work, and it's really affecting him. He thinks DS doesn't like him.

I suspect he's currently having a growth spurt as his feeding habits have recently changed, but this screaming has been going on longer than the feeding changes. Any words of wisdom or do we just have to ride it out?

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ellesabe · 30/04/2013 22:14

Could he be over-tired?

PoppyWearer · 30/04/2013 22:16

Much sympathy! I had this with my DC1 around that age.

Have you read up on colic and tried tummy massage, warm bath,etc?

It does pass, I promise!!!!

Make sure you get a break, hand the baby over to your DH and take a walk around the block to keep your sanity. Then swap. Repeat.

Original poster

marshmallow2468 · 30/04/2013 22:18

I did think maybe overtired, but I've been making a real effort with naps. Normally when he gets overtired during the day he's easy to get off to sleep, but those techniques don't work in the evening.

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Original poster

marshmallow2468 · 30/04/2013 22:19

Tried massage, bath, Infacol, everything I can think of.

I think it gets to DH more than me. At least I get his lovely times during the day.

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Original poster

marshmallow2468 · 30/04/2013 22:21

He does drop off eventually, then wakes to feed and then sleeps well overnight. So it's not all bad!

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Droflove · 30/04/2013 22:26

Both my friend and I have 3mt olds and have the same thing since their second set of jabs 10 days ago. Might just be a coincidence....

Original poster

marshmallow2468 · 30/04/2013 22:28

Second set of jabs are this week. Oh no, hope things dont get worse!!!

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mel191187 · 01/05/2013 21:08

This sounds like colic my little boy had it around the same age, try giving him Ifacol before his bottles and it should improve

Original poster

marshmallow2468 · 01/05/2013 21:36

He's been on Infacol for several weeks, we've also tried gripe water, but he really didn't like that.

Yet again this evening we've had the demonic hour. DH is at the end of his tether with it. There's nothing wrong with DS though. We've started eating dinner through the screaming. This is putting a bit of a strain on us as it means we're never talking to each other.

I think I might start another thread asking for opinions on DS's average day, see if there's something I'm missing.

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fififrog · 01/05/2013 21:54

Well, my DD screamed for at least an hour every night for about 4 months and then it rapidly dropped off. She did not have wind. It was pretty obvious to me that she was exhausted but just didn't know how to wind down. There was nothing we could do. We took it in turns eating dinner one handed while jiggling her on our laps (which turned it from full on scream to gentle wail). We decided about 3 months to aim for 7pm bedtime and began bedtime routine at 6pm and kept everything quiet after that. It gradually got less and she started dropping off earlier so at about 4 months rather than letting her fall asleep downstairs we did the hour's rocking in her room. By 5.5 months there was no rocking, just holding, and we then did some sleep training, aka putting her down awake and sitting there til she fell asleep. It feels like it will never end, but it will!

Incidentally, my DH was also traumatised that the evil began as soon as he walked in. I even remember the Sainsbury's delivery man coming at 6pm one time just as the witching hour (as we used to call it) began, and he commented that his daughter was exactly the same and seemed perfectly happy til he was home.

Original poster

marshmallow2468 · 21/06/2013 08:30

I started this thread a couple of months ago, but the situation hasn't really improved, so thought I'd bump it and see if anybody has any further words of wisdom. DS is now coming up to 5m and still screaming in the evening. Napping has improved during the day, and I don't think that colic is a problem anymore. We now sometimes sit him in his highchair with toys on the table when we're eating. He's sometimes OK for five minutes, but then just screams. If we pick him up he stops for a bit, but them starts again. I don't think there's actually anything wrong with him - as soon as we take him to his changing table to start getting him ready for bed, he's fine. Potentially he's starting to get sleepy. Is it realistic to think that once he gets to 6m and is fully on formula (currently doing a bit of transition from breast to bottle) he might fall asleep by about 7 and we can leave him in his own room? At the moment, after the screaming, he has a bottle about 8 and is fast asleep by 9.

DH thinks it's a bit of manipulation to get us to pick him up, but surely he's too young for manipulative behaviour at this age? I just hope somebody can give me reassurance that this will improve! I have visions of a 16 year old screamer.....

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Ragusa · 21/06/2013 09:34

Did the screaming coincide with the introduction of an evening bottle of formula?

coronalover · 21/06/2013 09:51

Have you tried putting him to bed earler? By 4mo both of mine needed a 7-8 pm bedtime at the latest.

stowsettler · 21/06/2013 10:28

Agree, sounds like tiredness. My 16 week old DD's bedtime starts at 6pm and she's had bum out, bath and bottle by 6.50pm. She starts to get crabby around 5.15 (just as I want to watch Pointless!!) adn we usually let her have a tiny catnap so she's ok for bedtime. She'll sleep until 6.30-7am with a dream feed around 11. I couldn't imagine having her around after 6pm!

Original poster

marshmallow2468 · 21/06/2013 12:14

No, it started well before the formula.

I think he does need an earlier bedtime, but how do we do it? I'm reluctant to leave him in the bedroom alone before 6 months. We've tried settling him early evening in the living room, but that doesn't work, and if we put him in the bedroom and take it in turns to be in there with him, our coming and going wakes him. He sleeps pretty well overnight, but getting him to sleep is tricky. Maybe we'll just have to live with it until he's old enough for us to be happy leaving him alone!

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xyla · 21/06/2013 13:17

Mine had a "witching hour" like this for a little while - it even seemed to change based on the hour of sunset as the year went on (not that anyone believed me about that). Our only solution was to hold him and bounce on a birthing ball for a while. I look back fondly now but remember it was hell at the time.

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