Help!!! - baby crying all day

[Lilia]

Hi!

My DD (almost 7 m.o.) cries all day. It all starts with her morning nap (which she can't have because she cries al the time). I put her down when she starts rubbing her eyes and looks tired, but she just cries and it goes on all day. I just can't cope any more. She used to be ok, but last 2 days, it's just cry all the time what ever you do - play with her,take her for a walk, sing to her - she won't respond.

Help!

Just to add. I tried her on GF - that didn't work. Tried to put her to sleep earlier, before she gets tired, she just starts crying. I get an impression that she is scared to go to sleep.

Whats she like for going down at nighttime? Does she have a routine that you could adapt for daytime naps. How is she feeding? She's not hungry/going through a growth spurt is she? Also what about teeth? Whenever DS was teething I had trouble getting him to sleep.

Around 6-7 months they realise that they are separate people from you and they do find this difficult to deal with. Ds seemed to be doing fine, we were getting into the swing of routines and normal life and then he got really moany for about a month around this age. The real ds did come back eventually.

I remember a couple of things that may have helped. Got a Gracco 2-1 stand in activity centre thingy which seemed to keep ds quite for a bit and tried some cranial osteopathy. I don't think that changed him but at least I knew I had tried something which we think helped when he had colic.

Otherwise, it might just be something that you have to ride through. Can you get some help with looking after her for an hour or two to give you a break?

We have a routine for night time, but we've got a problem her too. She won't go to sleep any more. She has her supper at about 6, then we go upstairs,get changed,wash face etc, I give her a breast feed. Before she used to unwind & got all sleepy, but not any more. She watches my every step in the room & as soon as I leave the room she starts screaming the place down, so I go back and we try entertaining her for another 2-3 hours until she gets really tired and then I repeat the routine and she eventually goes to sleep, but only to wake up in about 45 min, then I settle her with stroking her chest and she falls asleep again. She started waking up at night - about 4 times and won't settle back on her own. In the morning she wakes up at about 4 am and starts talking to herself and if I don't go to her she starts crying again and won't sleep. So we take her into our bed where she falls asleep stright away until about 7.30.

Sobernow: She's got 2 teeth out. Yes, her nappies have got smelly (a lot). I give her bickipegs (teething biscuits), but she's more interested in the string than in the biscuits.

Well from that description I think a lot of her daytime crying could be down to tiredness. Her nighttime seems to be very disturbed. Its up to you, of course, but if I was you I think I would try to sort out the night time first then IMO the daytime will be easier. This entertaining her through the evening doesn't seem like a very good idea. Its like you're rewarding her for not sleeping and also its not giving you much time to yourself - you must be exhausted! Other people will probably have better suggestions than me but I would start looking at her routine and anything that winds her up or winds her down. Also what about the light nights - is that a problem? Actually it sounds more like she's doing her best to keep you there with her. So it looks like the separation thing mentioned by Malmomum. Anyway I would address this issue first if I were you. And I know thats easy for me to say!!!

Well from that description I think a lot of her daytime crying could be down to tiredness. Her nighttime seems to be very disturbed. Its up to you, of course, but if I was you I think I would try to sort out the night time first then IMO the daytime will be easier. This entertaining her through the evening doesn't seem like a very good idea. Its like you're rewarding her for not sleeping and also its not giving you much time to yourself - you must be exhausted! Other people will probably have better suggestions than me but I would start looking at her routine and anything that winds her up or winds her down. Also what about the light nights - is that a problem? Actually it sounds more like she's doing her best to keep you there with her. So it looks like the separation thing mentioned by Malmomum. Anyway I would address this issue first if I were you. And I know thats easy for me to say!!!

Lilia, have you thought of taking her to the doctor or clinic to be looked at? It could be teething but then it could be something else too... do you think she's eating ok and is she showing any signs of being unwell? It's hard to tell what it is, but the fact that you say she doesn't respond makes it seem that something is wrong. It could also be separation anxiety, but if you're there with her and she still cries, it doesn't sound like that's the problem. Maybe the crying is actually caused by overtiredness if she's not getting enough sleep through the day, and it might be compounding everything else - my ds used to get a bit hysterical if he was overtired. Best of luck...

Sorry!

After reading your second post Lilia, I would agree with Bozza - probably a combination of tiredness and separation anxiety. Entertaining her for longer at night is probably not a good idea, as she will be getting more and more tired in that time, although not necessarily show it. By the time she gets to bed she is wound up. I think you might have to just put her to bed at her normal time and grit your teeth for a bit of crying.. in other words, maybe try some controlled crying with her (if you can). I really think she'll get the message if you persevere a little bit. Good luck.

LiamsMum: She eats ok (my opinion), although I don't know what baby's portion is. Usually her portion is 3-4 ice-cubes of puree. And she eats almost all of it. About unwell - everyone tells me that she looks fine and healthy. I'm going to babyclinic next monday, talk to them about that.

Lilia,
I agree with Liamsmum in that contolled crying seems like a good thing to try. I know its hard -I am currently going through the same thing with my d.s ( see previous post) and have had lots of good advice. Like your baby, mine had begun to scream if I went out of sight, he was breast-fed to sleep and slept in our bed for the first 10 weeks, so no wonder he became a bit clingy. Also, whenever he woke up from nap or night time sleep, he would literally scream as if terrified until I picked him up. Its early days but the C.C seems to be helping with this too, which kind of makes sense.

Good luck, anyway: its so hard when whatever you do, they just cry. Do you have anyone who could help you out for a few days, like a relative or close friend? Sometimes a bit of time to yourself can make all the difference and put things back into perspective.

I havent had a chance to read all the messages but has someone suggested that your dd could have an ear infection. Just a thought.

I havent had a chance to read all the messages but has someone suggested that your dd could have an ear infection. Just a thought.

I don't think she needs control crying after 2 days of being difficult !!!! Sorry !
Seems like extra TLC would suffice ! If it really does not improve than go for CC. But I suspect she may just be unwell.

I'm certainly no expert but just wondered when you started to wean her, u say shes has 3-4 cubes of puree is that just once a day, my 4.5 month old screamed all day from 2-3.5 months when we started to wean her, now she the most contented baby about! She has rapidly progressed to 2-3 mini meals a day. Perhaps she could be hungry, I found that my dd was also fine until 11am when she was ready for a nap but couldnt sleep because she was hungry. I also have found sticking rigidly to a routine is essential for her, its very restricting at first. I also wrote down what dd did,times and everything even when you have a good day or hour!. You might see a pattern in it or take it and show your doctor or hv if dd continues to cry. Hope this helps post again let us know how our geting on.

Tried CC tonight, didn't help, so had to feed her to sleep. The thing is when I leave her in the cot she starts turning herself around the cot and when she cries hard she gets sick. Oh well, she managed to have a nap (totally exausted) at about 13.00 in the garden in her car seat and I put her to sleep at 6 pm.

Ames - she has about 1/2 fruit and some baby rice or porridge in the morning, 3-4 cubes puree for lunch, 1 piece of fruit for tea and 3-4 cubes for supper. ANd has a brest feed at about 1pm.

My ds aged 8 months has a breast feed at 7am, a big bowl of ready-brek with yoghurt/mashed banana or pear and formula at 8ish plus buttered toast, a couple of baby biscuits mid morning and a mid morning b/f or 5oz bottle (at childminders), lunch is five cubes of meat and veg with a petit filou to follow, a mid-afternoon b/f/bottle, maybe a bit of toast or a mashed banana or rusk, then five cubes of risotto/potato with creamed veg plus petit filou or banana and then another b/feed at 6ish before bed. He's nicely chubby but not huge. Maybe your daughter needs more food & milk? I don't think there's anything at all wrong with feeding to sleep at 7months. I think cc is for when everything else has failed. Some babies miraculously sleep through around 8months - mine did with minimal crying after 8months of hell, and a friend had exactly the same experience with her ds. So maybe you could just try more food and lots of TLC - it's only been two days and she might be unwell.

Thanks Aloha. I really thought that DD was eating a lot (in Annabel Karmel's (whatever her surname is) book it says that 6-9 months old baby shoud have 2 cubes of puree). I will give it a go. Have you got any suggestion for snacks - DD can't have fromage frais and yogurt (had a bad reaction in the past). THe snacks I give her are only fruit, wouldn't like giving her rusks because of sugar.

Lilia for snacks you could try toast, rice cakes, bread sticks (I know it says 9 mnths on the pack but DS enjoyed from 7 months). Like you I steered clear of rusks. I think this is probably a good age to introduce this type of finger food. Also a good stop gap for a hungry baby while you prepare the main food.

Lilia, I would agree with pupuce and suew here, it sounds like she may be a bit under the weather and you just need to ride it out with lots of cuddles. I wouldn't do CC until you are SURE she is 100% well.

I remember dd went through a very strange phase at about 7 months, very grumpy and crying a lot and wouldn't eat. I took her to the doctors and he couldn't find anything wrong, but she got better after 4/5 days BUT she then demanded finger foods to eat and didn't want me to spoon feed her for a while. I think she was just going through some growing-up changes and wanted to be more independent (hard to believe at 7 months I know!). My pet theory is that difficult behaviour like this (not due to illness) can often precede 'jumps' in development.

As for thrashing around in the cot, perhaps a sleeping bag would help? You can buy lovely 100% cotton ones that are perfect for this age.

You could try vegetables as finger food, I give, paprika, green beans (cooked), cucumber, pieces of potatoes (cooked), banana,...