7 week old crying all day

[nikki444]

My 7 week old baby girl has recently started crying pretty much all day unless she is sleeping, being fed or out in the pushchair/car! She wakes up in a lovely mood, smiling and giggling at me but by about 10/11 o'clock she starts having what I can only describe as a tantrum (thats what it looks and sounds like anyway) and nothing i do can stop her until she tires herself out and falls asleep. But once she wakes up it begins all over again.
She has a dummy at night (from about 7pm) and is fine all evening and quite a good sleeper, but I really dont want her to be constantly sucking on a dummy all day long. People have suggested she's bored but even if I play with her, sing songs, dance around the house etc she WILL NOT calm down.
Im at home alone most of the day and at my wits end with the crying. Aside from the awful noise, its breaking my heart to see my beautiful girl so upset. Any ideas on whats causing it or ways to soothe her??

How often is she sleeping during the day?
At 7 weeks my dd only awake for 30/45 minutes at a time then it was feed/sleep for 1/2 hours, and this repeated all day till bedtime when she'd sleep for a bit longer between feeds. She still slept an awful lot more than she was awake that's for sure!

At 7 weeks she should still be sleeping a lot of the time. How soon after she wakes up are you putting her back down for a nap? It sounds to me like she's over tired and over stimulated. I would say once she's awake, within about 90 minutes she should have been fed, played with an put back down for a nap (or, if your DD is like mine, will want to sleep on you at this point).

Dancing and entertaining her at this point is probably too much and is likely causing her to be hyper stimulated.

7 week old babies don't cry from boredom! If she's waking in a good mood and getting progressively more upset i think it's most likely to be tiredness.

Reflux or an intolerance? My baby was like this, tried lactose free formula, didn't work, got prescribed gaviscon and worked a treat. Might be worth speaking to your HV or GP, take a note of whats going on and when, any back arching/scrunch into a ball etc

Sounds like overtiredness to me.
7 week olds don't have tantrums or cry for no reason

Shes normally awake for 2 to 3 hours at a time. I try to get her to sleep before this but she really fights it (and yes she will only sleep on me!) People keep talking about how at this age babies learn so much and need to be played with etc so i feel guilty if i dont get her playmat or toys out. It's so difficult to know what to do for the best sometimes!
I have mentioned it to GP but he just says the usual "all babies cry" so not a lot of help really!

It's tough isn't it?

Your GP is probably right in as much as some babies are just criers. Over tiredness does have a lot to answer for, and I would make your priority trying to get her to have some sleep in whatever way you can. Mine would have been hysterical if they had been awake that long at 7 weeks but I know it's hard when they won't nap (mine were OK in the morning, but I would just have to go for long walks in the afternoon to get them to sleep.)

I wouldn't worry about the dummy - if it soothes her, use it. If it still bothers you when she's older you can tackle it then, when the suck reflex has tailed off and she is napping better. Stick a good box set on and let her sleep on you if she will, or get a takeaway coffee and go for a looooong walk. Whatever it takes to get her sleep at this stage. (Mine loved a bus ride, so on afternoons I really couldn't take it anymore I used to do that. And anything was better than the four walls of the house!)

The napping WILL improve, and you'll probably find that her mood gets better with it.

Hang on in there

Agree that she sounds overtired and overstimulated. Give the playmat and toys a miss for a few days and try keeping things calmer and quieter. You have plenty of time to introduce these later, she's not even 2 months old.

Hi, feeling desperate about my 12 week old babys eczema!
She has suffered with it since about 4 weeks old and have been back and forth to doctors getting different creams and washes. It wasnt until 2 weeks ago when she had a massive reaction to Dermol (and ended up in A&E that our GP finally decided to refer her to dermatologist and an allergy clinic (which we have yet to recieve appt letters for!!)
Her skin is getting worse and worse, particularly on one cheek, which has now started weeping and itching her constantly. We are currently using Diprobase 6 times a day and aqueous to wash her in. I've been washing all our laundry in Surcare since about 3 weeks ago.
She is formula fed (since 3 weeks old) and I am convinced she has a milk allergy. She poops all the time, has started being sick more often, sneezes a lot and is striggling to maintain a healthy curve on the weight chart (despite having more milk than a 4 month old should have!) I have raised this concern with the GP and the HV at last weighing and both have said she looks fine apart from her skin and just wait for the skin appts, but I feel like I cant cope with seeing my gorgeous girl like this anymore.
I just dont know what to do to help her. She hates being bathed and creamed, she screams the house down and I dont feel its worth it as it's not helping but carry on regardless. I just cant cope with it, im barely eating or sleeping with the worry and called to try to get a health visitor to come out to chat through my concerns with and was told "fridays a bad day, i'll pass along your message." :( I dont feel like anyone is taking this seriously.
Sorry for the long post, just dont know where to turn!

Crying does peak at about that age.

I agree with PPs, I think it is over tiredness and over stimulation. It took me a while to learn that after 45 mins to 1 hr awake, I needed to actively start to help my newborn wind down to sleep again by reducing stimulation- dark quiet room, or in sling. When he got so overtired he couldn't sleep and kept crying, the only thing that worked was to swaddle him tightly, hold him to my chest and gently shh-pat him in a darkened room. Invariably he would fight the swaddle for about 2 min and be asleep within 5.

Maybe you could try her on a soy or lacto free formula and if it starts to help go the GP stating as such (another thread had similar without the eczema and soy milk helped her baby)

I have a 7 week old and haven't even started with toys yet.. We're either sleeping, feeding or just chatting but he is still sleeping most of the day. I agree maybe she's overstimulated?

Wind?

Sounds overtired. That's an awfully long time to be awake at that age. Ds2 is 8weeks tomorrow and ready for sleep an hour after getting up.

How do you get her to sleep? Try walking with pram n or sling, driving, bouncy chair etcn

Could be teething, my ds had his 2nd tooth at 7 weeks old and honestly anbesol liquid has been the best thing i have ever bought my whole life! You can get it from any chemist/pharmasist and it has played god for my sons teething ever since and had no issues :), maybe colic/acid reflux and tummy aches try a baby massage and some milk to settle her, perhaps try infacol (worked but made ds constipated so was having to give him rasin water) or change the formula if she is a bottle baby or if she is breastfed maybe look at your own diet and lifestyle as she gets what you have. If its normal for her not to sleep all the time then it may not be but if she starts to get herself upset again give her a feed and send her off to sleep, honestly hun, enjoy it while it lasts! hope things settle down for you!

My dd has been exactly the same and was 7 weeks on sat really fighting her sleep. I have read that between 6-8 weeks they go through a fussy stage linked with a growth spurt so fingers crossed they come out the other side, she was such a happy girlie before