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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

Crying baby all day and evening.

26 replies

ardvark · 23/05/2007 16:09

Hello

I am new to mumsnet and need some advice.

Has anyone experienced a similar problem to mine. My 9 week old baby girl spends all her awake time crying, if I put her on her mat she cries, if I hold her she cries, if I put her in the rocker she crys its driving me nuts. She will not settle and sleep during the day in her crib either. She eventually stops crying at around 10.30pm after her last feed I think she is exhausted by this point in the evening and gives up. I have managed to get her into bed at 7pm a couple of nights on the trot last week but she screams and screams its exhausting I have explained this to my doctor but I am not getting anywhere as I live in Switzerland.

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

tinymum · 23/05/2007 16:10

Have you tried putting her in a sling? Some babies like to be upright against their parent.

Poor you how exhausting.

ohsmellyjelly · 23/05/2007 16:11

Message withdrawn

nickiey · 23/05/2007 16:12

No exp of this myself other than a babe who wont go off for naps when he is exhausted. I speant 8 months rocking and jigging him to sleep then this week he has finally learnt how to nod off by himself. Natch you have doen all the normal checks, hungry, nappy, pain etc etc

ohsmellyjelly · 23/05/2007 16:14

Message withdrawn

maisemor · 23/05/2007 16:14

Is baby getting enough to eat. My sister had the same problem with her first, and eventually the midwife said that she should give him a bottle as he might be hungry, and he was much happier with that.

lulumama · 23/05/2007 16:14

sling is a good idea..

crying a lot, can sometimes indicate an issue such as colic...

hellish · 23/05/2007 16:15

sounds like you are having a hard time ardvark, are you b/f or bottle?

could it be wind?? have you tried infacol or equivilent?

my dd1 cried a lot too, i know how stressful it is, does she sleep for long at night when you have put her down?

Could you take her out for a walk in the pram? - always made me feel a lot better - even a little walk to post office or local shop used to calm my dd (and me) down,

lulumama · 23/05/2007 16:17

if baby is hungry, and is breastfed, then try to perservere with BF, the more that the baby feeds, the more supply will be stimulated and maintained

tinymum · 23/05/2007 16:19

I agree with lulumama. If the baby is breastfed and hungry, then just give another breastfeed, formula is not more nutritious.

Gipfeli · 23/05/2007 16:24

Sorry to hear you're having a tough time.

Not much specific advice I'm afraid but just wanted to say that I might be able to help you find some other (English speaking) professional help in Switzerland if you wanted. I'm in Basel and can think of some possibilities here (including cranial osteopath) although I think if you are outside the large cities it could well be different.

FLIER · 23/05/2007 16:32

It can be tough, can't it?
Have you tried any colic remedies?
Have you tried baby massage? Rubbing her tummy in a circular motion (clockwise) around the tummy button can help, as can just lying her across your lap and patting her back gently with two hands/tips of your fingers.
There is another way of cradling them with your hands clasped under their tummy with one hand in between their legs and gently swinging them from side to side(not a good explanation) but this is detailed in baby massage books.
can also say that cranial is fantastic, esp if was a difficult birth and even if it wasn't
please post to let us know how you get on.

hth

CoteDAzur · 23/05/2007 17:14

Get a dummy. Mine was a very sucky baby and would scream the house down day and night unless she was at the breast. Dummies saved my life.

Hang in there. It will most probably get much better once the first three months of her life are behind you.

Good luck xxx

ib · 23/05/2007 17:39

Has she had a ph probe? Mine was the same and I went to a pediatric gastroenterologist (in geneva) who had a ph probe done. Turns out he had really bad acid reflux.

Original poster

ardvark · 23/05/2007 20:32

Thanks for all your advice I think I will investigate the cranial osteopath as recommended if I can find one that speaks English as I live in the Zurich area.

My DD is B/F and is a very hungry baby feeds every 2.5 hours during the day but goes longer at night. I have done all the usual checks with her wind, nappy, hungry, maybe she is just a grumpy baby.

I take her out in the pram and she still crys I thought it could be wind but you cannot get gripe water here I have my MIL bringing me some infacol in June.

OP posts:

ohsmellyjelly · 23/05/2007 20:37

Message withdrawn

Rantmum · 23/05/2007 20:40

My dh was the same with bfing and I had to "give in" and give him a dummy - after that he was a very happy contented baby.

I have also heard good reports about cranial osteopathy for colic, so if you think it might be colic I am sure it is worth a try.

Best of luck!

ohsmellyjelly · 23/05/2007 20:53

Message withdrawn

barking · 23/05/2007 20:54

hello advark - my ds1 use to be like this. he is 7 now and fine and i have 3 children now so please don't lose hope
i read continuumconcept which changed our lives. as one of the quotes on the books says: 'if the world can be changed by one book.......'
also her website is here if interested
i second the cranial osteopath idea. go on recommendation and one that specializes with babies. my ds1 fell asleep for 4 hours after each session - amazing! apparently the plates on the top of his skull were very tight. i was very suspicious about complementary therapies but it definately shifted something for us
x

CoteDAzur · 24/05/2007 12:08

DD was born the usual way and still was very agitated throughout the first three months.

And I know of several babies born of c-sections who were little angels. So a bit about that osteopath's diagnosis that c-section babies are teasy because they are not squeezed through birth canal so their nervous system hasn't "kicked in properly".

amazonianwoman · 24/05/2007 21:44

Both of my babies have been like this (both emergency sections too!) Nothing calmed them - even driving in car or taking for walk in pram... So you really have my sympathy.

DD had cranial osteopath sessions which really helped her, DS had 3 which made absolutely no difference

He is 10wks now and definitely cries less now, but is a nightmare to settle because I spent so much time from day 1 holding/rocking him trying to calm him down.

It's hard to believe at the minute, but it DOES improve after 3-4 months. I'm just holding onto the fact that DD eventually became a very chilled/calm baby after 4mths - as DS is so similar, I'm hoping that he'll transform too!

mandymac · 24/05/2007 21:48

Dr Harvey Karps 'Happiest Baby on the block' book might help (I got it from Amazon). This talks about using various techniques to almost mimic conditions in the womb: Swaddling, rocking, noise etc (can't remember them all). It did help us with DD when she was going through the stage of crying all evening.

KaybeeandZak · 24/05/2007 21:56

My ds was like this too for about the first 12 weeks and then as if by magic it pretty much stopped. It is so draining isn't it, I really do feel for you, but I really hope your daughter improves after 12 weeks too

CarGirl · 24/05/2007 21:58

I have so been there - she finally shut up at 6 months when they agreed to try infant gaviscon on her - it worked within 2 days. So all that time she had been suffering with acidic reflux. it was hell the HV kept saying ooooh she's got a touch of colic, she only slept 10ish til 7ish the rest of the time she screamed, she was my third and I still couldn't get through to the dr that there was something wrong.

I would also recommend a cranial osteopath visit, that did help when she was first born and grizzled for the first 4 days - the cranial stopped that but I didn't go back. Others I personally witnessed and miserable babies and the crainal stuff sorted them out quickly and completely.

Washersaurus · 24/05/2007 22:04

I would also recommend Harvey Karp's book - the copy we had was called 'Baby Bliss'; Swaddling shushing and rocking really helped DS get to sleep during the first couple of months.

We also used a cranial osteopath as from birth DS couldn't lie on his back and would only sleep on one side and was generally a bit wonky. I think it helped.

kittyhas6 · 25/05/2007 17:42

Of all six of mine 4 have been screamers and it's very.very exhausting. i've got nothing to suggest that is new but wanted to emphasize that it will start to get better at about three months

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