Overstimulation in 20 wk DS - some reassurance sought!

[fabulosa]

DS2 is now 20 weeks old and generally doing pretty well (at the moment anyway!). However, we do have quite a time with him when we go out - almost everywhere new seems to end up being too much for him after about 20 minutes and he just cries and gets more and more agitated, leading to stress and difficulty all round.

I know that this is normal but it is also difficult as it means that we can't really go anywhere or do anything very much! Can anyone say something reassuring about this stopping soon so that we can get some kind of semblance of normality back?! DS1 is now 4 and I can't remember that far back with him.

Sorry, I know this is a trivial question, just hoping that someone may be able to give some comforting advice .

Can you put him in the pram with the hood up so that he doesn't get too much visual input

Or put him in a sling facing you?

When you are out is he passed around folks like a bag of sweeties - some babies don't like this and prefer to be handled less iyswim

DS was like this - a sling facing me worked best. Also sounds counter intuitive, but maybe don't try too hard to comfort him. I found if I gently hummed and patted or stroked his back, but left him in the sling so he was close he settled down quicker than if I tried to more actively calm him.

Thanks, I haven't tried a sling as it's seemed that the more he's held and comforted the worse it gets! The closeness seems to be agitating for him, but maybe a sling would be a good idea as he wouldn't be held so tightly then. His preferred method of calming down is to be put in his cot and left to go to sleep, though being walked in the pushchair or going in the car will work as well. It's great that he can settle himself, just not so good that he'll only do it in such a few places!

We were at a baby goup today which he usually likes but had to leave early as he was screaming so much. The second he was put in the pushchair he went to sleep and has stayed asleep since, over an hour and a half ago. I wonder if he's just growing so fast that it wears him out, or if his brain's growing and just gets overstimulated by everything going on around him. He is particularly sleepy at the moment and doesn't seem to like being awake - rather like when he was a newborn, in fact. Roll on 6 months old, when hopefully all the development might calm down a bit!

Don't be put off if he doesn't like it at first - he'll get used to it quickly and it's life changing when they do. Honestly I couldn't believe how much calmer my son was once he'd sussed he was close and safe with me.