Unsettled in the evening.....

[northernrose77]

Hello everyone - this is my first ever post on mumsnet so bear with me...:)
My son is 8 weeks old and is breastfeeding with a bottle of formula being given for his early morning feed. He is settled and feeding well throughout the day. However from 6pm onwards he becomes increasingly unsettled - kickng his legs/using my boobs as stress balls (for want of a better analogy)/shouting/pulling on my nipple etc etc. For the first time last night he became upset and as such I gave him a bottle which he drained. He was then very contented and settled. I have taken advice from breastfeeding mentors and they have advised warm bath for him before feed/skin to skin/breastfeeding necklace all of which I have tried to no avail.
Anyone have any ideas what might be causing him to be unsettled and any ideas how to remedy it?
Thank you :)

Kellymom has great articles on evening fussiness. It's very common TBH.

Sounds like my dd. From talking to other mothers at baby group variations of this seem completely normal as all have laughed (and cried) about it. I think that they just get tired after a long day and are a bit grumpy. DD is still a bit fussy now at 6mths at this time. If you were a couple more weeks I might suggest teething which seems to come on around this time of day mostly too - again perhaps as they come to the end of a busy day. Or Ive just gotten more used to it and ignore it more. Bit difficult to tell which!

It's pretty normal. Jerky movements with arms and legs, and an unfocussed stare are signs of overtiredness. What he needs is sucking for comfort. It's hard to say what to do because every baby is different and you are in the best position to learn what your DS fussiness/cries means. And how to calm him down to sleep. I usually just go from breast to breast, also doing the baby whisperer's shh/pat technique to calm my DD. Sometimes just putting her down in the cot and let her kick to sleep works.

I really recommend Elizabeth Pantley's no cry sleep solution, btw.

Just wanted to add that, like tonight, my DD was very unsettled. I went through both breast twice before I decided it couldn't have been hunger that she's upset about. So even though it was before 6pm, I started her bed time 'routine' of changing her nappy, put her into a sleeping bag, and then just walked around the bedroom cuddling her in her sleeping bag. She's now asleep in her cot. Bless. I think what I'm trying to say is that baby's are hard to read. We just have to keep ruling out what is upsetting them. Be it tiredness, dirty nappies, hunger, temperature, colic, etc.

Thank you so much for all of your posts. The kellymom website was an absolutely huge help - she seems to know everything!! He seems to have settled a little since I originally posted but I guess at this age everything changes on a daily basis you just have to go with the flow!! Thanks again. I will definately be posting again in future - so useful.