What do I do with a crying baby?!

[wobblyweeble82]

DD is 6 weeks old She's a sweetie, a love and all that goes with. But lordy, can she cry!! Seriously. I go through the mental checklist of things that could be the issue - boob her, change her, wind her, chat to her, bob her under her play gym, take her out from her play gym, leave her be for while, see if she wants a sleep then start all over again and still often can't hush her up. And I haven't a clue what to do! She just seems an angry, unhappy little thing a lot of the time. She's not colicky either. This morning she cried for a good hour on and off and when I do finally pick her up (I was trying to get myself washed and dressed) she's all gummy grins and things! I don't know whether to just strap her in her sling and crack on with the day or let her realise that mummy can't hold her 24/7 as much as we'd both like to. I'm certain she's not poorly too. I already have a7yr old DS - you'd think I'd be good at this now

[LabMonkey]

If you've got a smart phone you can get a white noise app which works amazingly with my 8 week old. It just calms her down while I cuddle her when she's got herself into a state. There's a good free one on Android which has a whole range of sounds which you can mix. My DD seems partial to a mixture of white noise and a heart beat.

[beanlet]

I see stevie got there first, but my first thought was

"put her in the brig until she's sober"

Sorry. Not helpful at all.

My DS loves me to sing to him while he's strapped to me in his sling - vibrations seem to calm him down.

[harecare]

If she stops crying when you pick her up, then you just need to time showers etc for when she's asleep. I'm not one for slings to do the housework etc, I like to get the timing right and be baby free when they're asleep. Saying that I always held my babies a lot and would only allow crying to settle to sleep. If she's tired, let her sleep, but if she's not asleep after 10 mins of crying, don't let her cry any more.

[Muser]

Sling sling sling. For the first 6ish weeks I thought I had the easiest baby in the world. She'd feed and then fall asleep. Ok the feeding was tricky at times, but she'd sleep so easily.

And then she woke up. And she was not impressed. I couldn't put her down, I couldn't get her to nap. She refused to even sleep in the pram. Would just stare at me for hours on end. I learnt how to use my stretchy wrap sling and we went for walks. Lots of walks. Every hour and a half I'd take her for a walk and she'd sleep. If she cried, I'd feed her, then take her for a walk. I ignored the "she can't possibly be hungry" comments and just went with the power of the boob.

She's 19 weeks now (how?) and I can now leave her playing on her playmat while I mumsnet wash up. She even sleeps in her pram now. One day she may even nap in her cot.

Every so often the phrase "rod for my own back" creeps into my head. But the sling works. And the boob works. So I keep going and trust that she knows what she's doing.

[Cosmosis]

adair mine is the same, he's always played happily on his own, but in his ideal world, he would sleep latched on

OP what a lovely picnic :)

[thesurgeonsmate]

Now, for me, that there is the joy of a newborn. Those are not picnicing choices you could share with anyone else!

[nickelbabe]

don't do guilt! :)

[Adair]

Sounds like a fab picnic

[wobblyweeble82]

Thanks all :) We went for a picnic this afternoon (her - boob, me - a box of maltesers and a diet coke ) and mu7ch happier we are too. I'm about to lie her on her mat whilst i tidy up and if we fail, well we've the sling all primed up ready :)

As sad as it is, I guess I wanted to be told that its okay to do haul her about with me etc. Cor, I forgot about all the guilt and self-doubt motherhood brings with it ...

Thanks again

[Adair]

Ha ha mine is the other way. Asleep on me and I am stuck to sofa (or have him in sling) but fine when awake so I get on with stuff while he gurgles and plays... All babies are different

[naturalbaby]

my baby is 5months and still only wants me! he screams the house down when left with anyone else for too long, or sobs his heart out when i return.

i would decide how you want to do things for the next few months - carry her around all day and be totally on demand/baby led or get her settled into a routine. i was baby led with ds1 which was great but i couldn't shower/bath/go to the loo until he was fast asleep. now i have my hands full so have always put baby down to sleep in the moses basket in his room - dark with door closed. he has been very happy and settled in there and often i would go to check on him and find him happily gurgling to himself in the dark!

[Tee2072]

I swear to god I am starting a campaign against the phrase 'rod for your own back.'

She's 6 weeks old! She wants her mummy! Let her have her mummy!

Trust me, she'll be 2 soon enough and you'll barely get a cuddle!!!!

[Cosmosis]

automatically ignore anyone who comes out with the phrase "rod for your own back".

unlimited access to you and your boobs is all she needs at the moment.

[nickelbabe]

I wouldn't panic about it - she's 6 weeks old, you can't spoil her, so put her in the sling and carry her around with you.

If it's the only way to stop the crying, then do it.

[Catilla]

6 weeks is classic growth spurt time, and perhaps also when they start to be awake for a bit after feeds but really can't cope with being awake for long.
As others have said, feed her as much as she wants (especially in the daytime to fill her up and hopefully get more sleep at night), hold/sling her as much as she wants, and do whatever it takes to get her to sleep lots and lots!

Don't try to get too much else done, there's plenty of time for "getting on with the day!".

[porcupine11]

Sling and earplugs worked for me.

[slhilly]

Can I recommend a fabulous book? "When your baby cries" by Deborah Jackson. We found it immensely helpful, and affirming of the choices we made. I echo what others have said: at 6weeks old, you don't need to worry about making a rod for your back. Your baby is much too young to be trying any clever psychology on you.

[CatIsSleepy]

Dd1 was hard work in the early days too- lots of crying. Stick with it-in a few weeks she'll be much more into the baby gym, or sitting in a bouncy chair for a bit watching you or an interesting mobile. 6 weeks is still tiny. keep cuddling, feeding, jiggling, for now and yes definitely go for walks.

Being outdoors is good generally weather permitting-babies love being under trees and looking up at the branches waving about. My two also enjoyed being around other people too-dd2 never ever cried at the baby group i went to (could only cope with one ) and would just lie on the mat perfectly happily for a couple of hours in a way that she never would at home.

dd1 and dd2 both got tired very quickly at this age too- they could only cope with about an hour and a half awake. Grumpiness can set in really rapidly if they don't get enough sleep.

[WearegoingonaKwazihunt]

Put her in a sling and go for a walk.
She wants to be close to you. Enjoy it. It won't be like that for ever believe me.

She is still so little. The world will soon get so exciting that she will want to explore and be away from you, but right now you are her world. Please enjoy it.

[BertieBotts]

If you keep her in a sling for as much time as possible, she'll be desparate to get off and be independent as soon as she can crawl, don't worry!

(Disclaimer - possibly not applicable to all babies. But certainly whether you leave her to cry or carry her around constantly is not going to make much difference at all to whether she's clingy later on. So I'd go for the less headache-inducing solution in the meantime.)

[thesurgeonsmate]

I would recommend getting out the house. I preferred it, and she seemed to prefer it too, not sure why.

[worldgonecrazy]

I can assure you that creating a happy and secure child is not making a rod for your own back. If your baby needs cuddles, cuddle her. Keep trying with the dummy if your nips need a break. Slings are fantastic and she is only 6 weeks old. Before you know, she'll be toddling around and each cuddle will become more and more precious.

[bibbitybobbityhat]

.

I would have definitely tried this had I seen it when my two were babies.

[RockinSockBunnies]

I just used to stick DD on my breast whenever she cried. Whether she was tired, hungry, teething - breast seemed a very helpful cure-all.