5 month old wont stop crying... its driving me nuts...... any suggestions please...

[Scruffyhound]

My 5 month old DS always cries. It seems excessive to me. He cries when he wakes up, when hes on his own for 1 min when he needs to go to sleep it never stops. Hes crying now as I type this if I try and post when he is not crying it would be at 9pm at night by then Im quite tired and drained.... I have a 5yr old boy who was never like this. When he cries I try milk, baby rice, try to settle him down, left him on his own, put him down, check nappy... the normal things really. He kicks off big time when he is tired and will not go to sleep wiithout a fight for about an hour I try to hold him and sing and rock him and cuddle him. He kicks, pulls my hair, pinches my face and arms which I tolarate for a while then I have enough and put him down in his cot and leave him for a while to see if that works it doen not most times so I pick him back up and he kicks off again. He has had refulx and he has meds for that I dont think its that. Hes seen a doctor and I have spoken to a health visitor and been to emergancy docs as its been so bad sometimes 6 hours of crying on and off (more on than off). I feel numb now and dont know what to try. I rang the health visitor today she is not there I have bookd to see the doc but cant see us till next tues Im starting to feel really down now and dont look forward to getting up as I know its a day of crying and nothing I do seems to take it away. Any suggestions please.....

Poor you and him

Just a few quick ideas, you porbably have tried them, but hey, worth a punt.

Sling and a walk? Buggy/pram.

Has he been checked over for cmpi? Quite common with refluxers.

What do you feel? Do you feel he is in pain? Mummies do almost always know best.

Can anyone take him a walk for you and let you get a bit of space?

Have you tried 'Crysis' for a bit of phone support?

hello there nethunsreject I have tired a walk he sometimes sleeps but as soon as I get back he will start again. I dont think he is in pain I think he just does not know how to cope with his feelings its mainly when hes tired. I cant comfort him no one can seem to he just fights it. I have tried leaving him on his own and cuddles. I have no one here I have moved away from my family so as partner can keep his job with the family buisness. Im on my own. I feel a little down and sad when hes like this I had PND with my other son and Im keeping an eye on how I feel now but I do just feel if the crying stops Im ok. Its just a lot of crying......... I have not phoned Crysis I will be sure to look them up and try thanks for your help its much appreciated!!! :)

ds was like this, crying and screaming a lot we think with frustration, worse when he was tired.

It got better, gradually. I would say by 9/10 months it was down to a 'normal' level of crying / whinging. It got a bit better when he could sit and play with a box of toys or finger food. Bit better again when he could crawl and then pull up and use push along walker to explore where he wanted. Some babies just don't like being babies I reckon. He is 14months and now so so different.

Also i think the world can be overwhelming leading to them getting stressed out. And your ds has reflux pain to cope with too. Even if he didn't stop crying I felt being there with him showed him that I was supporting him to let it out. Does your dp help when he is at home? We found it worked better to take it in turns so we could both get some time off to eat or stare into space! Having said that, you are doing the right thing if it gets to a point you can't cope, to put him down somewhere safe and get away from it. The sound of them crying is supposed to stress you out so hours and hours of it is really tough.

Ask your hv what support there is in your area, maybe Homestart or a parents support group? It helps to talk about it.

Poor you, I could have written this a few weeks ago, but thankfully my LO has stopped screaming and has cheered up. I was close to going to DR and discuss support for possible PND.

My little one screaming stopped almost as soon as I introduced solids (rice and puree veg and fruit)

He seemed to settle with ease, since I've started feeding him food (not just milk)

I notice now that after he has feed and has had a play, around the two hour mark from when he last woke up, I resettle him in his cot (or car seat or buggy - if we are out) and he goes off to sleep. He was only cat napping for 30 mins - 45 mins at the time - but waking up tired and crying. I think the food is filling him up for longer and therefore allowing him to sleep for longer nap times, so when he wakes up, he's not howling.In fact he's a joy to be around now. Smiling and giggling and squealing with delight at playing.

I really do sympathise - I was crying and dreading each day - because it was just miserable for both of us.

I hope it improves soon - you must be exhausted if you have another one too.

Best of luck, and as my mum kept saying to me, it will get better, he wont be like this for long. Which used to drive me nuts (but she was right) Thank God!

Best of luck x

thanks everyone. I think he gets hungry and wakes up hes only been cat napping and wont settle. I make 6 oz of milk and it varies how much he drinks each day. He has not drained the bottle for a long time now. I have tried baby rice as another type of food and hes still getting his milk and loves to be fed from the spoon. I have tried a few solids (in puree form) I have cooked some fruit apples and pears from DP's mums trees and he likes that too. But some days he cant keep it down other days are fine Im at my whits end!!! Its driving me mad. The only time you get peace in a day is if Im with him all time even then he still kicks off at some point and im so tired to deal with it. I find it draining and my DP works long hours hes up at 6.30 and starts at 7.30 and is home for 5.30 pm. He does not do any feeds early morning I have done them all. He does try and do a late feed as late as he can stay up around 11 11.30pm. Then I do the rest. Were moving house soon and Im worried about it and how tired Im going to get. I hope his mum and sister can help then as they live 5 mins away once we have moved. I could do with longer than 4 hours here and there........ but then I might be lucky?! Im not a single parent at least been there its bloody hard work....... :) thanks everyone :)