Losing the will with three month old

[solosunflower]

I am really, really struggling with my three month old. I've had three months of constant crying due to colic and reflux. I honestly feel broken, and now sleep has become a nightmare. I've struggled to have a routine due to the crying. Currently I start nighttime routine at 9 pm in the hope that he'll be asleep at 10 pm. Well that's not worked tonight because he's fussing, thrashing and chewing his fist. He normally wakes at 1, 3, 5. I drag it out till 7 am by co-sleeping for the remainder of the night. Most of the night I find he's thrashing, shouting and rubbing his hands over his face. He actually has a few scratches to the face from this. I'm wondering if I need to start forcing structured naps in the day to improve night time sleep? Also, should he be going to sleep earlier? He has to start nursery in the next couple of months and I'm really starting to fear that won't be possible because he's constantly crying, fussing and overtired. I really need a few days a week back at work to save what remains of my sanity. Father is not involved and I have no family support.

I wld try an earlier bedtime to start with. He might be overtired and once that starts it's difficult to rescue. Daytime naps - what's happening now?

I've been going with the flow. If we're at home and I see he's starting to tire, I'll rock or BF to sleep. Other naps are usually whilst out driving or I'm walking with the baby carrier. My main focus since he was born was to stop the crying.

I also think he could be teething.

Managing colic is a matter of constant trial and error. What have you tried so far? Baby tummy massage was a revelation with my second! Scratches to face is normal but I remember the horror. This must be so hard for you. Do you have any respite help?

Infacol, lots of winding, baby massage. I did feel like the colic was dying down, but now we've moved on to teething symptoms!

My friend has taken him for walks in the pram to give me a break. I find that I'm anxious whilst he's gone though.

Does he have medication for the reflux? It can help.
White noise as well.
Sometimes I would use ear plugs - just to give myself a break from the noise.
It will pass. It’s hard. All that crying doesn’t do any damage. My terribly colicky, refluxy baby is not a lovely 18 year old. But it was tough.

It’s so hard I had a newborn on my own too. It gets easier I promise. They do start sleeping more.

For the colic, I put the bedside crib on a slight incline and the gravity helps the milk go the right way. Also the GP prescribed some baby gaviscon and I still put it in DS’s night bottles. I got DS a baby swing too and that meant I could finally put him down for a few minutes without him crying.

In my experience, a baby that doesn't sleep well in the day does not sleep well at night. They should be having 2 naps a day and going to bed by 7pm now. Routine makes everything so much easier. Get into the habit of putting them down at about 9am and again about 2pm.

Also really struggling with 3 month old and constant screaming.
I don't have any answers but you are not alone x

Yes, he has liquid omeprazole. Bed side crib is at a slant. I've been using ear defenders for a while. I think I would have completely broken without them! White noise doesn't make a difference, sadly.

I suppose I'm starting to panic about working and being awake so many times in the night.

Hi all I'm currently having this with my baby at 3 months..when did it get easier ?

Hi, I completely sympathise. The only thing I can say is it does get better. DD was like this and I had so little sleep I was hallucinating, and the constant screaming, 3, 5, sometimes 7 hours at a time.
Your job is to live through this time however you can, keep the baby safe and live through it. DD gradually began to stop being like this at 6months. I'd say it took me another 6 to mostly recover and honestly I didn't feel right until she was about 3 (I think some sort of pnd).
Good luck! It will end!

@Alice4417
I'd say about 7 months for me. It is so, so hard. I'm at 9 months and things are definitely easier.
My best advice would be a baby carrier. We have walked hundreds of miles since he was born! Whatever help and support you can get - take it. Try not to focus on it being 'better' at three months. Everyone told me that and nothing happened. Things gradually improved with time. Be kind to yourself and enjoy Christmas as best you can.

Hey op, sorry to hear you're struggling right now. The only thing that helped us was putting DD to bed at 7 - I think she got over tired! We started a schedule (loosely) using Little Ones app. We've used it all the way through and I felt it helped her sleep. It also meant to could have a predictable time where I'd have a bit of peace in the day with naps which made things feel more manageable.
It gets so much better!

My friend had a very similar situation with her breast fed baby. Turned out that baba was allergic to dairy and as soon as mama cut that from her diet, baba's tummy troubles stopped. I assumed colic for my oldest daughter. She was breast fed but she settled immediately when I changed to bottle feeding as I just wasn't producing enough to fill her up! It's so frustrating isn't it as it's so difficult to know what's wrong. It's been a long while since I had babies so not sure how it works now but can you chat to a health visitor? Sending hugs x

Sounds like he could be teething too? My 6 month old starting teething at 10 weeks. Have you tried some calpol? He can have 2.5mls 3-4 times in 24hours.