Inconsolable Crying.. Please Help!

[p3aches]

My DD is 14 weeks old (15 weeks on Sunday). In the past 4/5 days she has been inconsolably crying before naps and bedtime for up to an hour.

At first I thought I’d maybe let her get overtired so started tracking wake windows etc. and try not to let her go more than 90-120 minutes between naps, this hasn’t helped, if anything things have gotten worse not better.

So then grasping at straws I was thinking she’s maybe developed colic (even though most websites say that colic starts between 2-4 weeks and ends at 3 months) so tried giving her infacol and the like, again this hasn’t helped.

Then out of pure desperation I’ve given her a dose of paracetamol to see if this helps, as was wondering if she was in pain and again this hasn’t helped.

I’ve read about there being a 3 month growth spurt, and the 4 month sleep regression and also wonder weeks say fussiness starting from 14 weeks but this goes beyond fussiness, I can’t find a way to calm her, I just sit cuddling her shushing and rocking. I’ve tried pram but she just screams even more :(

I’m a FTM and am really struggling with what to do, my DH is in the forces so we are very isolated away from familial help, and even so DD doesn’t seem to like being held by people other than myself and DH. So getting a break is very few and far between especially during the working day. Any help/advice is appreciated. I have messaged the health visitor but haven’t got a response yet. I am considering contacting GP but they’re difficult to get ahold of and they’re the type to just fob you off.

I am breastfeeding and DD seems to have CMPA so have cut dairy out of my diet and have been dairy free for about 5 weeks now.

Im just wracking my brains for anything that could help her, I feel like there’s nothing that I can do and the other mums at mum groups that I attend don’t seem to have the same problem when I’ve asked them about it. And honestly it makes me feel so anxious going out with her because I know if she’s due a nap she’s going to scream for 20/30 mins beforehand, I get worried people will see me as a bad mum because I can’t call her down.

Anyway thanks for reading, sorry it’s very ramble-y. Please drop any pearls of wisdom I would be very appreciative! :))

Hi, it is so hard when they are like this as you feel chained to the house.
can you post her full routine?

Honestly it’s difficult to say a routine because it all depends on what time she wakes up. She’s tending to wake for the day between 7/8 am then has her first (short) nap around 9/10am, then second (long nap) between 11/12. Then naps again between 2/3pm and again between 5/6pm then night sleep between 7/8pm but sometimes is later depending on how long she cries for.

She sleeps fairly well once she’s asleep it’s just trying to get her to sleep that’s difficult :(

My little one does this and she is 12 weeks. I put it down to her not wanting to sleep incase she misses something. I have the huckleberry app and it helps plan her naps, but she still gives out beforehand.

Do you think she's maybe gassy? I used to do baby massage to fart the baby - round the worlds, bicycle legs etc.

Also i think my little one could be teething, she is chewing her hands, dribbling, blowing bubbles... so could also be that!

Mine is doing that as well, I thought most babies teethe around 6 months so figured it might not be!

I thought the same, but then my mother pointed out some babies can be born with teeth!

Can you take her for a walk? Have you got a sling? Sling and walk? Or bundle in pram and walk?

Oh dear god 😫 Hopefully if this is teething pain it doesn’t last too long, and fingers crossed for you as well!

honestly mine did the exact same briefly... inconsolable crying before every nap.. it was just a phase! It didn't last long, maybe about a month or so. I read it was because just before you fall asleep that feeling of being extremely tired feels 'bad' to babies and they don't know that going to sleep will help. so they cry.. that helped me make sense of it a bit

Both of my babies did this, I basically clamped them to me and bopped quite rigourously until they fell asleep.
Sometimes I think we feel we have to solve the crying or figure it out - in the end it can just be a phase that passes

You could try cluster feeding for a week or two to see if you need to get your milk supply up? Worth a try?

Have you tried cutting soya from your diet too? My little one had CMPA, initially responded really well to me going dairy free but then symptoms flared up again - I cut out soya and everything settled down. The proteins are apparently very similar so many babies are allergic to both and soya is often used as a replacement for cow’s milk. Mine also had silent reflux which again, caused lots of inconsolable crying but it took a while to spot as I didn’t realise reflux could be an issue without them being sick.

Have you been using soya dairy replacements?
It might be worth removing soya, half of babies are allergic to both.
If you have removed soya I would look at what you have replaced dairy with. I increased coconut and it turned out my daughter had a coconut allergy.
A food and symptom diary looking at everything might be the way to start to figure out some patterns. They were the only way I figured out my baby and learnt her allergy signs as well as her teething and developmental signs too.