Is prolonged evening crying at six weeks normal or worth investigating?

[ProudSeal]

My 6 week old has always been fussy in the evenings but for the last week she has screamed inconsolably from about 7pm for hours to the point where her voice goes hoarse. She eventually falls asleep at about 11 and is relaxed through the night, waking every 2-3 hours for a feed and then going back to sleep. She sleeps fine in her next to me.

I have read about purple crying but still don’t know if I think crying for no reason is normal. Everything I read on online forums says milk allergy, but surely she would be like this during the day too?

I guess I would just like to know if this is normal or if I should be pushing for a diagnosis of something. My nervous system is shot come 7pm.

We have tried:

• pram walks
• carrying her in sling
• swaddling
• white noise
• dark room with running tap/bouncing ball
• infacol
• gripe water
• bicycle legs
• gentle hair stroking and shushing
• changing room
• feeding (she ends up screaming on the breast)

Mine did this. It was truly awful.

People who say newborns are easy - WTF?

It was mental and physical torture, every night from 7pm -11pm.

Can't remember exactly when it stopped, I think around 8-9 weeks. Definitely over by 12 weeks.

I used to give a bit of gripe water. Although I think the formula changed.
A vibrating bouncer also helped.
Tough times!

My eldest did this - it was awful but then one day it just stopped as if by magic. Maybe at 3 months. Hang in there!

Mine also did this. The only thing that helped was the hairdryer. He’s 4 months now and I think it stopped around a month ago.

Oh forgot to mention - wearing him in the sling worked wonders for us! I wish I had worked it out sooner. I didn’t get good at using it until he was about 6 weeks old, but it really calmed him.

My son was like this and had CMPA. It got much worse in the evening. I remember someone saying it was due to the build up of milk protein over the day as he was feeding more in the day than night. Health visitor and GP dismissed me and said it was not CMPA as he was gaining weight and ‘thriving’. This went on for a few months for me until one day his nappies had specks of blood which indicate CMPA and a very inflamed gut. I cut out dairy and he was like a different baby. GP finally agreed!

There has been some recent research that suggests if you do cut out dairy, if it is CMPA you should see an improvement within 5 days. They used to say 8 weeks which was a lot if you are breastfeeding.

Good luck. It’s absolute torture. I hope your baby settles soon.

ETA mucus in stool indicates an allergy. My son always had very mucusy nappies.

Both mine were like this - my eldest just in the evening, my youngest all day too. It was reflux with the eldest and dairy/soy allergies plus reflux with my youngest. Had to put them in the sling to stop the screaming, and also used headphones to keep calm.

We ended up going to a cranial osteopath with my youngest and it was honestly like magic. He held her in a specific way and she suddenly stopped crying. I think I fell in love!

Both mine were like this, they cluster fed and screamed in between, stopped about 4 months.

Yep colic - it usually gets better around 4mths tho some nearer 6mths

some say colic is trapped wind

it’s one of the worst things I think a baby can have - I’m a Maternity practitioner - reflux - cmpa - you get usually medicate /change milk and see improvements - colic you dealt have to ride it out bless you 💐

Btw way, once it’s number two you end up just letting them cry more because you have to also look after dc1, and you are a lot more relaxed about it all anyway, i could breastfeed dd2 in the sling whilst getting dd1 ready for bed

My NCT group had a few couples working in London but from different European countries and who had private health insurance as part of their package in London

What was really interesting was that they had regular check ups as part of this with private paediatricians. Two had babies who cried a lot, it was taken seriously - one had a dairy allergy, one was prescribed colic medication early.

In contrast, those of us on the NHS - the dairy allergy my son had, not picked up until he was a year old, another was just told colic was a phase.

If I could have my time again, I would have paid for a private paediatrician early.

What is colic medication? I don’t think that’s a thing…

I really don’t know if it’s normal either and it’s hellish go through it, because it seems like baby is in pain / very distressed.

We tried probiotics (biogaia) on basis it shouldn’t do any harm and there is some, albeit limited, evidence it might reduce colic for some babies.

IME its really hard to get help if baby gaining weight.

Yep always when you are frazzled and just want to relax. How many cranial osteopathy sessions did you have?

I’m really hoping so - I’d struggle to cut out dairy

@Clogblog what is colic medication. I’ve been with newborns for over 30yrs and never heard of medicine for colic

yes, the famous witching hour. it won't last forever. skin to skin helped mine, have you had a bath together?

You're right, I think I have mixed it up with reflux

Mine didn't have it (just the dairy allergy) so I didn't pay as much attention to it

But I was generally just really shocked by the totally different standard of treatment they got.. no, "babies just cry" "just a phase"

Can't remember how many sessions I had maybe a couple? He's 25 now.

“The Crying Curve” peaks around 6 weeks so it should get better from here!

https://iconcope.org/advice-for/parents/infant-crying-is-normal/

I performed intense dances to musical numbers for her. I think it was so confusing for her it bought us silence!

Thanks everyone! I’m sorry so many of you have gone through it too but I’m glad to hear you made it through the other side. It’s so good to hear that this phase will end.

I’ve seen mucus in her poo twice today so might try eliminating dairy just to know that I’ve tried!

Reflux? Try the gaviscon powder mixed with bottle milk?

or tummy pain? Tried massage?

Stating the obvious - but have you tried burping her? Could be wind.

Eliminating dairy is much harder than you think. The dairy protein accumulates in their body and yours so you need to avoid ALL dairy. That means no pesto, no butter, no ghee, no pastries, biscuits etc. You also need to avoid soy as the soy protein is very similar to the dairy protein. So that means zero takeaways or restaurant meals as everything is cooked in either butter or soybean oil.

One of my sons had CMPA. Evening crying is not enough of a symptom. Mucus and blood in their poo is. Eczema, rashes, vomiting etc.

I'm not saying don't do it, I know the feeling of needing to try something. But to get actual results, you can't do it half hearted. And know that it's very rare for a breastfed baby to have CMPA.

I had this with both of mine.
Baby 1, my daughter was also unsettled the rest of the time, had feeding refusals, couldn't be put down, was generally a miserable baby and did 10-20 soiled nappies a day
Baby 2 was awful in the evenings but the rest of the time was a delight. For him it was a combination of things. He would get over tired quite easily in the evenings, he was wanting a nap around 5.30-6 which was when we usually ate and had about a 3 minute window between I need a nap and I am way too tired for a nap. He would then get very tired and frustrated.
He would also like to feed for comfort in the evenings, I have a fast letdown and it was not compatible with gentle comfort feeding. He would get a face full of milk which triggered silent reflux and wanting more comfort sucking or physical reflux and the action of being sick would wake him up or he would get frustrated that my body wasn't giving him what he needed. We introduced a dummy and some infant gaviscon and the combination of the two allowed him to get the comfort he needed with less discomfort.

The difference between him and my daughter was that once he was asleep and got through the evening he could then be put down and he slept relatively well overnight waking 1-3 times. My daughter however woke 3 times on a good night and maybe 10-30 times on a bad night. There was a lot of screaming and not being able to be out of my arms.

Skin to skin helped both of them. I would undo their vests and put a bare arm down the back of their vest or a hand on their stomach to help settle down their nervous system. They seemed to really respond to touch