5 month old screaming for 3/4 hours every evening all of a sudden... (long)

[Renard]

I posted 2 weeks ago on the behaviour/development thread about my 5 month old. Bless her, we have had a horrendous 2 weeks... certainly compared to before then (seems like ages ago now) She is screaming for anything from 2 - 4 hours every evening. It is like having a colicky newborn again, I am so worried about her...
She has the beginnings of 2 teeth (ie. little holes) and she does suck her fingers in the day but I don't think it is teething as I have tried calpol/bongela and no difference.
She has just started crawling, and is constantly rolling. I took her to the paediatrician for a check up and spoke to him about it. He thinks I was overfeeding her in the evening (FF), she has been having up to 10oz, so now I am restricting to 7 and that isn't helping. She has also just started solids (just a little puree at lunchtime - which she adores.)
But she is sooooo tricky at night. She used to have her bottle, fall asleep, wake with a burp 45 minutes later then sleep through (with one feed). But now she is falling asleep and waking an hour later, then pretty much every 15 minutes - screaming hysterically. Sometimes I can soothe her, other times not. She is a very windy baby. But even after she has burped a few times it is the same. I have tried feeding her more/less. I feel like I have tried everything... But nothing seems to help. Sometimes she is just screaming in her sleep, the poor angel.
The doctor basically said she is going through so much in the day developmentally and we just need to ride it out and support her (which obviously we are doing!) And that we shouldn't worry - but she seems so distressed, it can be quite alarming. (she is my first baby!)
Does anyone have any advice to add.... We are all a bit shattered in my house! Thank you.

There is a sleep regression at about 4-5 months, so may be look into that?

Also it sounds to me like she's teething extremely hard (screaming in sleep), and bonjela isn't always going to be enough - if you've ever used bonjela as an adult you'll know it wears off very quickly. Calpol will help, as can anbesol, which is better than bonjela to my mind. Also look at other teething formulas.

Lastly... Well you doc knows better than me, but I think that your DD is mssing the comfort of those extra ounces. Perhaps even water to give her something to suck?

Also, these stages don't last. They feel like they'll go on forever but they pass very quickly. Hang on in there!

Thanks Kenobi... She is constantly arching her back, then pulling her knees to her chest. Last night she was so hysterical that I brought her out of her room (I had been staying in there with her all evening) and massaged her tum with baby oil - and out came a lot of wind. Would that be making her that upset? I feel pretty clueless... It does seem like a sleep regression of sorts. She was a brilliant self settler and I suppose I am just not sure how to deal with it.

DD was very windy so I feel your pain (first 4 months were hell) and it all settled about 6 months.

But if it's just restarted - what puree have you been giving her? She may not be ready for solids yet - whatever she thinks

the wind would be bothering her and causing quite a lot of discomfort, so maybe winding a bit longer before sleep may help.

Sounds like a combination of sleep regression, wind and teething. Also if she's rolling this won't help her sleep.

Have you tried propping up the end of the cot a little bit so her head is a bit higher. I know you shouldn't but I gave DD a pillow at about that age. I put it under the fitted sheet and this seemed to help.

The advice your doc gave, whilst it doesn't actually give you any help sounds about right. We went through the same thing and trust me it DOES pass, and you will be left with your sanity (although it doesn't feel like it at the time).

Do you bring her to where you and your DH are when she is like this? We found it helped. Didn't "do" anything with her but just let her sit between us on the sofa with an arm around her and she quietened down and drifted off to sleep. I know this could ruin any routine but it a lot less stressful to deal with.

Thank you both.
UKSky - how long did it all go on for?
Last night we brought her out of her room - she calmed and then brought up (and passed) a lot of wind. I then fed her (as it was 10.30pm by this point) and she calmly fell asleep.

re. Puree - she has started on pumpkin. I tried baby rice but it bunged her up. The screaming started before the weaning, in fact, I initially thought it was hunger. It doesn't seem to have impacted it....

All a guessing game really!!

Well if it predates weaning then we're back to teething and wind.

I absolutely second UKSky's suggestion of raising the head of the cot - you can stuff folded towels under the mattress or get one of these: www.amazon.co.uk/Safely-Wedge-reflux-congestion-standard/dp/B002PHXJIG/ref=tag_stp_s2_edpp_url we have one and it's also brilliant to help them breathe when they have colds.

And yes, a guessing game!

Also try pear - it's less dense than pumpkin and might be easier to digest.

Thank you Kenobi, all great tips. In fact she did a plasticine poo (as i call them!?) this afternoon after much straining... So I am pretty sure it is the tum, she also has very red cheeks, so looks like teeth too. Poor poppet. I think I may give her calpol this eve...
(I skipped puree today, I have pear in the freezer though so I could try it out tomorrow)
THANKS for all the advice. x

Renard sorry to say but it went on for about a month. Then it just disappeared, literally overnight. I kept popping in to make sure she was OK.

Sounds like she may have also been a bit bunged up which wouldn't have helped either. Glad to hear you had a better evening yesterday. We definitely found that bringing her out of her room really helped. I suppose it's a change of scenery so she could see other things which helped take her mind off her problems. We still do it now, if she gets really upset and it calms her much more quickly.

I'd also recommend pear, or a small amount of mashed sweet potato.

My DD was, and still is, incredibly windy. In fact, it never ceases to amaze me how much wind can come out of such a small child. Now she's of an age where she finds it hysterically funny.

Your poor DD, and poor you Renard, you feel so helpless when you see them in pain :(

When I started weaning my DS, he was bunged up for about 2 weeks, he was pooing but was straining, although he didn't seem in discomfort at night. Maybe try and give her puree every 2 days, just to see if it makes a difference? Maybe a faster flow teat?

Thanks all. Today we will try pear... And yesterday we had a break from puree. Last night wasn't great... She went down quite early - on her front in the end, where she seemed much more comfortable. But she then woke every 2 hours on all fours trying to crawl!

If it ain't one thing...!!

Renard, struggling through with you with what sounds like exactly the same thing in my 5 month old. Previously one waking at night, now multiple wakings, red teething cheeks, started on solids and has got quite squirmy after them, lots of rolling and clear frustration at not being able to move much. My strategy is to ride it out (easier said than done!) and at night once I've done Calpol and Bonjela, do PU/PD to try and ensure minimal damage to what little sleep pattern my baby has.

HandMini... Sorry to hear about your DC. My DD is refusing to sleep right now (we live abroad +4 hours)... It used to be the a dream to get her to bed. I don't know PU/PD very well. Do you out them down as soon as they settle? What if they cry again?
She is clearly not a happy bunny, but only in the evening. How long has your baby been like this?

and i clearly can't type anymore... so tired :)

I read about PU/PD in the No Cry Sleep Solution, which is a book that I surprised myself by really liking (it's quite American in its vocab and that usually annoys me). It just means consistent, low key comforting when your baby cries in the night by quietly "picking up", rubbing back, saying shh shhh, and then as soon as your baby is calm you "put down" again. Repeat as many times as it takes. I think the idea is you pay baby as little attention as possible but at the same time make sure they don't get all wound up and hysterical. I think it would work for babies for whom crying it out/controlled crying just leads to building crying worse and worse. Hope things are getting better. We had a much better night last night and I feel a bit more human again.