19 week old very demanding and cries a lot, feeling very stressed out, tired and teary

[Jusnaa]

Hello Ladies, my 19 week old requires constant attention, wants to be cuddled and carried all the time, only falls asleep in my arms and cries quite a lot, hr does not have colic and is healthy but cries for attention. This is making me very stressed out, I feel exhausted, my body has no energy and I feel very low and cry too. I get headaches when he cries too and feel frustrated, but overall I just am finding it very difficult to cope, is this normal? is anyone else going through this too? I want to be a good mother and I do my best but I feel like I am letting my son down by feeling overwhelmed by my parenting duties

[Lizzie13]

It can be so hard and I think we get unrealistic expectations of what a baby does from tv programmes , books , friends etc... No baby demands attention to be awkward , they just feel safe when they are close to you and a little unsafe when they feel a lone. This can be very hard , especially when people lead you to believe that babies should be fed changed then they go down to sleep for 4 hours !!!!! This DOES NOT happen often and is not normal baby behaviour. Baby will often be happy as long as they are close to someone. If you have a partner get them to sit holding baby while you go and get some rest. If they still won't settle like that then it can also help to give 'the other person' a tshirt that you have been wearing for tgem to put on, sometimes being able to smell you can be reassuring for baby too

[Hidden]

My saving baby item that I was given was a sling, I wore my little girl loads when she was little and I would never be able to look after her properly now I have my second if I didn't wear him most of the time too. It is a big adjustment becoming a parent so it is normal to get teary. Ask for help from anyone who offers.

Another suggestion I would give would be take baby to see a cranial osteopath, I took both of mine and it made a huge difference. They will tell you if there's nothing they can do to help.

[skanking_piglet]

Just a thought, but week 19 is classed as a 'wonder week' which is accompanied by crying and clinginess. I'm new to all this and my LO is not at your stage yet, but I have friends who swear by these developmental stages. Perhaps worth checking out the book? It's called 'The Wonder Weeks' by Hetty van de Rijt and Frans Plooij.

[cheekymonkey3791 in reply to skanking_piglet]

Wonder weeks do an app too. My 9 month old is due to start a new 'development fussy period' tomorrow at 41 weeks...oh what fun as the chart shows it as 5 weeks!