Night fussiness

[TeamOwen2020]

Hello again,

I have a question about night fussiness. I am aware that it is normal for babies to be fussy around 8pm. This seems to be happening for us every night with our 6 week old. It can last until midnight or 1 am. It has gone on longer during developmental leaps. Could anyone explain the types of behaviour we are experiencing please? We have the normal rooting behaviour but Bub tries to climb all over us, cries and tries to bang his head on our chest by lifting and dropping it. It’s horrible to experience and would like to know if there is anything to do to help?

[MissEd]

My LB who is now almost 19 months used to have a fussy hour from about 6pm. Very occasionally it lasted hours and hours lol.

Luckily he grew out of it but it was emotionally draining at the time so I sympathise with you.

[GemX81]

Both my boys had a witching hour in the evening at that age. All you can do is ensure they are fed, winded and changed. And try different ways of soothing them. I remember having to cradle my eldest stood up by the patio doors for about an hour to soothe him and my youngest I sung inch wincy spider on repeat! He's 15 months now and I still have to sing inch wincy spider when he's having trouble teething! It is just a phase and your little one will grow out of it soon. The first 3 months are the hardest but you will get through it!

[QT314]

Could your baby be trying to feed? When my lg was cluster feeding she would need to be on my breast (I was breastfeeding) non stop from around 6pm until 2am or so some days. Others it was shorter times and earlier like 5 to 8 or 9pm. It sounds like your baby could be looking for your breast and trying to feed? Have you tried to feed him/her until they calm down?

[TeamOwen2020 in reply to QT314]

Thanks QT314

Yes I have tried feeding and sometimes it helps sometimes just makes It worse as he fussed more on the breast and ramps up the crying to more of a high pitch tone. Was wondering if he was getting enough from me.

[QT314 in reply to TeamOwen2020]

Have you tried calling your midwife or whichever phone contact they gave you for the hospital and see what they think? It's very tricky to know as we only have our own experiences with our babies. To me it sounds a lot like what my LG used to do when she needed a cluster feeding session but it could be an entirely different thing. I remember I didn't realise what she wanted the first time bc she also looked like she didn't want a feed some times but then I realised it was just that she was very unsettled when she was so desperate to feed. They also move their head up and down a lot sometimes or pull out constantly, I think it's a way of increasing the milk supply (but don't quote me on this). My daughter also used to move her head around like a little wild animal during those sessions.

I think maybe a call to your mw to check could help?

[Baypony in reply to QT314]

My little one had fussiness and clusterfeeding these same hours!

[Baypony]

Hey TeamOwen, if you are breastfeeding the Kellymom website is so helpful. 6 weeks is still really tiny and the fussiness will be trying to bring in more milk (if BF)/ hunger and/or tiredness all at the same time! Also baby is still learning to be a baby and is too small to really know what they want so it’s up to parents to try and work it out. Sometimes what works one day doesn’t work the next and there doesn’t seem to be a pattern. I recall my little one going through hours of fussiness, scratching at me, hitting me with her head (gave me a bruised cheekbone!) arching her back, refusing to latch, latching for 2 minutes then pulling away and crying. I spoke to my midwife who advised me to feed, feed, feed, as much as she could drink so she was telling my body how much milk to make, and was getting all the calories she needed, even if it meant sitting on the sofa all day and a lot of the night. Sometimes I found even though she seemed hungry she just wanted the comfort and a little ‘wiggle’ on the breast before falling asleep for 10-15 mins, the starting the process again! I did this from weeks 3-5 and then from 5 1/2 weeks she suddenly only started waking once at night. It seems very normal for babies to be fussy in the evening regardless of wether they are breast or bottle fed.

Hang in there!