21 answers

Hunger, Sleepy or Colic?!?!?

Okay ladies, now that I have my daughter sleeping good at night, here is my next problem (yes I have lots of them).

The last three days, my daughter (9 weeks old) has cried a lot more than usual. So, I changed her diaper........that didn't work.........I tried getting her to go to sleep...........that didn't work either. Finally, when I started to breast feed her, she took it and fell asleep. Now, I know most of you are probably thinking that she was just probably hungry and tired, duh! Well, that may be true, but her cries were longer than usual and just sounded more different than usual. I kept thinking it was colic, but I was told if it was colic, nothing would soothe her and that they would be more during the same times every day. This usually occurs between 1pm-7pm, but not the exact time every day. I was also told that it could be that she is starting to eat more and now she knows what crying will do for her.

My daughter also had the DPT, Polio, HIB & Rotovirus vaccines on Friday and I have also noticed she is sleeping more during the day than usual. She seems to be sleeping more now at 9 weeks than she did at 4-6 weeks, but when she sleeps, she sleeps on me. When I go to lay her down, she will wake up within 20 minutes.

Okay, so I know this is more like 2 questions here, but #1. Does this sound like she is just hungry on her crying or something else? #2. Why is she sleeping more now at 9 weeks than at 4 weeks?

Thank you for anybody who can help me!!!

What can I do next?

So What Happened?™

Thank you to everyone who responded!

My daughter was going through a growth spurt. She is eating more and it is also making her more sleepy because she is eating more. The good thing is she is starting to sleep more throughout the night.

Featured Answers

Getting shots will make babies more tired and cranky. Could just be a side effect of that. They will start eating more as they grow as well, so she could just be hungry. You learn what the cries mean as you go. Also, she could have gas. That will make them cry too. Have you tried gas drops before or after her feedings?

Make her room as dark as possible. She's just starting to notice the world around her and want to be awake when it's light. Get black-out shades, they will make a world of difference. When she cries, go in, sooth her and put her right back down. It can get monotonous but eventually she'll learn without making her cry-it-out.

More Answers

This sounds like a reaction to the vaccines. My suggestion is that you research the vaccines on your own, and do not rely on only your doctor's recommendation. @ the very least, you could delay them, or seperate them to one @ a time...that is a LOT for a little person to handle. There is a LOT of information available out there. If you would like direction, pm or email me. If it IS a vaccine reaction, next time will be worse. You are your children's advocate...sounds like the breastfeeding is helping to sooth her. Good job, momma! Listen to your instincts!

2 moms found this helpful

I very much agree with the posters that said nurse on demand and research shots and don't get any more until YOU are sure you want to.

I nursed on demand, and my ds is a perfectly normal weight.
I didn't know anything about vaccines, and didn't do any research until ds was 1 year old. He had been vax'ed on schedule until then. At that point, I stopped vaxes because he was most likely already as immune as he was going to be with more doses. (this is according to information from the CDC).
You can delay, choose which ones you want, space them out the way you want, etc. You can also email me if you want links to sources.

I strongly disagree that babies that age will cry because "what crying will do for her." At that age (and up to about 1year or older, imo) any "want" is a need. That need might just be that she needs to be held. It might be that she needs comforting (which could be why she stopped crying when you nursed). But it's a genuine need.

My ds only ever slept on me. He did a lot of comfort nursing. It's normal, and fine as long as your needs are being met too.

1 mom found this helpful

Growth spurt!! She is growing and needs to eat more and sleep more. This last usually 1-2 weeks and then she'll go back to "normal". She'll hit these spurts at various times in her life. The colic would be continually crying for hours. My first child cried from 4 pm - 8pm every day with nothing to comfort her. She would pull her arms and legs up and would just scream. The shots could make her more sleepy. Sounds like her shots and growth spurt happened around the same time.

1 mom found this helpful

The shots could have her cranky.
She most likely is not colic since that typical starts a little earlier. My daughter was colic and I knew it by the time she was three weeks. It was the same time everyday. 6-9 p.m. every single day for three months.
Try giving her the gas drops before her feedings and see if that helps. Good luck

If she is crying more than normal, she may be sensitive to dairy or wheat. It is very common for babies to not be able to tolerate one or both of these things. Dr. Sears says that there is really no such thing as colic, it is babies to responding to dairy or wheat. I would recommend taking the dairy out of your diet for awhile and see if it improves. It is tough for most people, but you will get used to it. If that is it, you should see some improvement within a wk or so from removing the dairy, but it can take up to 30 days to get it completely out of your system. Try to keep breastfeeding though...it is the easiest on her system:)

She is probably going through a growth spurt, and they are hungry more often during these spurts. Is she taking Tylenol after the shots? That can make her sleepy. You might want to have her checked for an ear infection. Lots of babies get them after vaccinations. If she is sleeping on you, do you notice her laying one ear on you? If so, then your body heat could be easing an ear infection, and when you lay her down, it starts hurting again and wakes her. I also would see about splitting up some of those vaccines. I know "they" say it is OK to get them all at once, but if she is having a reaction, then you will know which one caused it and be better prepared next time she gets her shots. It is also easier for them to fight off fevers and ear infections when they don't get so many at once. I have twins and one had a very bad reaction to the HIB, so he gets that one all by itself a week after the others, and we are very consistent with the Tylenol before and after.

Sometimes it takes up to two weeks for the side effects of the shots to go away. My son's first sets of shots gave him no issues, but the second set did. He had similar crying spells and it took about 10 days for him to return to his normal self.

So, I'd give it up to two weeks and if she is still having the same issues, take her to the doctor just in case.

Definitely research shots!! My friend who has gotten her baby two sets of shots is telling me the same thing about her baby crying & sleeping more...As I have done some research, I have found that shots have been linked with swelling of the brain, autism, SIDS, Chrone's,etc... Google "vaccinations" and you should find out everything you need to know. I've chosen not to vaccinate my three children & am trusting the Lord to provide...You're doing great on the Mommy thing with the way you know your child & are observing her.

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