My 3.5 month old seems to want to have a meltdown at 5 pm several times a week. I actually thought this phase has stopped (it started at 4 weeks, so we are going on almost 10 weeks of this now), but it started again last night, and again tonight.
At 5 pm she gets soooo fussy, and my husband and I cannot figure out what is wrong with her.
We try the usual bouncing, rocking, being in a dark room, a pacifier, etc, etc.
I usually breast feed her at 3:30, amd it takes her 30-40 minutes to eat so I cannot imagine that she is hungry again, but maybe she is?
Usually she'll cry for so long she'll tucker herself out and fall asleep. We'll give her a couple of hours then wake her up at 7:30 to change and feed her, and she'll go right back to sleep as if nothing happened.
Perhaps she needs to be fed every hour at night? I am afraid of overfeeding her - I do not want her to get sick in her sleep at night.
Perhaps nursing will work, but I don't want her to eat to soothe herself if she is not hungry, and then make her stomach sick instead.
I don't know what to do! But nothing seems to work and I am losing my mind!
All children usually have a "witching hour", but don't let her turn you into a "human pacifier". I made that mistake with my oldest and had to get up every hour and a half till he was 14 months old, when I finally weaned him. Try taking a stuffed animal and put a tee shirt that you have worn on the the stuffed animal. It will smell like you and this may calm her down if you lay it in the crib with her.
Good luck!
Hi G.,
Congratulations on the birth of your daughter :) My son Stephen is 4 1/2 months now but i can totally relate to your situation. From around 6 weeks to 3-4 months, he would get very fussy in the evenings and I did not know what to do..I am also breastfeeding. I went to a lacation consultant who informed me this was very normal behavior in newborns and usually means they are hungry and that I should breastfeed him as much as he requires. For some reason most babies seem to want more food before bed and for me it help with his sleeping. Some nights I felt as though he was feeding for 2 hours straight but i have to say it did help with his fussiness and he was much more content and for me it was nice to just relax and sit with him at night. It's just my opinion here but i don't think you can overfeed her at this stage but maybe check in with your doc or a lactation consultant if you are still unsure.
Good luck! -K. (Boston, Ma)
heya,
mine used to do that same thing - after a while we'd let him cry until he slept (it was either that or hold him while he was crying until he slept). I'm not sure I'd wake him up and feed him again - I'd just let your baby wake up when they are hungry and then feed them then. What I didn't realize was that our baby just was a really really early sleeper. He's 7 months now and every night, like clockwork, he is in bed by 6 - and cannot stay up any longer - which means that I had to move up his meals, bath etc... as otherwise he'd be too tired/frustrated to eat, and too overtired to go down if we tried to keep him up. It was really hard to hear him cry but he is now the best sleeper I know - 6 to 6 no wakings since about 3 months.
I too would be pretty weary of feeding her if she's not hungry - not the message I'd want to be sending at 2 in the morning! Good luck - you'll figure it out....
Unfortunately, sometimes babies just cry. My daughter had colic and sometimes the crying would start at 5:00pm and not stop until 11:00pm when she was 8-12 weeks old. Even now that she's grown out of the colic and is 5.5 months, she still gets a tad fussy around 5:00pm. This is a pretty common time of day for babies to get fussy. I mastered what I call the "jiggle walk" around the house in circles for hours until it was time to feed her and put her to bed. I would encourage feeding for comfort during this time if it works. Also, have you tried a swing?
She could be going through a growth spurt. I would try to feed her when she has a meltdown and see what happens. You may only need to do it for a few days or a week and then drop the feeding again if it is a growth spurt. I wouldn't worry about overfeeding her at this age, especially at 5pm if you're not putting her to sleep right away. she'll most likely shut herself off when she's satisfied and if she does take in more than she needs, it'll just come right back up within a few minutes. And if she does spit it up, then you'll know that she probably wasn't really hungry. My husband wasn't afraid to feed our son, but I was afraid of overfeeding just like you. We always gave him about an ounce of formula more than what was recommended for his age. He is now a very happy & healthy 13month old, and he weighs about 24lbs.
Hi G.,
Personally I'd keep nursing her till she says she's had enough. Both of my children nursed not just because they are hungry but also for comfort. If she needs comforting on your breast and you are ok with it then go for it.
You won't make her stomach sick (not from breast milk) and plus breast milk digests within 45 minutes so it's no surprise that she might still be hungry. Especially if she's going through a growth spurt which they do a lot of as newborns.
Good Luck!
E. P.
PS. There's nothing wrong with letting her fall asleep at the breast. It's probably the best sleep she'll get that way rather than have her CIO (cry it out).
G.,
Hello! I can definitely empathize with the meltdow hour. It sounds likes your little one is still hungry. Babies really do know when they are hungry or full. They truly are self-regulating~unlike us as adults especially in our culture~they are not over or undereating for emotional reasons. So I don't think that you have to worry about overfeeding her as she will let you know. My son is now 7 1/2 months old, but I do remember that the first few months he was nursing every 1-2 hours. So if you are nursing starting at 3:30pm it would make sense that she is hungry again at 5pm since it was 1 1/2 hours from the start of your nursing. Also, she is also preparing for going to bed so wants to make sure that she has a full belly before going down to bed. The more we nurse during the day the less our babies need to nurse/feed at night~or so the theory goes :-)
I hope that this is helpful! Good luck
Hi G.! I agree, feeding her every 1.5 - 2 hours or so at night is not unheard of for a 14 week old. They are just getting on a schedule at that age. I found that by four months or so, both my girls were so much more predictable. It also sounds like she could be, or was, colicky. My youngest was colicky from about 3 weeks until 4.5 months (she was going for the extended version, as everyone told me it would end at 3 months and it did not!!). If you find that nothing helps, not feeding, rocking, swinging, etc., she could be colicky, in which case, you have to get creative. We tried everything, and in the end, a combination of gripe water (found at Whole Foods, which also has a ton of other great stuff, all natural remedies for babies) and the chiropractor worked, believe it or not!! Her digestive system was not working effeciently, which led to the colic, because she was backed up by the end of each day. My daughter was born by c-section and she swallowed a lot of fluid on the way out and had to be intubated, so it made sense to me! Anyway, it sounds crazy but the adjustments really helped.
Good luck - it will pass soon, I can tell you from experience! It's always a tough time of day at 5 p.m., no matter how old they get. :)
I call it the evening crankies with my son. Late afternoon was always the hardest. Even now the afternoon is a bit harder than the rest of the day (he is 23 months now). As far as feeding, I believe that babies self regulate so I never worried about overfeeding. From what I've read/heard/experienced spitting up in the crib isn't dangerous. I always had a receiving blanket under his head for easy cleanup. Also if they are gassy nursing can help get everything moving and help them feel better. I always nursed on demand and even today I don't restrict eating at all, I just make sure I have healthy choices available.
Good Luck!
P.S. I just remembered-your milk supply in the am is much higher than in the evening for you may need more frequent feedings.
