Well, it’s happened: we’ve hit the 3-6 week fussy zone, and my happy little girl has turned into a crabby little girl! Eleanor does ok during the day, but she’s incredibly fussy at night, eating about every half an hour to an hour from around 10pm to 3am, and needing to be walked/rocked/held or else she screams at us. We’ve finally given up on trying to get to bed before about 2-3am, which has helped our stress level tremendously. It’s a crazy schedule, but thankfully John is still off of work for another four weeks. I really hope by then that this has improved!
I know this isn’t her fault, and emotionally I’m handling it much better than even her occasional fussiness of the early days. I guess my pp hormones have finally started leveling off, thankfully! That is one roller coaster I am thrilled to be off of.
We’re actually a little worried that she has some bad reflux going on, but we’re just keeping an eye on it for now. She does much better when she’s propped up, but even with that she started spitting up a couple days ago. : ( Poor baby. I know spitting up is normal to a certain extent, and she’s not doing it a ton, so hopefully it won’t get worse. We tried some mylicon drops yesterday at a couple of her feedings which seemed to help, so maybe she just has some gas issues. I’m going to cut most dairy and all spicy foods for a couple weeks to see if that helps, since those are the most common food culprits in BFed babies. I really hope neither of those is causing this, though: I don’t know how long I can happily go without those two foods, lol!
When she’s in a good mood, she’s smiling like crazy now! It is so cute! She also loves playing little games with me, like Pat-A-Cake. She gets all excited! She still loves the outdoors, too: I took her out on the deck yesterday evening when she was a bit fussy, and she just laid in my arms and stared up at the trees against the sky. She kept looking around trying to find the source of the chirps she kept hearing, too. Such a smart little gal. : ) I can see her little personality starting to form, which is so much fun. I wish she spent more time like this and less time uncomfortable and crying, but I know this is just a phase. I remind myself that about every hour… ; )
2 responses so far ↓
Gina // November 26, 2008 at 12:35 pm |
Hello this sounds like my my child as well. My child is 6 weeks old today and he has this bits of fussiness at night as well and will not go to sleep until 1-2am. He was also just put on acid reflux medicine which I think is making him gassy. What week did your child grow out of this, and when did your child start to sleep through the night? I have to return back to work soon and I am worried.
Thanks.
jenninsea // November 26, 2008 at 12:52 pm |
Hi Gina -
I’m sorry your little one is having such a rough time! It sounds like colic to me, and one of the known causes of colic is reflux. Make sure to keep him upright at every meal, and for at least half an hour after. You might want to put a wedge under his crib/bassinet mattress, or get an inclined nest bed if he’s sleeping with you.
Eleanor finally got better when I completely cut dairy. We were really close to putting her on meds too, but cutting dairy did the trick. Has your doctor mentioned anything about a dairy sensitivity to you? If you’re formula feeding, you can try one of the gentle formulas that are partially broken down. They are quite a bit more expensive, but they’re much easier on little tummies.
After cutting dairy, it took about three weeks for her to get significantly better. As for STTN, well she still doesn’t do that, haha! Around six months you can safely start doing some sleep training. Around three months, many babies lengthen their sleep stretches, though they usually still do not consistently STTN. Most formula fed babies STTN earlier than BFed babies.
I hope this helps a little. I promise this will pass! I know how difficult this is, and how tired you probably are. I really hope things clear up before you go back to work.