Patrick has been doing a lot of crying lately. We haven't quite figured out what causes it exactly but we're troubleshooting it. These are the times I wish he would just come out and tell us what's the problem.
Last night, as he screamed so hard his face turned red, his cry was silent and he was sweating from the exertion I thought I had it figured out- overtired. He's a decent nighttime sleeper and he usually sleeps until about 8am, which is really to say we sleep until 8 am. But he has been staying awake much of the morning, we try to get him to sleep around 9 or 10 but if he falls asleep it's only for 10-20minutes. Then he has a breakdown (crying/screaming/hard to console) around 11 or 12, once we get him to sleep he will sleep soundly only waking to eat then going back to sleep through most of the afternoon. This is why I thought he was overtired, thus the breakdowns.
On facebook, someone recommended ColicCalm and after reading about it and seeing it's all natural and soothes gas, colic, GERD and hiccoughs I thought, "what the hell?" But so far, I'm not convinced it's any of those problems. It's not like he screams for hours... maybe 30 minutes to an hour... we take turns, Joc is excellent at rocking the screaming baby. I'm a sucker, I give him the boob and it soothes him to sleep but he only eats for a short time before falling asleep. So he's essentially using me as a pacifier... which I'm borderline okay with until he's a little older.
Basically, I haven't figured my baby out... he's 4 weeks old and I still can't determine why he gets screaming like he does.
Other thoughts I've had: overstimulation (we put him on the activity mat and let him stare at the toys), milk supply (but he's gained 3 lbs since birth so I know he's eating plenty and many times I have just fed him and then he gets to screaming), boredom (but from what I read, this should subside once we pick him up and talk to him), frustration (maybe he's ready to move and he's not able to?), gas (but the simethicone and the ColicCalm are for this and I can't say I've seen a direct coorelation between giving him the stuff and him calming down), illness??? (We took him temp once because he was so hot to the touch but it was normal... could he have an ear infection at this age??). Above all, maybe he's just in a fussy stage right now and needs to cry... I shouldn't complain as the books I read on uncontrollable crying talk about a baby who cries for hours, yes hours, at a time. I pray, hope and cross every finger and toe, and knock on every wood surface in my house, that he never screams for this long.
So, this post is to basically tell you that Patrick, as much as we love and adore him in our lives, can drive me nuts too.
4 comments:
well..... trying to think of motherly advice this evening for you...... has he pooped? we had major issues with that :) get his ears checked--we had major issues with that :) gas? bicycle legs with mylecion drops worked wonders :)
hang in there. might be cliche, but this too shall pass. and jenn and joc, it is okay to be irritated with your little guy--NORMAL :) we still have those days and anticipate many more in the future!
i am here to listen! TjB
I am going through the same thing with George right now. The only thing that ever really seems to calm him down is wrapping him up tight in a blanket, holding him close and patting his back (usually has a paci too, because he has alreay eaten because that's my first thought whenever he screams). This USUALLY works, but not always. It's strange how warm they like to be. Sometimes, George feels so warm that I hate to put a blanket on him for fear of overheating him, but then he seems to calm right down when wrapped up. I guess they are still used to that 98.6 degree oven?! Also, maybe try giving P a bottle every now and again so you can measure how much he's eating? We're still dealing with George eating from me, then screaming his head off and half an hour later when I can't figure out what the hell his deal is, I just make him a bottle with another 2-4oz and he sucks it right down and into a milk coma he goes...
Best of luck to you! I hope we ALL figure it out soon! Hang in there! :)
i tell you what girl, even when they can talk, they don't always tell you what's actually wrong...it's hard, it's not all roses, and yes, there are times that your child(ren) will drive you nuts...but, you'll figure it out at some point...it's a go with your gut and try different things until something works...hope all gets better soon...if you need to chat, call whenever! :)
Try rereading the Happiest Baby on the Block. I really think some of those techniques really help the crying part.
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