Howling at 5pm- Any suggestions?

[mima08]

Hi - my LO is almost 8 weeksl and over the last two weeks he has taken to howl & scream every day for 2-3hrs, starting at 5pm (sometimes it starts earlier, and yesterday he got fooled by the summertime change, but generally you can set your watch by it!) He seems totally inconsolable, nothing we do seems to make any difference. Tried food, nappy change, rocking, jigling, carrying, dark room, light room, white noise, winding, swaddling - the only times he stops crying is when his eyes fall shut from exhaustion - but never more than 5 min... Till about 7 or 8 when it all reverts to normal. It is really exchausting - any suggestions on what to do/similar experiences?

[Pickle]

Sounds like it could be colic? No experience myself, but a couple of my friends had babies who did a screaming session every day in the early evening - both of the babies grew out of it by about 12 weeks if that's any consolation?

I'm sure someone who's been through it will be able to offer advice.

[Jagger]

Hi my oldest child had colic and was inconsolable, crying for hours in the early evening when she was a baby. I feel for you as it is very hard when your baby cries and there doesn't seem anything you can do to soothe him/ her. What seemed to help us was a few sessions of cranial osteopathy (she was a forceps delivery which apparently makes a difference) - not sure if it was the six sessions of this or the fact that this coincided with her growing out of it that stopped the regular crying sessions but it made me feel better at least! Now I'm dealing with teenage temper tantrums and colic seems a picnic by comparison...

Our cranial osteopath was Ian Wright (this was twelve years ago) but I think he is now based in Ireland. King's college hospital recommended cranial osteopathy to me for my last child through the breastfeeding counsellor (Claire Kedves if she is still there)and had contact details if you need them. Hope that is helpful and remember that this will pass...

[Helen GV]

It is really tough but it does end! would definitely recommend cranial osteopathy x

[SummerMum]

We also swore by Infacol - maybe it did nothing, but it made me feel like I was doing something!

Sounds like typical colic - a very small word for a very exhausting time!

[Ruth_Baldock]

I'm a bit surprised that no-one has mentioned the good old witching hour? Could be colic, or it could be WH? My son was the same- a nightmare from 6pm-9pm, and he did eventually grow out of it. You have my sympathies, it was a very trying and tiring time.

[ravi]

hey mima, you could try taking your baby to goose green clinic of osteopathy 0208693 3047 as colic responds very well to cranial osteopathy.

[mima08]

Thank you all for the replies. I had feared the answer might be colic - that mysterious and dreaded word... It is very trying and quite upsetting as he gets so very upset, with tears running down his face. Really breaks my heart. I'm already using infacol (he can be quite windy) and even colief and both seem to be helpful for all other times of the day - just not 5-7pm! (BTW, he seem not to have adjusted to BST - he now starts at 6pm, today on the dot!)

RB - what is the witching hour? Am I being daft or is it simply the time of the evening when children grizzle?

Ravi (&others) thanks for the suggestion re cranial osteopathy: i will look into it further - I had thought it would not apply as I had a c-section, albeit after 30hrs of labour.... will give that clinic a call tomorrow!

[Vickster]

If you decide it is colic, try Colief. It worked wonders for us. You add it to their milk to neutralise the lactose. It is available at the chemist or on prescription.

[Ruth_Baldock]

Mima, here is a useful page/definition of the witching hour- but basically, yes, it's those few hours in the evening when babies get very grizzly and unsettled. With my son, he used to cry, clusterfeed, fall asleep on boob, wake up when move, cry, clusterfeed....you get the idea. http://moxie.blogs.com/askmoxie/2006/10/qa_the_witching.html

[new mother]

Colic? Use Dr Browns's bottles, with a strange arrangement inside that is supposed to reduce wind.

Also, try lying the baby tummy to your forearm, obviously held firmly and securely by you, head to inner slbow - Im not describing this well at all - but it worked immediately for us if the crying started....could be distraction as the babies find it fun or it could be that the pressure on the right part of the tummy forces wind out?

[reren]

A good friend who's baby suffered badly from colic changed her diet (she was breastfeeding) significantly cutting out all sorts of things pulses, wheat, dairy etc-it wasnt easy for her and you'd want to take some advise from a nutritionist maybe to make sure you are getting the right nutrition - but my friend reckoned it fixed the colic almost overnight?

[Asset]

My son was the same, the books referred to it as 'evening colic' because of the timing. it stopped around three months.

[mima08]

Thanks again for the advice!

I am using both Infacol and colief - they seem useful but not enough to really help. I have changing my diet and also tried all sorts of bottles (incl. Dr. Browns) to help eliminating wind etc - not with very much success, I have to say...

Thanks very much for the link to the article RB- it really helps looking at the grizzly time from a different perspective, and helps particularly someone like me who always wants to "fix" everything to feel less useless...AND of course the prospect of it stopping (fingers crossed) at three months is something to look forward to.

Finally, I did go to see an osteopath today and she reckons that his head suggests a fair bit of tension (actually she will write to my GP to get her to send him for a scan as she is concerned that the bones at the back of the head may have fused a bit early). Anyway, she did do some tension release work and lo and behold - he was great tonight! No real grizzling, some good feeds, we shall see what the night brings (could also be that he was just so tired after having been awake for 4.5hrs that he fell asleep, but at least he is not upset, yay!). I will update if future sessions have the same effect.