Dinnertime Fussiness??

[kfcboston]

Help!! Charlie becomes inconsolable late afternoon/dinnertime-ish, right around when DH gets home (lucky him!), and it's impossible to calm him down! His face is purple for many minutes on end, even though he recently ate and was changed. He's getting darn good at refusing the pacifier, too. And it's not the intermittent gasiness discomfort either. We try walking him around, vibrating him........Yikes!

I've seen things in writing on this dinnertime fussiness, but can't recall where. Only that it's a newborn thing, and have fun. Anyone have any experience/wisdom/thoughts on when he might outgrow it?? Thanks!

Katie
Mommy to Charlie, 3/5/03

[egoldber]

Well, I'm afraid you summed it up pretty correctly. It tends to peak around 4-6 weeks and gets better by 12 weeks/3 months.

Have you tried a swing? Many babies find it very soothing.

HTH,

The 4-6p.m. time of day is often referred to as the "witching hour"! And, although the worst of it passes after a few months, I think those hours of the day are just terrible for most children. My kids often have their only breakdowns of the day right around suppertime. I think it's because they've had long days and are overstimulated. We are often waiting on Daddy to get home and I'm attempting to cook supper. This is true for most of my friends as well. You just have to devise strategies for dealing with it and learn to work around it. In the infant stage, it's the perfect time to use any soothing device you might have such as a swing or bouncy seat. Good luck!

[kfcboston]

Thanks for the words of wisdom/warning. Last night I eventually fed him although he wasn't rooting. He may have been past the ability to root he was so upset. Swing didn't work either, but it may have been because we let it get too far? But the feeding put him down for 6 hours!! It was quite a freak-out. Our little Charlie is quite the live-wire.

Katie
Mommy to Charlie, 3/5/03

Both my children had this. My almost 4 month old is just starting to grow out of it.

It is sad that hubby has to come home to such a cranky baby...i always felt so bad about that when i was on maternity leave. Now that Im back to work, it's hard to pick up the kids at daycare and know the baby will be intolerable starting somewhere around 5pm ending somewhere around 7pm...you cant make supper or get anything done.

I also read about this in several books, so know that you're not alone. I dont have any easy answers, for us it was a lot of carrying them around, trying to find the least-fussy position.

I don't have anything to add to what others have said, but wanted you to know that it WILL get better. Hang in there. I remember those evenings and DREADED the sun setting... Just keep at it. Some things that didn't work one night, worked the next (and vice versa... baby bjorn, swing, bouncy seat, walking/rocking, etc.)...