So here is my issue. I have a 5 month old who is doing great, sleeps through the night most of the time, is eating cereal in the AM and veggies in the PM and has had no problems. The issue I am having is that she has stopped taking a nap at 6pm and is now staying up from 3:30pm until bedtime (around 7:30/8:00) but the dilemma is that she is really fussy. She breast feeds at 5 or 5:30 but is not content until veggies and breast milk before bed. I tried feeding veggies earlier but then she has trouble sleeping at night. My husband and I play, play, play with her for those 2 hours but nothing makes her happy for more than 10minutes. Does anyone have any suggestions or have they had a similar issue. I just feel so bad for her but I don't want to over feed her either. All this makes eating dinner for my husband and I very difficult...
It sounds to me like she may be cutting a tooth. The reason she feels better while eating is that the food is massaging her gums. Both of my kids had long toothing periods, and intially there was no indication of any teeth (ie: no tooth showing). Try some of the typical teething remedies (chewing on cold teething toys, oragel, etc.) and see if that works.
Maybe you should take the veggies away. Babies shouldn't have solids before the age of six months because their digestive tracts aren't always closed by that point. If she is fussy she is probably going through a growth spurt and needs more breastmilk. You can't overfeed a baby, they stop eatting when they are full.
Dear S., what I would suggest is to let her sit at the table with you and your husband and have some of what y'all are eating.... she probably want eat much but she might...after y'all eat then try giving her her bath and y'all can play with her in the tub but then start to slow down before she gets out of the bath and put her PJ's on and then try settling down with a few little books!! also have you tried giving her juice with her supper and then you could breast feed her real good after she gets out of the bath. if I read right well then she is missing her 6pm nap and stays up for another 2-3 hours without any rest...so before 6 make sure that y'all have sat down and she eats with you by then it is what maybe around 6 - 6:30 and then a good maybe 20-30 minute bath so that should cover the time....but I really think the food and bath will help...sorry I repeated myself so much. I wish the best of luck and keep me informed....D.
Try giving her some cereal at night, I found with my kids that it filled them up, allowing them to sleep thru the night. You can also move her bedtime up to 7:00, I've had my now two year old on that schedule since she was a baby, and she gets up around 6:30. Then I would put her down for naps at 10:00am & 2:00pm, until she switched over to one nap a day. Hope that helps.
K.
try this...it worked for our daughter: veggies for "supper" with breastmilk and then cereal and breastmilk before bed...sounds to me like she just isn't getting enough to eat in the evenings...don't worry about over feeding her...our dr said at this age, they will stop when they get full.
S.,
Its sounds like your sweet baby is in a disorganized phase. This is not uncommon and I saw the pattern clearly in my own two daughters. Think of a child's development as a spiral (like you are drawing a spring vertically on a piece of paper) The right side is the organized phase and the left is the disorganized phase. As babies develop, so much happens that we can't see. Much of this mental, psychological and attitude development causes babies and children to feel "out of sorts" and have a difficult time settling. This fussy period, by the way, seems to always occur around dinner time... after a full day of exposure to so many stimuli and the sorting and learning the stimuli triggers, it is not difficult to understand.
The good thing is that an organized phase is sure to follow.
If you observe carefully, you may notice a new skill developing... if you can't see it now it will become more apparent once she hits the organized phase again.
I saw similar behavior in my daughters as they learned to:
recognize extanded family members and caregivers
hold their heads up on their own and learn to sit up
learn to pick up items in a pincer grasp
started crawling and walking
started talking
learned object permanence
etc
We got so accustomed to this natural cycle, that we started joking about it at our house....
"Oh, no - she's learning something new - wonder what it is this time" and we would compete to see which one of us could figure out which skill was being assimulated first.
On the other hand, maybe she is just hungry.
breastfed babies have a good understanding of what full feels like and if you watch her cues, she will not over-eat.
Maybe she needs a little snack while you have dinner.
L. G
Hi S.. You said you breastfeed so maybe it could be something you are eating or drinking.Try charting what you take in and when.Hope this helps.
This could be colic if it happening at the same time every night. If that is it she will grow out of it. Good Luck.
does she have any teeth yet? if so, or if not, she could be having some come in, that can cause babies to be fussy. Check her gums, maybe give her some tylenol when she gets fussy and see if that seems to soothe her. If she is teething, try the teething tablets as well.
that's the only thing that comes to mind right now.
good luck
