Why Is My Son So Fussy Every Night?

my son did this until we discovered he had a lactose intolerance. Something to look into. Good luck

Assuming you are feeding him formula, I suggest eliminating the extra iron. I had to use just regular similac because the iron constipated and cramped my son. Made a world of difference.

My first question is ---is he on formula or breast milk? This happen to me also. My son was fussy the same time every day almost to the point of having a colic baby. They told us about the drops but they did not work for us either. They gave him other drops and they did not do anything so we just waiting through it. It took about 6 months before he came out of it. Then he went from breast milk to whole milk at the age of 1. He had issues. They put him on soy and he had diarehea so bad---they put him back on whole to see what would happen and we had major projectile vomitting at night so he is on lactaid. This works the best for him for now. If you need any help---just email. I had a baby that cried a lot and it just takes a lot of patients and time. They will grow out of it. At the time you think that it is bad but now that my son is 18 months---he is just the best thing that ever happend to us.

Um, he's fussy for a while the same time each night because he's a 4 week old baby... Hold him, walk him, love him, take turns with someone if you can. He'll grow out of this eventually.

try the chiropractor!! they are wonderful for babies. ~S.

Have you mentioned this to his doctor? Sounds like it could be reflux. If so, there is a lot they can do for it...including medication and positioning techniques. Try keeping him upright for 30 min. after each feeding. Use a bouncy seat...not a car seat...if you are unable to hold him as car seats tend to put more pressure on the stomach making the problem worse. Also, you can try to slightly elevate the head of his crib so that he is more upright when sleeping. If the reflux is severe your doctor might recommend a Danni (sp?) sling to help keep him upright in the crib. If you are not nursing you might talk to your MD about switching your formula as that might be the culprit too. If you are nursing, it could be something in your diet triggering the problem. You can get a nursing book that will give you ideas to try to figure out if there is something in your diet triggering the problem. Good luck. Both my boys were very fussy and I'm happy to say around 6 months they both outgrew the refulx/gas and were just fine.

I had two colicky babies and I agree with all of the others--sounds like colic. Not much helped my little guys, but you can try white noise, a vibrating bouncy seat or swing and a sling or baby carrier so you can hold him, but still have your hands free. The mylecon drops won't help. If you are nursing you can also try eliminating some things from your diet, such as dairy and caffeine, if you consume any. IF formula ask your doctor about switching to a non-dairy, non-soy formula. For some reason, it really bothered my youngest when I ate chocolate. Good luck! It seems like forever during the colic, but in retrospect it is a brief time in their lives and yours.

I never like using medications on a little baby and my ped really discouraged using gas drops. We did a lot of tummy massage for our DS to help his system. My DH was the best at it. Two methods worked well:

1) Lay the baby with head supported in the crook of your elbow and your hand on their tummy area (feet can just dangle or be supported with the other hand). Use the fingers under child's belly to gently massage the abdomen. Then bring the baby back up to your shoulder for a little burp if needed. You can also sit with legs together and put the child face down on your legs (head toward your knee), then reach under and gently massage and probe into the abdomen.

2) Take a beachball that is partially deflated. Lay the baby's tummy on the ball and very gently roll them back and forth, forward and back. This is also a great "tummy time" activity.

Certainly start keeping a food diary if you breastfeeding so you can see if there are any patterns.

My son is now almost 4 months old. We had this problem with him as well. He was very gassy and screamed/ cried in pain almost everyday. He also scrunched his body with his legs up. It's very heart-breaking when there is nothing you could do. We started giving him the mylecon drops and helping him push the gas out by moving his legs for him as if he was peddling on a bicycle. That didn't help 100% though, he was still gassy. We found out he has reflux and is sensitive to lactose. My question to you is: are you formula feeding or breast feeding? I was breast feeding and almost everything I ate caused him to be gassy even though I wasn't gassy. I finally started weaning him on formula. We have been having lots of luck on the formula we chose. It's like he instantly stopped being gassy. we barely need to use the drops anymore. We have him on Similac sensitive. It's made for fussy/ gassy babies who are sensitive to lactose. They also make Similac sensitive RS for gas and reflux. His gas issues could be a reaction to the milk/ formula he is on. Once we switched to the similac sensitive, we noticed him as being a happier baby!!! Talk to your Dr because it could be reflux or sensitivity to lactose. Good Luck!!!! I hope you find a solution! And Congrats on your little guy!

M.,

I'm sorry to say this, but it might not even be gas. At that age, many babies do that for no explicable reason. Moms I know call it the "witching hour" (usually early evening - while mom is making dinner). Do what you can to make him comfortable (often holding baby stomach down across you leg helps) and know that in about a month it will stop.

Babies, especially newborns, just get fussy at the same time every night. It's their way of expending energy and releasing stress. He will outgrow it in a few weeks. Just comfort him, love him, and try to soothe him as best you can. One thing to try for gas is doing bicycles with his legs after he eats. Also, try holding him with his back on your chest with his legs hanging down freely. Lean him back just a bit so his belly is stretched, grab his feet, and push his knees up and down towards his chest (I learned both of these from my doula who is also an NICU RN). Both will help the gas move through. My son went through the same thing and our papasan swing worked wonders, too!! Good luck and enjoy being new mommy!

That was my daughter. She had colic and wasn't tolerating my breastmilk or formula. We switched formula to Enfamil Nutramigen, Simlac has the same thing too. She was a different baby in a few hours. I got a prescription from the dr. so that WIC would cover this formula as it's exspensive but worth EVERY penny. I SWEAR by this formula it says right on the can for COLIC and it is MAGIC. My daughter is now 8mos and still on this formula and hasn't had a colic moment in months. Try it! ENFAMIL NUTRAMIGEN

We had tried all the home remedies, gas drops, colic tablets, gripe water, none of it did a thing. It would break my heart watching and listening to my daughter scream in PAIN.

could be acid reflux

My son was the same way from about 6pm-9pm every night. His dr. suggested trying Zantac for reflux and it worked within 2 days. It was a night and day difference! Shortly after starting the Zantac he also started sleeping through the night. I hope this helps. I understand that you might not be too keen on giving your baby a medication so early on, but it worked wonders for us.
C.

If you read about what the real definition of colic is, you will read a description of exactly what you just wrote. It usually starts around week 3 or 4 and can last up to week 12. Our second child had it terribly. It will pass and things will get better. One thing that helped our daughter was infant massage. She loved it and it helped her relax. Also, a warm bath with a few drops of lavender oil seemed to be calming to her.

Sounds like colic mama. Fussiness at the same time every night, gas like pains, different cry, pulling legsup nad arching back, all signs of colic.

It will have to run it course, as there is no 'cure' for colic. Holding him on your lap bell down sometimes helps, a warm bath, nursing him on demand, and wearing him in a sling are all things that generally help. riding in the car seat, white noise also help.

It'll pass, but it will be stressful sometimes until it does, mostly because you will feel helpless trying to make him feel better. Just remember that his cries aren't to stress you, something is bothering him and nobody really knows what it is. So putting him in the sling nad wearing him, white noise, a car ride, nursing on demand, these will all help calm him when he's upset.

I have to disagree with the suggestions of reflux. Reflux doesn't just happen at certain times of the day. It would be the same symptoms after every feeding, at every nap, etc. What you are describing sounds like colic. As someone else mentioned, it usually runs it's course by 12 weeks or so. Are you bottle feeding? Have you tried different bottles for gas relief? Are you breastfeeding? Have you tried to eliminate things from your diet that may be upsetting your baby's tummy?

Mylecon works great for gas pain.
Your baby could just be going through a phase where he cries at the same time every day. My daughter definitely did. She would cry because she was tired and needed help to get to sleep. But she also cried for a million other reasons. Just be patient. Try taking him for some fresh air. His surrounds in the house may be overstimulating him by that time of day.
Your baby sounds normal...babies cry to communicate. It's just up to us to figure out what they're trying to tell us.
Good luck!

Could it be colic? We thought the same thing with my oldest son when he had similair symptoms. Our Ped diagnosed colic...When we asked what exactly what it is, and what to do, he said there were alternating theories and no one really knows for sure. His thought is that infants are so used to the close and comforting spaces in the womb, and so at a young age some of them have a harder time adjusting to the outside world. Eventually they get overstimulated during the day, and colic is a way of just dealing with the overstimulation. It generally causes the child distress because they are overexcited and can't calm down and soothe themselves. They do eventually grow out of it but some children are soothed by repetitive motions (carseat on the dryer or bouncy seat), sounds (vacuum), or just being swaddled. Might be something to look into. we treid every amount of gas drops and medicinal aid...I altered my diet over and over...it wasn't gas.

Just a thought :)

I would have to say that I dont think that it is reflux, if it were it would happen everytime you layed him down.
It sounds more like colic, My daughter who is 6 years old now had it really really bad, I took her to a Chiropractor (one that specializes in pediatric care and had her adjusted a little bit . I know it sounds crazy but it really helped out alot. Congrats on being a new mommy!!!!

Hi M.! I totally agree that it's colic. The book "The Happiest Baby on the Block" is full of different things you can do to relive colic.
Do you have an exercise ball? sometimes the ONLY thing that soothed my daughter was holding her with her tummy against my arm and her head resting next to my elbow. Then I would bounce gently on the ball and the pressure against her tummy would relieve her discomfort. Also helps to relieve gas in babies! I'm sorry I didn't do a very good job explaining the hold!
A sling would also help immensely! I used the Moby Wrap.
And it WILL pass. you are doing a great job!

What color is his poop? Does he have a red ring around his anus? It sounds like it could be an allergy or food sensitivity. That's right about the age they show up. The most common offender is cow's milk and milk products (cow's milk is meant for baby cows, not humans). My suggestion would be that if he is on formula, switch him to a soy-based one, and if he is breastfed you need to cut all dairy out of your diet (that includes anything that has "milk" or "milkfat" as an ingredient). It will take about two weeks for all the dairy to clear out of his and your systems, so if you don't see a change immediately, don't get frustrated. If cutting milk doesn't do it, you can try eliminating wheat, eggs, and soy. Good Luck!

Sounds to me like colic. My youngest son did that. The only thing that helped was walking the house with him face down on our arms swaying him side to side. Or running the stairs with him in some side laying position. Good news is it will get better by 3-4 months of age. We tried gripe water too, he did the same thing and spit it all out or puked it all out. There is a book called happiest baby on the block talks about the 5 S's. Sidelaying, swaddling, shhhhing, swaying and sucking. I recommend the book as it does help to a point.
Good luck!

Sounds like our daughter. She was 4 weeks old & we were pulling our hair out so went to the Dr because she was already diagnosed with acid reflux so took Prevacid daily. We switched formulas to Alimentum (dairy free) and within 24 hours a different child. Wished we would have done sooner! Good Luck!!!!

I agree with the previous responses of colic. My son went through this. We had 'fussy hour' every night. It was at the same time every night. Not much helps, unfortunately. We just gave him lots of hugs and kisses, gave him a nuk to suck on (when he would take it) and tuned it out. It sounds terrible, but there's not much you can do. On the bright side, it doesn't last forever (although I know it feels like it will). Hang in there!

I second considering reflux. My son did the same and once he got meds for reflux he was much better. Although, he did also have problems with eating throughout the day, which was another symptom.

Try bicycling his legs for gas...for several minutes while singing songs or something else to him. If he is on formula a switch to another kind might be in order. If breastfed, check your own diet.

PS: It may or may not be reflux, but I just want to add that my son was diagnosed with it and it did not happen every single time we fed or laid him down. There are varying degrees. True, it happened more often than once a day, but I just mentioned it as a suggestion to look at.

check with your doctor about reflux. we went through bottles and bottles of gas drops with my son and it never helped. then they put him on zantac and that helped a ton.

if it is just gas you can try a heating pad. we used to turn it on high to get warm then shut it off and lay him across my knees on the heating pad. that helped quite a bit too. they say that if you do bicycle movements with his legs that that will loosen up gas but i've tried it and i'm not sure i believe in that one much.

good luck