share you experience, VERY fussy baby

my DS is three months today. he is extremely fussy always has been. doesn't nap well during the day wakes up every 3-4 hrs a night to feed. I am starting to feel like all his crying and carrying on will hinder him in some ways. It's depressing! I planned to read to him every night, it barely happens because he is always soooooooo cranky!! It's not gas, it's not hunger I just can't figure him out. the PED just says colicky. I feel like I rarely get to enjoy my baby The worst thing is that I'm going back to work in a few weeks, and feel like I wished my maternity leave away so he would get closer to 3 months and stop the fussing.

Ladies that went through this, please tell me your DC's grew to be happy, well adjusted Children! I hope this won't last too much longer. I would love to hear about your experiences

Message edited 12/14/2008 10:25:27 PM.

Re: share you experience, VERY fussy baby

My DD wasn't as fussy as your little one sounds, but she was doing the same thing with getting up every 3-4 hours. I tried everything under the sun and nothing worked....

Finally, I decided to try one last thing and now DD sleeps the whole night through (9-6 usually). She gets changed and put in her Swaddle Me, then she gets her last bottle around 8. She passes out in my arms and then I can put her in the crib.

Its worth a shot. I hope DC gets on a schedule for you soon. Hang in there. And you have a lifetime to have fun times with him. Just be patient. As long as he's healthy, and the ped says its ok, unfortunately you're just going to have to ride it out.... Hope it ends soon for you!

Re: share you experience, VERY fussy baby

Okay, my DD sounded just like yours. She was never happy. She definitely not colicky. She was always whiney and crying. I couldnt lay her down in one spot for too long or she would freak. She was always so sensative to everything. Everytime she would fall she would scream, when the dog barked she would cry....getting her to laugh was so difficult.

She did start sleeping through the night though at 9 weeks...so that was a plus.

My DD is almost 2 now and she has come a long way. She still has her moments but i attribute that to the terrible 2s. She has become such a good girl. She isnt overly happy like i have seen with other kids, but she does laugh and smile more than she ever has.

It will get better, you just have to deal wiith it right now. It is very hard to have a child that is never happy, but it will come. Patience is a virtue when it comes to kids.

Re: share you experience, VERY fussy baby

I'm sorry you're having such a hard time. Right before 2 months Gavin had gotten very fussy, was having issues sleeping at night. When we had our ped appt he felt he was having reflux issues which were creating the sleeping problems (he wouldn't lay flat). So after that appt I decided to try him on a little cereal at night to hold the formula down. Instead of putting it in his bottle I spoon fed it to him. He loved it. At the same time he started sleeping on his belly. I'm not sure which helped more, but in the 3 weeks since I started doing this he has gone from needing to sleep in the swing and waking up 2+ times a night to sleeping 12 hours straight in his crib Plus he is a much more content baby as he is pooping regularly (for some reason the cereal actually helped in this dept!!). It's ALL trial and error and I'm sure you'll be able to find something that your baby likes. Hopefully you'll be able to enjoy the last few days of your maternity leave

Re: share you experience, VERY fussy baby

My son was a MISERY for six months, I couldn't do a wee without holding him. I accepted it and I held him for six months, because I felt that was what I needed to do. I was convinced that this was going to be his personality, miserable, serious, and just unhappy.

But now at 3, he is the most cheerful, easy toddler ever. He rarely has tantrums (I can count on one hand how many tantrums he has had in the last year) when I ask him to do something, usually he says OKIEDOKE and runs to do it. He is a true delight and he is an angel.

We have bad days, but in general, he is delightful. Hold on tight, its going to be a bumpy ride until things settle down, but they will. No one would have children if they were always horrible!!

Re: share you experience, VERY fussy baby

Okay well my situation is somewhat different. The first 3 months for us was a piece of cake. Then i went back to work and everything changed and ds did not take it too well. His whole routine was messed up.

My normally very easy, happy baby soon became a very demanding, fussy baby. You couldn't put him down, you couldn't get anything done, the only thing that would make him feel better was to bounce him, etc, etc. It was a nightmare. I had no idea were my happy baby went!

But then we figured it out. All of this fussiness was because he was exhausted. Since i went back to work, his 2 hour naps disappeared and later became 30 minute naps. He wasn't napping at my MIL's when she watched him. He wasn't sleeping at night, etc. He was so overtired all the time... that he was miserable and so were we.

Finally i had enough and we did CIO starting with naps. We were so exhausted from having to bounce him to sleep for naps and then if you made one wrong move... forget it... nap over and missed.

Once we did CIO, he was MUCH better. Once he learned how to fall asleep on his own... my happy baby returned to us. I think he's finally catching up on all the sleep he's missed in the past 2 months.

But when he doesn't nap for whatever the reason, he can get quite cranky.

It's so hard at this age when you have no idea what the problem could be and they have no way of telling you.

Re: share you experience, VERY fussy baby

Mine was held for the first 8 months of his life. It drove me insane. Anytime he was put down he would scream.

I remained exhasted as he woke all night long. He was addicted to BM. It put a strain on my marriage.

He screamed in the car, stroller, swing...the only thing he liked was jumperoo. He only slept in my arms till 8 months old. That's 2 naps a day, 4 hours a day, me holding sleeping baby. I was so happy he was asleep that I did not care anymore.

I attribute it to his allergies. He had a milk/soy protein allergy. I did not know till 5 weeks old. I think by then he was already in the habit of being held and screaming to be held.

It will get better.

ETA: now, my kid is VERY easy going. I take him anywhere and everywhere. He doesn't require sleep or food he's never whining or crying. Entertains himself, just happy to be around. Incredibly content. Still sleeping on my bedroom floor, but content.

Message edited 12/15/2008 8:56:22 AM.

Re: share you experience, VERY fussy baby

My little girl was the fussiest, crankiest, most collickly little monster for a good 6 months. She NEVER slept and when she was awake, all she did was cry. Like you, I was literally counting down the days to go back to work because I was losing my mind! It feels like this is your life forever, but I assure you, eventually it gets better. There are a lot of things you can try, but in the end, the best solution is just time for some of these babies.

My little monkey is still quite a spitfire, has more personality, spirit and sheer force of will than any toddler should have, but it's ok, because I know all of this fire in her belly will help her forge through the world making her own rules and new trails. It's hard being a mommy to a spirited baby, but the rewards as they grow older and grow into their personality, are tremendous

Re: share you experience, VERY fussy baby

Posted by Janice
ETA: now, my kid is VERY easy going. I take him anywhere and everywhere. He doesn't require sleep or food he's never whining or crying. Entertains himself, just happy to be around. Incredibly content. Still sleeping on my bedroom floor, but content.

Re: share you experience, VERY fussy baby

my DH was extremely cranky/colicky for the first 4 months. he would wake up every 1.5-2 hrs at night to be fed and i was seriously sleep deprived! he would also have a crying spell btwn 1:00-2:30 AM almost every night. My DH would have to drive around with him so he would fall asleep or at least stop crying!!!

Now he is 16 months old and he will sleep from 9pm-8am (he has been doing this since he was about 8 months). He also takes about 2 naps during the day (totalling about 3 hrs). He is the most easy going, happiest, sweetest baby (i know, most moms think this of their DC ). But honestly, everyone tells me how lucky i am that i have such an easy child (i tell them that it wasnt so easy for the first 4 months and people are shocked)! But anyway, my point is that if I hadnt kept a journal detailing all my exhaustion from the first few months, i doubt i would remember it all. it is a phase and i hope it passes quickly for you!!

Message edited 12/15/2008 9:24:20 AM.

Re: share you experience, VERY fussy baby

It will get better. It got easier for me around 6 months. When they started crawling, and more independent. So many things could be bothering them... you just have no idea. The diaper could be too tight or digging into them. A tag could be irritating them. Once they start moving around more they get happier. Just do whatever makes him happy for now.
Whether its the swing/stroller or holding them.

Re: share you experience, VERY fussy baby

Thanks for all of your input! Just as I was getting so frustrated / discouraged, he was an absolute angel baby most of the day