Under 4 Weeks....Please educate me about newborn crying..

How often is normal for a newborn to cry? My DS has been crying on/off since 9:30pm...it's now 12:40am. He is consolable for about 10 minutes here and there but not for the long haul. We've tried everything...swaddling, sshshing, wearing him, nursing him, changing, massage, rocking, singing..etc. He may respond for a few quiet moments, but then it's back to screaming. I also took his temperature...nada. I feel so sad and confused because I can't figure out how to help him or if something is really wrong. He's 3.5 weeks. Based on what you have experienced, Is this within the range of normal? TIA...

Re: Under 4 Weeks....Please educate me about newborn crying..

he could be overtired... try and just rock him to sleep?

eta: my DS was like that ONE DAY and it was a nightmare. i felt soooo helpless. turns out he had a belly ache. he was gassy - he dropped a giant poo and everything was normal almost instantaneously.

Message edited 1/6/2010 12:46:33 AM.

Re: Under 4 Weeks....Please educate me about newborn crying..

what i always found helped was to limit the 'stimulation'... my house can be overwhelming...but the bedroom is pretty basic - so whenever Em was freaking - the bedroom was where we'd go...

i'd put her over my shoulder, pat her back softly and change her perspective....different room, different temperature....different view....

Re: Under 4 Weeks....Please educate me about newborn crying..

I hope you got him to sleep by now but I find that mine only freak like that if they are hungry.

Re: Under 4 Weeks....Please educate me about newborn crying..

DS only screamed like that at that age because he was hungry. i was nursing, but turned out i didnt have much of a supply so i had to eventually give formula. try the mylicon drops...he could be gassy.

Re: Under 4 Weeks....Please educate me about newborn crying..

Some people call that the "witching hour" but honestly, what I found is that my DS was trying to tell me he was overtired! As soon as I started putting him to bed earlier - around 6:30, 7pm - he was fine. He was also swaddled starting around 3 weeks (with this one I'll start right away).

Re: Under 4 Weeks....Please educate me about newborn crying..

At about 3 weeks I had a day like that too, I didin't know what was wrong. Someone told me it might be gas to try Mylicon- it worked like a charm.

Re: Under 4 Weeks....Please educate me about newborn crying..

I had days like that too (he's only 13 weeks so its still fresh in my memory). One night DS cried for 3 hours, we felt so helpless, we didn't know what to do. I called the ped's emergency line and felt like an idiot bc all i could say to the answering service was that he was crying inconsolably. When the dr. called back he had fallen asleep after so much crying and felt like more of an idiot but she was really nice and understanding and told me that its not uncommon at that age. Sometimes they get colicky. SHe said I was lucky it had only lasted 3 hours, she said she had one kid in her practice that once cried 22 out of 24 hours!

My DS would cry because of tummy issues. Once we swicthed his formula and gave him mylanta, and helped him poop when he was constipated, he was much better. This too shall pass.

If he ever won;t stop crying for anything, check for a hair tourniquet (sp?) It's where a hair gets wrapped around a finger, toe, or penis. It happens more often that you'd think.

Re: Under 4 Weeks....Please educate me about newborn crying..

DS had a very long witching hour. He cried for hours every night. I think it stopped by about 2 months. Eventually some of the 5 S's helped, but most of the time he was inconsolable.

Re: Under 4 Weeks....Please educate me about newborn crying..

We had several nights like that, and we had soon found out our DS was Colic.