Now let me start this off by saying I am so aware of how lucky I am to have my little baby and I’m SOO grateful for him. However, this monthish has been ROUGH.
Little Man was starting to be on a good bedtime schedule until he got sick and we had to take him to the ER and ever since then, his schedule got SUPER messed up and we’re struggling hardcore. It’s starting to get better. Instead of going down at 2:30am, he’s going to bed around 12:30am, but he was going to bed around 10:30pm before. He does sleep a good stretch (about 8hrs), so that part is really nice, however, he started a witching hour[s] routine starting around 9pm. He just screams and cries for hours on end and nothing seems to soothe him. He doesn’t want a bottle, he doesn’t want to play, it doesn’t matter how we hold him, he’s just uncomfortable and angry. I know it’s partially because his stomach is upset (he’s also been spitting up a LOT), but we can’t seem to help him settle it. We try to give him bigger feeds to stretch out his feeding times so he’s not just eating all the time, but he seems to still want to eat smaller amounts more frequently (every 2 hours vs 3). Gripe water doesn’t seem to help. In fact, the last few times we gave it to him, he vomited. We have an appt for him in 2 weeks (can’t get an earlier one), so hopefully the Dr can help us out. If you have any advice on this, I would be eternally grateful.
He also has never had a good day time routine. We try SUPER hard to get him on one, but he refuses to nap when we want him to. He’s also having a hard time napping during the day without me holding him. Most of the time as soon as I set him down, he’s wakes right up and refuses to go down again. I’m constantly having to hold him, which makes doing anything ridiculously hard. I feel like I have no time to clean, do laundry, cook (or even eat), shower. It doesn’t help that 2+ hours of my day is spent pumping. I only get to read blogs/scroll Instagram with one hand while holding him in my other arm. It’s why I had such a long lapse in blog posts going up. When my parents are here, it’s easier, but then I’m still just constantly trying to make up for all the lack of cleaning and chores I missed while they were gone (I’m STILL trying to finish putting away Christmas stuff), and I feel like I just don’t have time to be calm and rest. I guess that’s just mom life until he’s basically a teenager. The worst part of them being here and being [incredibly] helpful, is that I feel SOOO guilty that I’m not spending enough time with him and interacting with him enough. I feel guilty all the time about not having the energy to interact with him and that we don’t really have space for more toys or things to stimulate him. We as it is barely do tummy time, because when he first wakes up he’s usually super gassy or his stomach is upset and putting him on his belly makes him lose his mind and then once his stomach has calmed down a bit we change him and feed him and he typically passes right out again and the whole process starts all over again. We try to do tummy time in between him getting his stomach settled and when he wants to eat again, but he typically wants to eat right away again and if we put it off, it’s more losing his mind. Sometimes, during his witching hour[s], we can get him on his belly to distract him, but it usually only lasts a 10 mins or so and then we flip him on his back to let him play with his activity gym until he remembers he’s angry about something. If you have any advice about this too, I would LOVE it.
Basically long story short – I’m exhausted and my formerly constantly happy baby is starting to be fussy more and more frequently. On the plus side, when he’s not fussing he’s constantly babbling and smiling more and it’s SOOO CUTE. He also said “mama” a few weeks ago. I missed it, but my in-laws all said he said it and it was a very clear distinct “mama”.
Dose of Bex 
Aww it’ll get better! I think hes going through a growth spurt. It usually has their schedules going way off for a little while. They’re constantly hungry, fussy and if you’re lucky, they’ll sleep a ton. I went through the growth spurt phase and it was not fun. Another reason could be he’s beginning to teeth. My daughter started teething by 4 months and those were the same things that was going on with her. Get your caffeine ready because you’ll begin your addiction to coffee lol.
Hmm I wonder if it is teething. He has been drooling a LOT. Like excessive drooling, but he doesn’t try to gnaw on things. I thought it might be a growth spurt too, except his feedings aren’t really increasing at all, in fact they’re low for his weight but the Dr said he’s still gaining weight fine, so they aren’t concerned. I do think I need to start reintroducing caffeine into my system. I used to overload on caffeine, but couldn’t have it when I got pregnant because of the extra bleeding I was having. After he was born I started drinking caffeine again, but he was having digestive issues, so they told me to cut he caffeine out again, but now I’m wondering if it’s the dairy instead of the caffeine thats the problem. Ahh the joys of motherhood. Trying to figure out what you’re eating thats upsetting your baby. Fun times. LOL
Check if his little gums are swollen. Oh my gosh…I didn’t think about the dairy thing. Try cutting out dairy and see if it has an affect on him. I didn’t even think about the dairy part because both of my kiddos were formula fed. Haha the joys of motherhood indeed.
I can’t really tell if his gums are swollen. I tried to eliminate dairy from my diet a few times. It didn’t seem to make a big difference, but I might not have done it long enough. It just sucks cuz dairy is a huge part of my diet, so it’s super hard for me to find easy and quick meals that don’t have cheese. 🙈
Then it probably isn’t swollen because when a baby is teething, it looks so big Haha. Aww maybe it’s just a phase he’s going through. Also, does he sleep well when he’s on his tummy because I had to do that with both of my kiddos. I know it isn’t recommended, but they were totally fine.
Yea I think he’s not getting enough tummy time because we used to let him sleep on his belly, but since he’s in the dockatot now he’s mainly on his back. We just started having him do his day time naps on his belly again and it seems to be helping with the spitting up. Yea, hopefully this is a phase and that he gets over it soon, or we find something that at least helps soothe him during this time cuz I just feel so bad that he’s so unhappy for so long 💔
Awww little guy will be just fine. I totally hear you on that… when they’re unhappy it’s the worst because they’re so little and helpless, but be easy on yourselves! You and hubby are doing a great job!
Hang in there mama. It will get easier. It could be a phase. My baby would be sometimes be gassy at night and be grunting and crying randomly through the night. That’s motherhood for you, every time you THINK you got something down, life is like “nope, try again!”
Thanks! I know I was so excited cuz he finally had a routine and then the witching hours started, but last night he did so well, so here’s to hoping that was a short lived phase. 🤞
Your son is so handsome! Don’t you ever feel guilty. You’re doing all that you can to make sure he is as healthy as can be. He has a loving mother that would go to the worlds end to care for him and that’s all he wants. My son didn’t get sick but I have a niece that became very ill during the winter and my sister too had a difficult time. All she wanted was to be held and comforted because she felt so miserable inside. Honesty it does get better but it will take time… I hope your son is doing better now!
Oh I remember these days. 10 months later and I’m still exhausted but it’s all worth it!!