(no subject)

[sal_amanda]

Time Warner internet is apparently having issues in our area so I haven't been able to check my e-mail the past couple of days.  For some reason, though, this site still works.  Well, sort of.  It was letting me reply to others, but not do my own posting.  Weird.  And also annoying.  But I digress.

So of all the personality types in the world for a baby to have, I got one of the ones that cries a lot for no real reason.  In the various readings I have been doing, I've found a few descriptions of just this type of baby.  She goes from mild to full throttle in about half a millisecond and will do so over small things, big things, and also nothing in particular.  One description a mom gave in one of the books was that it's like a smoke alarm in that it beeps the same level if it's something small like burnt toast or huge like a house fire.  That's my Nora.  And she can go on and on for an extremely long time.  

With the weather being nice and the windows being open now, I'm convinced someone is going to call CPS on me because why else would my baby cry this much if I wasn't abusing her. 

Supposedly this type of thing peaks at 6 weeks and gradually tapers off to practically nothing by three months.  Three months sounds like an awful long time right about now.  

Then there's also the consideration that while 37 weeks is technically considered full term, for babies that are born early, you count 6 weeks as 6 weeks after the actual due date.  I don't know if slight earliness matters for her, but if so, that would mean we'd peak at about 8 or 9 weeks.  And that's if she's textbook anyway, which she may not be for all I know.  

Sometimes when you have a crying baby and you can do nothing else, you spend your time thinking way too much about when the crying will stop.  

Comments

[i-am-solid.livejournal.com]

But if you didn't have a crying baby you'd spend way too much time thinking about something that probably isn't 1/8 as important.

[sal_amanda]

I suppose this is true. I am good at finding stupid things to think about.

[busybusymama.livejournal.com]

From the very beginning, Jacob used to SCREAM. I have never, ever heard a baby scream so loud, especially so young. Usually, they off with a quiet little baby scream/cry. Not Jacob. And he was born in the beginning of May, so the windows were soon open. I SWEAR to you that he could be heard down the street. I was mortified (as well as overwhelmed) by it, and I wondered at least once or twice if I would have the police come knock on my door to see if I was doing something horrible to him.

Hopefully, Nora will settle down in a few weeks. Jacob? He really only recently stopped screaming. Seriously.

[sal_amanda]

That's exactly how Nora is. There is no build-up. She just goes right to banshee mode. I suppose it's good to know that I'm not the only person ever to have to deal with a screamer. Any good solutions you want to share with me?

[busybusymama.livejournal.com]

1. It's okay to cry (I'm referring to you)
2. It's okay to let her cry in her crib for a bit, if will help you to calm down enough that you can once again tolerate the screaming
3. Hearing an adult voice can do wonders for your stress level. Call someone. Anyone. Call me. :) Even if you aren't looking for someone to make it better, just hearing a normal-toned voice can really help to make things seem better.
4. if she doesn't do it in the car (mine did), put her in the car and drive around.

I hope you weren't asking me to help with permanant solutions. ;)

[sal_amanda]

Becoming okay with #2. No, I know the only permanent solution is for her to get older. And then we'll have some new drama to deal with. ;)

[kristyfrey.livejournal.com]

I swear by the Harvey Karp book - BUT in order to do all those things (swaddling, shhing, swaying... blah blah blah) its a huge workout for mom and dad. I think you mentioned that you tried swaddling but stopped, I would try it again at nighttime - we always swaddle zack before bed so he won't wake himself with his hands.

It's all just trial and error the first month - trying to figure out your baby. We found that Zack hates being held in a reclined position (the cradle position) instead he wanted to be upright all the time.

I also gave up breastfeeding and I swear Zack was much happier with formula (carnation/nestle good start). The breastfeeding advocates will kill me on this one but - formula feeding WILL give you some peace because they last longer on formula - meaning you'll get longer sleep periods at night. I was up every 2 hours with breastfeeding but formula instantly gave us some 3-4 hour spans at night. Zack is now 10 weeks old and he has slept 9-10 hours straight for 6 nights in the last 2 weeks and the other nights he only got up once. At first I had a lot of guilt because I switched to formula, but I don't feel guilty now that I have a much happier baby.

We also add special tea to Zacks formula to aid digestion. We got the idea when he was crying a lot and we thought he had colic. We read about "Gripe Water" and instead of spending a fortune on this specialized stuff, we just researched the ingredients. We came to the conclusion that certain herbal teas with fennel, anise, chamomile... would be basically the same thing. SO we went to the store and found this tea called "Yogi Tea - Women's nursing Mom". If you're nursing - you drink it but since I had just switched to formula, we would brew a cup and add a tablespoon to each bottle. I really think it helped. We've been doing that since he was 3 weeks old. They have this tea at Tops. We got it at the Tops on the corner or Transit and North French. Its not with the regular tea, but with the organic and specialty teas in the first aisle. It's in a purple box.

My suggestions would be to just experiment and see what works for you and Nora. You will figure her out eventually.

[sal_amanda]

I'm currently reading that book right now and we borrowed the DVD from the library along with it. I think he has techniques that work right then and there to calm your baby down. Nora particularly likes the jiggling. But then when you stop, she just starts up again so I'd have to jiggle her all day. It's tough. I also find his theory about the fourth trimester being evolutionarily removed a little on the weird side.

What's interesting is that she actually does pretty well at night. We have a bedtime routine and she generally goes down without too much of a fight. She usually goes at least 4 hours for the first shift, sometimes 5 or 6, which then tends to mean only one nighttime feeding, after which she still tends to go down fairly well (not always, but usually). So I know I shouldn't really complain, but it's hard to get through the day with her. That's when she's a little hellion. But we are indeed experimenting and some days some things work and some days they don't at all. I have myself a picky little girl.

Incidentally, whereabouts do you live? That's my local Tops, which is about 5 minutes from my house.

[(Anonymous)]

Sounds like her nights are going really great - 5-6 hours on breast milk is fantastic.

Another thing that stopped Zack from crying was eating - and this is a little contradictory to my thoughts on formula, but during the day, we sometimes feed him every 2 hours - 4-6oz. Before we would try to space his feedings and feed him less because that's what other people told us to do - when we stopped listening to them and feeding him when he was hungry, he was much happier and so were we!

We live in Newstead - about 10 minutes east of that Tops.

[sal_amanda]

I was also going to add that you should so not ever have to feel guilty about not breastfeeding. Don't let the boob nazis get you down. I know they can be vicious, but you are clearly doing what works for Zack (one of my top choices for boy names, by the way) and for you.

I have a friend who used formula just before her baby went to bed to get that extra sleep time in. I have very seriously thought about it, but then she started getting better at nights anyway. Now if I could just convince her that the day does not begin at 5:30...

Feeding him more during the day fits with some stuff I've read. If your baby gets his/her needed calories during the day, s/he won't have to up as much at night. So I tend to cluster feed Nora more in the afternoon on into the evening. Maybe that's why she's doing all right with that one.

Oh, and I live in East Amherst. Once the banshee starts getting a little more alert, we may have to do a playdate.

[kristyfrey.livejournal.com]

Absolutely! a playdate would be great!