When your baby was first born, they slept almost constantly. Just a few weeks later, they might be screaming for hours at a time. This fussy period is often called the witching hour, even though it can last for up to 3 hours. Crying is normal for all babies.
There are many causes for the baby witching hour, including overstimulation, tiredness, an inability to self-soothe, hunger, and colic. Holding and rocking your baby, playing white noise, and using a pacifier can help soothe your fussy baby.
The best way to avoid the witching hour is to ensure that your baby is getting enough daytime sleep. You'll notice that your little one is much fussier in the evening if they've been taking short daytime naps or their nap schedule was disrupted for any reason. .
For most babies, the witching hour starts to occur around 2-3 weeks and peaks at 6 weeks. It will typically completely resolve by 3-4 months. The witching hour is different from colic.
Witching hour usually starts in the late afternoon and lasts into the early evening (5:00 - 11:00pm). It's when your newborn starts to fuss, and then that fuss turns into crying, and that crying turns into screaming.
The behavior of a colickly baby is markedly different than that of a baby experiencing normal witching hour. The crying is often more intense and the baby is unable to be soothed.
Cluster feed
But these numbers don't work when it comes to the witching hour. During these hours, your baby may want to cluster feed, or feed every 30 minutes or more. That's fine. They may be going through a growth spurt, looking for extra comfort, or filling up their belly for a longer sleep at night.
The following might be causes your baby is suddenly fussy in the evening: Growth spurt hunger. As your baby goes through phases of intense growth (common growth spurts occur around 2 to 3 weeks, 6 weeks, and 3 months), they may be hungry and want to cluster feed. Slower milk letdown.
Gently rub their back. If your baby goes to sleep, remember to always lay her down in her crib on her back. Turn on a calming sound. Sounds that remind babies of being inside the womb may be calming, such as a white noise device, the humming sound of a fan, or the recording of a heartbeat.
Most people find the first six to eight weeks to be the hardest with a new baby, and whilst people may not openly discuss many of the challenges in these early weeks of parenthood (if at all), there are a number of common hurdles you may face at this time.
If your baby is finding it hard to settle back to sleep after a night feed, it may be worth checking your environment when you feed him. Keeping it as dark and quiet as possible, so your baby isn't stimulated into feeling more alert during a feed, may help him to settle quicker.
If baby cries at the same time every night then…
For some babies, there's a feed to sleep association. Meaning mom has to feed baby to get them to calm down and get to sleep. If that's the case, they may wake up at the same time every night as a habit, to feed, to then calm down and go back to sleep.
Period of PURPLE Crying is a research-based education program developed by the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome. Program materials include a booklet with app or DVD (available in mulitple languages), a 10-minute video on crying and a 17-minute video on soothing.
Signs of overstimulation
Newborns or babies who are overstimulated might: be cranky or tired. seem upset or turn their heads away. move in a jerky way.
Witching Hour, PURPLE, and Colic are 3 terms that are used sometimes interchangeably, but are they the same thing?? Short answer: Yes, kinda. They all contain the a lot of the same principles and same soothing measures, but mean slightly different things.
Crying it out
It's OK to let your baby cry if the baby doesn't seem sick and you've tried everything to soothe your baby. You can try to leave your baby alone in a safe place, such as a crib, for about 10 to 15 minutes. Many babies need to cry before they can fall asleep.
Long stretches of crying can start when your little one is around two weeks old and continue until they reach three to four months. Inconsolable crying that can last up to five hours a day is a perfectly normal stage of development called the period of PURPLE crying.
Now researchers say they have found that leaving infants to cry has no impact on their behavioural development or their attachment to their mother, but may help them develop self-control.
Feeling hungry, having a wet or soiled diaper, or being too hot or too cold are all reasons your baby may cry and act a bit fussy at night.
Your child's vestibular sense senses the sudden change in position. Through sensory inputs from the skin, joints and muscles their proprioception tells them their body is in a different place in relation to their environment. Understandably, a sudden change in position and movement can wake a person up.
So how do you know when it's time to stop allowing baby to fall asleep while you're holding them? “When babies start to intentionally smile at you—around 6 to 8 weeks—this is a sign that it's time to try to start having baby nap independently,” says Brown.