Could it be an overstimulated baby?

Okay, I posted about my very fussy baby who never stops crying. I was on the phone with my sister this evening and she screamed bloody murder the whole time. I finally said I had to go. As soon as I got off the phone she stopped. Could she be a baby that needs nothing but quietness...ever known a baby to be this way?

Also my toddler is very loud during the day where we usually are. Since she is so unhappy all day could this also be the reason...overstimulation?

 

I think it could be. You mentioned that she doesn't nap well -- how much sleep does she get, total, throughout the day? She could just be really overtired....

 

Oh I bet you are right. So are you going to try to keep it quiet tomorrow? Let us know if that works.

 

QUOTE(Becca34 @ Dec 27 2007, 10:43 PM) [snapback]548345[/snapback]
I think it could be. You mentioned that she doesn't nap well -- how much sleep does she get, total, throughout the day? She could just be really overtired....


She doesn't get much. Today I put her in her crib and that helped a little. I would say during the day she is getting 3 hours total of nap time from 10am - 9 pm. But she is sleeping really well at night...could be from being overtired.

QUOTE(TxMommieOfTwins @ Dec 27 2007, 10:50 PM) [snapback]548359[/snapback]
Oh I bet you are right. So are you going to try to keep it quiet tomorrow? Let us know if that works.


I am. I will see how it goes tomorrow. I will put her up in her crib for all naps and time it. Then in the evening around 5 pm till 9pm I will keep it really quiet. It's hard to do when I have my 3 y/o jumping and yelling all over the place. But we'll see if that helps and I'll let you know how it goes.

 

I just thought of something too, does she sleep good in her crib? Mine hated cribs and slept mostly in their swings until they were 4 or 5 months old. Truthfully my kids nap better in their swings most of the first year. Sounds like they are overtired b/c mine are 13 months old and sleep more during the day than your little ones. Hopefully tomorrow will be better for you!

 

Okay, so it does sound like you need to get her to nap more, some way, somehow. (Easier said than done, I know!) My two get at least 4.5 hours during the day, plus 11 or 12 hours at night, and they are 6 months old...they napped more at your kiddos' age.

Do you do something different at night than during the day? Do you have blackout shades in the nursery? Definitely try putting her down in a dark, quiet (well, with white noise) room, swaddled if need be....

Good luck!

 

I second the white noise thing, it can block out the other noises going on that may be stimulating her. I think she just may be a very sensitive baby, hoping that she outgrows it soon, both for her sake and for yours!!

 

Since we don't have a white noise machine, I keep the humidifier on in their room and the hum of it drowns out the noises in the rest of the house. Maybe you can try that so she'll nap longer. GL!

 

My dd, Lily, was generally unhappy most of the first 5 months of her life. She hated sleeping, fought it with a vengence and was unhappy most of the day. I did; however, manage to get decent naps out of her by letting her CIO for about 15 minutes before EACH and EVERY nap. The bad news is that she STILL fights sleep and I STILL have to bear the wailing before naps - The good news is that ever since she was able to sit, crawl, and even pull to standing (she is now 7mos.) she has been a much happier child.

I always thought my DD was overstimulated and I think, sometimes she was; however, I also think she would get a little bored as well.

I really just had to be patient and wait and eventually things got better. She is still crazy intense and very HIGH maintenance, but she is happy most of the day! I think that an earlier bedtime may help you out as well. I am not sure if you have mentioned a reason that it has to be later, but if you can get her down by 7:30 or so, it may help.

Hugs,
Amy

Amy

 

Hey everyone,

It's 10:21 here and Hayley was up at 9:00 am as usual. She ate, she was happy...for 5 minutes. I put her down to change her but after that she lost it. I changed her brother took her downstairs to her swing, swaddled. She screamed until her head almost popped off so after 15 minutes of non-stop crying took her back upstairs to sleep and she has been out since about 9:30 am.

She sleeps really well at night. Why she is up later is because of the feeding schedule. The usually eat at 5am (then back to sleep) 9 am, 1 pm, 5 pm, 9 pm (down for the night). They've stuck to this schedule for about a week. If we changed it to 7 pm being the last feed I'd like to do a dream feed but my ds always wakes when burped so I'm not good at the dream feed thing.

She has white noise and loves to be swaddled. They just started sleeping in their crib together and do pretty well. They are sleeping 8-10 hours straight a night in it.

I don't know what else I can do for her. Slings I have but she doesn't seem to like them anymore (bjorn and hammock style sling) unless I keep putting her in it when she just wants to sleep.

How many hours should a 3 month old be awake during the day? I can continue to put her down in her crib but then I feel bad that she is not getting enough awake time. What do you think?

 

At that age, my two could stay awake for maybe 1 hour and 15 minutes, maximum, at a time (including time to eat). Even now, they often get tired after an hour and a half, though I can sometimes push them to 2 hours...

I fed every 3 hours instead of every 4, and it worked out well for us -- they would wake, eat, be awake for just over an hour, and then go down for a nap until the next feeding. So, their naps were between an hour and a half to two hours in length....

If I let them get overtired, I definitely end up with screaming babies who cannot calm down enough to fall asleep! So, do try the crib thing, and just see if perhaps she needs a lot more sleep than you think.

 

That's what the nurses in the hospital told us was happening to my son. We ended up keeping things very quiet and didn't do very much with him-like we played with him and stuff, but in small amounts and we were very careful when we handled him because he was taking in all the things we moved him around to 'see' visually too.

It did help. In the end I think part of it was his reflux and that he was collicky also.

He has troubles sleepign during the day also. Usually he only falls asleep in teh sling or whilst nursing, which is OK by me. But my kids don't nap as long as the 'norm'. They sleep 12+ hours thru the night and only about an hour - 1 1/2 during the day. They are happy, non-fussy so I think it's fine.

Hope today goes well!

 

Mine can only handle 1 hour of happy awake time, we usually get up from naps, play for 45 minutes or so (until they get grumpy), then do a bottle and cuddle for a few minutes, then up for a nap. I have been laying them down awake and usually they are asleep within 10-15 minutes with some fussing. Mine for sure take 3 naps a day, and sometimes a fourth, usually wake up at 7:30, nap 9-10, then 11:30-1:30/2, 3-4, and if I'm lucky 5-6, then down for bed around 7:30/8 with a 10:30 dreamfeed. I'm wondering how many ounces she is eating at a time, if I counted right, that's only 5 bottles for the whole day? DD takes 7 3.5-4.5 ounce bottles and DS 6 5-6 ounce bottles. Could she maybe be hungry??

 

QUOTE
Could she maybe be hungry?


I wonder about this too. 4 hours between bottles seems like a LOOONG time for a baby that young! Even if she's taking in enough ounces, she may have get uncomfortably full to do so, which may contribute to her fussiness. (Imagine if you had to get all your calories in two meals spaced 12 hrs apart...)

Sounds like it could be a combination of things - perfect storm of hunger, overstimulation, and overtiredness. You've gotten great suggestions on how to create good conditions for naps (white noise, dark room, etc) - you should also keep a close eye on the window of wakefulness. HSHHC has great info on average happy wake times for any given age, and on how to watch for sleepy signs - worth picking up even just to skim.

Good luck! I hope you can figure this out soon!

 

QUOTE(xavier2001 @ Dec 28 2007, 10:56 AM) [snapback]548713[/snapback]
I'm wondering how many ounces she is eating at a time, if I counted right, that's only 5 bottles for the whole day? DD takes 7 3.5-4.5 ounce bottles and DS 6 5-6 ounce bottles. Could she maybe be hungry??


You know, I was told at my last doctors visit at 11 weeks (now 14 weeks) that my DS was eating way too much. He was eating 5-6 ouces every 4 hours (but he also wasn't sleeping thru the night then). Ped told me to cut back since he was over the 95th%...weighing in at 15.6 lbs at 11 weeks. I never cut back cuz it's too hard when they're hungry. Anyway, she is on the tinier side (40th%). She still is only eating 3-4 ounces every 4 hours. I make her 4 ounces and still she only takes 3 ounces sometimes. Sometimes she takes 4 and when she does she finishes it. I will increase her bottle and see if she eats more. You are right and I never thought about it. I am always getting conflicting advice when it comes to how much they eat. When they were born I was told I was underfeeding them (afraid to feed them too much thanks to my parents). Then I go back to the ped and she tells me I'm overfeeding...it's ridiculous.

Anyway, good thought. I will offer her more to see how that goes.

Thanks everyone for the great advice.

 

QUOTE
I am always getting conflicting advice when it comes to how much they eat. When they were born I was told I was underfeeding them (afraid to feed them too much thanks to my parents). Then I go back to the ped and she tells me I'm overfeeding...it's ridiculous.


Don't you just love mixed messages? Opinions are like ***holes, everyone's got one and they all stink! :lol: Anyway, sounds like you're on a good track - play around with feeding amounts and intervals and see what happens. You'll never go wrong following your babies' cues. Good luck!

 

QUOTE(fuchsiagroan @ Dec 28 2007, 12:00 PM) [snapback]548799[/snapback]
Don't you just love mixed messages? Opinions are like ***holes, everyone's got one and they all stink! :lol: Anyway, sounds like you're on a good track - play around with feeding amounts and intervals and see what happens. You'll never go wrong following your babies' cues. Good luck!


I agree!! I say follow the cues of the baby. Because DD is smaller she may need to eat smaller meals more frequently than DS, even though that sucks for trying to keep them on the same schedule. Do they do the lip smacking thing when hungry? Mine will start smacking their lips 2 hours after their last meal, I try the best I can to stretch to 2.5 hours before feeding, but if they get really insistent I give in, I figure they know what they need. We're in the same boat, DS is 84% for weight, DD 50%, but my pedi said at their 10 week appt they could each eat up to 6 ounces.