HELP!!! losing my mind!

My boys are perfect angels all day long. EXCEPT between the hours of 5 and 8 pm. My husband and I get home from work around 5 and they start being very fussy during these hours. I cannot figure it out!! I have tried everything I can think of. But I also have about a million things to do when I get home, and I cannot do those things cause the boys are crying and fussing so much!!

Any ideas? I have *heard* these are the worst hours of the day.

 

Ah yes, the "witching hour". We have the same problem here, at least until dinner. Our cranky time is from 4:30-5:30. We eat dinner at 5:30 and they are usually fine after that until bed at 7:30.

I don't have any suggestions as we go through the same thing here and I have tried everything.

 

Most kids grow out of it eventually. My girls had it bad until they were about 4 months old, and then it magically disappeared. Good luck!

 

We have the same problem here, but I find if I feed them more, and more often during that time, they are more content...maybe they know they need to store up for the long night!

 

We found that after their nap time was adjusted they were no longer cranky. It was terrible will we figured that out though. I would guess it's either that or they're hungry. Good luck

 

Ditto to what Becky said. THat is our fussy time, too. I noticed if I cave and give them an extra bottle they will skip one of the night feeds YEAH!

 

Ours seem to go thru this as well but usually starts around 6 and can go till around 8 all depending. Our DD becomes possessed and we try the bottle we try the rocking but sometimes nothing works. I will be glad when this stage ends for sure.....

 

They are the worst hours of the day FOR SURE! They will outgrow this soon! Maybe they need more food, or a different nap schedule, or just time! {{hugs}} It gets better!

 

Hi,

that age is a tough time.. I found that getting them to nap better during the day (2-3 naps) really helped with the nighttime meltdowns. life got easier after. Don't know what your kiddos' napping schedule it, but maybe that could help.

I also put my boys down at 5:30/6:00p and this also really works to alleviate the meltdowns -- they wake up at 6:30a

Teri D

 

I would say they are tired and somewhat overstimulated. We have one baby who does that. We have to make sure the TV is off and the older kids are quite!

 

We also have babies like that. Its definitely the witching hour of us... 4pm until bedtime, usually there is a lot of crying and screaming :blink: and I do think its just they are overtired and over stimulated at that point. It's a phase and they will grow out of it.

If you are like me at all, you will eventually learn to ignore it like we do! (((HUGS))) (Where is the hug smiley???)

Its a Whiney House and We love it!

 

QUOTE(Sarah©_(JDMummy) @ Apr 2 2007, 04:02 PM) [snapback]203482[/snapback]
We also have babies like that. Its definitely the witching hour of us... 4pm until bedtime, usually there is a lot of crying and screaming :blink: and I do think its just they are overtired and over stimulated at that point. It's a phase and they will grow out of it.

If you are like me at all, you will eventually learn to ignore it like we do! (((HUGS))) (Where is the hug smiley???)

Its a Whiney House and We love it!

 

Ya, it's like that here, it used to be TERRIBLE from 6pm-10pm, now it's from 5pm until they go to sleep ... some nights are better than others, I'm still trying to figure it all out. I think they are trying to decide what their schedule will be and it's messing with them, they used to wake twice in the night to nurse and get up around 7 and take long (2-3 hour) morning naps, now they wake once to feed and are up at 6, then take shorter morning naps and catnaps all day ... but the nights are definitely getting easier, hopefully just a few more weeks and everything will settle into a nice routine.

 

It is for sure the worst time of the day, but also if your trying to get too much done, they are absorbing that stress. Try not to do so much. Crock pot meals, or one dish meals are a great way to ease up on making dinner. I may put on a Baby Einstein for some quiet soothing music and interesting visuals and the 3 of us will cuddle on the floor watching it.

I have snacks that I can give them the min we walk in the door with a sippie of water. I also have a box of quiet stuff that I only pull out in the evenings when things get bad. I never worry about cleaning the kitchen or living room until the kids are all down for the night. I may get to doing a load of laundry, and I always vacume, but after the girls are down.

I get home at 3 (or 4 on workout days) so I am not as crazy busy, but I still dedicate the evenings to the kids and try to get other stuff done a little later. Oh, and I only do baths 3, maybe 4 nights a week.

My house could be cleaner, I could have all my laundry put away, but my evenings are a little more settled.

 

Yup...I used to feel terrible b/c that's when DH got home and every day he would ask if they've been like that all day?! Then he thought it was his fault. They grew out of it at about 5 months. Now they may fuss a little sometimes right before bath...nothing like before though.