My 6 week old baby cries every night

Tara - posted on 10/04/2011

I have that exact problem!! nothing seems to help... however last night I tried gripe water, and I think it may have helped? I am going to try again and see what happens tonight if he gets cranky again! Seems like lots of babies go through this, which is comforting as I thought it was my fault I couldnt soothe him!

Kaycee - posted on 10/04/2011

my 2 month old has bad colic starts up at 5 - 6 always crying none stop no matter what we do, unfortuntly you just have to put up with it have you tried infacol, gripe water baby massarge on the belly, nice warm bath try not to hold her continously in your arms if you have a baby swing or bouncer put a dummy/ pacifier in their mouth and rock swing backwards and forwards or bounce the bouncer and continue to do that, speak to health visitor and ask if they can change their milk i dont know where you live but theres an SMA lactose free just incase of allergies to milk and it helps with colic and constipation or apitmal comfort colic and constipation that will help them aswell and when you massarge do a circle ANTI-CLOCKWISE round the belly button and that should bring some wind up try and wind as much as possible during the day. but there just isnt much else you can do, me and my partner have tried everything going, try infant gavison speak to your dr or health visitor to see if they can prescribe it to you, its just a phase they go threw they snap out of it at 4 months but if your unlucky it can last for up to a year x

Renetia - posted on 10/03/2011

i have the same problem. She might have colic Or acid reflux. Colic is ehen a baby cries for 3hours or more per day for 3 days in the week for more than 3 weeks. Get her to the paediatrician

Rose - posted on 09/24/2011

when you were pregnant what was your routine at that time of the day??

Anna - posted on 03/28/2010

i no the felling my 7 week old baby starts crying about half 6 ans dont settle till about 5 in the morning and i dont no what else to try

Erin - posted on 12/17/2009

My son had a fussy time from 4 pm til about 9 pm every night. No matter what we did, he was fussy during this time. He out grew it about 10-12 weeks. Hope your 6 week old baby does too!

Hannah - posted on 12/17/2009

Babies like to cry, some more than others. it could be colic but it usually starts earlier about 4pm and is accompanied by them pullin in their arms and legs in pain. there are lots of anti colic things you can try. Gripe water and infacol worked for me, my friend uses anti colic bottles for her son. Raising the head end of the cot slightly can help also. rolled towels or a wedge will do this or a phone book what ever you have about the house.

I would defo try to establish a bed time routine for your 6 week old baby, the 5 B's work for me

1)Bath- we take a bath together which he loves!!

2)Booby/bottle- I do this upstairs with as few lights on as possible to distinguish between day and night feeds.

3)Book- again up stairs with few lights on as possible.

4)Bear- my son has a small blue bear which I originally used to keep his dummy in and now he loves it so much he likes it over his dummy all the time to sleep now.

5)Bed- put to bed with mobile or lullabys playing. once in bed do not talk to baby. the odd shhh shhh is ok but this is especially important when they get older as older children try to converse with you as a means of staying awake longer!!! if you have to get them out if crying gets distressed do so only to sooth them and once they are a bit calmer put back to bed with some shhh shhh's. hope this helps but most of all don't worry 6 weeks old is still very young and to have any routines established that young would be a miricle!! just keep plodding on they settle down considerably by 3 months.x

Lisa - posted on 12/17/2009

it sounds like your baby has had enough of a day and is ready for bed! I'd start at 6pm with a bed time ritual, warm bath with lavender (if that's what feels good for you both), a feeding, then cuddles and a book read and then around 6:45, night night! If you catch a child or baby before they are over tired and put them to bed they actually go to sleep easier. For example, my daughter goes to bed at 6:30pm every night. We brush her teeth, change her diaper, snuggle her, kisses and hugs and then night night. She will protest a little, sometimes she wants a book to "read" or a baby to snuggle, but she'll lay in bed quietly "reading" until she falls asleep. OR when I ask my husband to put her to bed and he's like, sure in a min, and an hour goes by...she'll lay in bed and scream her head off because she's SO tired that she's cranky and will take it out on us.
so catch your daughter before she's over tired and see if that helps. Good indicators are a yawn, rubbing eyes, or actually--watch her eyes and see if she get's bags under them, or if they get red rimmed.
that's when it's nap or bed time. before the temper tantrums.
go into a completely dark room and rock her (if you do the crib thing) or just lay with her so she knows you are there but you aren't stimulating her and she'll konk out.

Rachel - posted on 12/17/2009

I had the same problem with my youngest, now 3 months old. I did gas drops, Target brand... it's about 1/2 the price of name brand. I also talked to my dr. about it and he said it could be from acid reflux. If you're breast feeding, try watching how my dairy you intake and if you're formula feeding, try switching to a soy formula. I also noticed he would get like that if he became overly tired. Once I got him to sleep, he was out for the night. He's been sleeping through the nights since he was 4 weeks old, sleeping about 10-11 hrs a night!

Hana - posted on 12/16/2009

Have you tryed inforcol for your 6 week old baby?.You can buy it in boots and you put a drop in the bottle before every feed or give it to the baby if your breast feeding,it helps with gripy windy pains.

Gripe water is another thing to try again you can get it in boots and does the same sort of thing as inforcol.

Kelly - posted on 12/16/2009

I don't remember the whole anagram, the U was for unconsolable, The E was for evening, one of the P's was for pain because they seem like they are hurting... Yeah the video was great, I saw it too.

Crystal - posted on 12/16/2009

My daughter was the same. She would cry - scream actually firstly from about 9pm til midnight every night, then as I got some of her health issues cleared up it started from about 6pm every night.. the latter was because she was overtired.. and there is really nothing you can do to calm them.. it's so hard!

I always ensured I held her to comfort her and could not imagine leaving her to cry it out alone.

There are so many things that cause it, they call it colic but noone knows what it is.. wind, bowel issues, overtiredness/overstimulation - it's just a babies way of coping and if you look at life from a newborns perspective, this world is scary enough without being left to cry alone..

I found my little one would just pass out after all the crying and sleep really well also. It was just catching her at the right time for her to fall asleep on me..

I hope she comes good soon,for your sake!!

Rhiannon - posted on 12/16/2009

I also strongly agree with Renae Kenneison. You are supposed to tend to and comfort your child at intervals so they know that you are there, that they are not alone. It has been shown that babies that are left to cry themselfs to sleep have less ability to self sooth before falling asleep in their cot at an older age and have high anxieties and lower self esteems she is still so young and you are both still getting to know each other... think we must be a little strange to them too, this time is very hard but oh so special too. All the best

Rhiannon - posted on 12/16/2009

I find that when my daughter is irritable i sit outside with her, i don't know what it is but it calms her even if for just fifteen mins. Also another thing that helped was laying her on her stomach across my knees supporting her head in one hane and rubbing and patting her back and bottom quite firmly, would help bring up any stubborn wind and often relaxed her enough that she would fall asleep. Maybe a book that was featured on Oprah would help it was about the language hidden within a babies cries . Your 6 week old baby sleeping 5 hours is fantastic.

Kerry - posted on 12/15/2009

His cranky time is usually about 8:00 pm and sometimes cries for 2-3 hours.

Kerry - posted on 12/15/2009

We have been going through the same exact thing. My son is also 6 weeks old. We switched his formula to soy today to see if that helps. Sometimes I let him cry in his crib which is very hard. But he usually cries himself to sleep.

Nicole - posted on 12/15/2009

If your breastfeeding, try to stay away from dairy. A friend of mine had the same problem and her dr. told her to do this.

Jessica - posted on 12/15/2009

it does sound like a bit of colic or wind, try a bit of gripe water after her bottle or nurse, also before she has a bottle/breast you can give her wind drops too. Because it starts around the same time every night it could be a build up of wind through the day, try burping more frequently through the day time feeds. Because she is so young i wouldnt try the CIO method just yet wait till she's 8-10 weeks old, for a baby to cry for that long there has to be something wrong.



The other thing is that she could be over tired, alot of mothers get colic and over tiredness confused because they do the same things, crying, unsettled, wont sleep, arch their backs ect ect. Does she sleep well during the day?? She should be having close to 5 hours of sleep through the day broken up into 2 hour sleeps and 1 hour nap. So if she doesnt sleep that much through the day by 7pm she could be that tired she cant fall asleep easy. When babies are over tired they get more hyper and therefore more tired then frustrated cos they cant fall asleep or stay asleep once asleep.



I hope this helps, good luck!!

Jennifer - posted on 12/15/2009

My youngest is now 4 months old and has been sleeping through the night for over a month. I have learned this from having older children (7 in all). My first baby was fussy every night for about 4 hours. I would have her in the swing and at that time it was a wind up. Since she was bottle fed, I fed her every 4 hours no matter how fussy she was (being a new mom and no experience, that is what I was told to do and stuck by it). She woke up every time the swing stopped, but when I wound it up she fell back to sleep. After 3 weeks she slept thought the night - for about 12 hours! She was awesome! My other babies were not like that at all. I have learned that they do get hungry and I fed them every 3-4 hours.

With my last baby, her schedule is pretty easy. She feeds usually every 4 hours with some exceptions when she is soooo fussy after 3 hours. Her nightly feeding is a bottle at approx. 8 pm and then another full bottle 1 1/2 hours later. She does not sleep between those feedings, but then passes out right after the last bottle and sleeps for about 8-9 hours straight.

Every baby is different - don't think there is anything wrong with her or what you are doing.

I recommend not letting her cry for more than 5 minutes at a time - she will get too worked up and may get a tummy ache. The swing works wonders!

You may also want to let your physician know this - there maybe underlying issues - they don't know what causes it but babies can be colicky for up to 3 months of age and eventually they grow out of it. Also make sure you burb her often so gas does not build up. Oh, and tummy time is great for colicky babies and babies with acid reflux - pressure on the tummy often eases the pain - even if you hold her like a football - it does work!

Good luck!

GinaMarie - posted on 12/15/2009

My son does the same thing sometimes, I have noticed with my son that at the times or these crying episodes he will be gassy or show symptoms of gas pain (straightening out legs very hard abdomen) So I tried myclone* gas drops and it seemed to help and he doesn't cry as much... I have had questions my self of why at night and not during the day... Are you laying her flat? If it is acid reflux then try propping her up on an angle But look for signs of gas or acid reflux I have even tried a little rice cereal and things seem to be going better and like you my son is only 5 weeeks old... It could be formula you are using I now use something called gentlease lipil formula Good luck!!!

Renee - posted on 12/15/2009

I went through that, then it started to happen during the day also. The Dr told me that she had a cows milk protein allergy. I would feed her and then take her to see her Dr when they feel inside her tummy they will be able to tell. So we changed formulas and she became a whole new baby. No screaming fits like that. Also when she did cry like that. I would stick her in her bath tube she would calm down instantly.

Emma - posted on 12/15/2009

Sounds like colic, my son went through the same thing around that age. You could get your baby some Gripe Water or Gas Drops during the day, I found that helped my sons crying time in the evening. He tended to be more colicky with out them. And honestly there isn't much you can do. I couldn't let me son cry it out, but I didn't sit there and hold him the entire time either. You can put her down, in a safe spot, and go get a cup of tea or whatever will help you during this time. But the crying eventually goes away. For my son it last til 2.5 months

Marie - posted on 12/15/2009

babies usually have a set 'cry time' that'll start at a particular time and end at a particular time, i had twin boys, and they'd start crying at 9 and wouldn't stop until 10, it was really hard, but they eventually got over it! don't worry, your little girl will too :)

Mattee - posted on 12/15/2009

Well when I had my son, before they let us come home form the hospital, they made us watch a video called "The Period of PURPLE crying". The PURPLE is an anogram for something, but I don't remember. The video taught us that some new borns will just cry for no reason for hours on end in the evenings for some reason, and they don't know why. Just make sure all her needs are met and that's just about all you can do.





www.purplecrying.info





Here is a youtube video, too:









Check it out... I hope it helps :) hugs!

Barb - posted on 12/15/2009

I agree with all of Renee Kenneison writes.

Barb - posted on 12/15/2009

My son was the same at 6 weeks. He would cry from around 6pm until 11pm or longer. I think it was colic. When he got to 3 months then it all stopped. Now he is a happy baby who goes to bed at 7pm. Try rubbing his tummy in a clockwise direction, or moving his legs (like he is riding a bike while he is lying on his back). I also found that having him in a Baby Bjorn (front pouch) really helped. Best of luck and remember that soon it will get better :-)

PS He is too young to be left to cry by himself. It is not recommended that babies under 6 months old are left to control crying.

Renae - posted on 12/15/2009

I am an advocate of some crying methods, but in this case; 1. she is too young 2. crying methods are used to teach babies to go to sleep on their own for the purpose of learning to sleep for a longer stretch of time. In your case your baby will become distressed and I recommend you do not leave her to cry.



Her behaviour is (unfortunately) very common. This is usually how babies with newborn colic behave, it is normal for the crying to start between 6-8pm and last for 2-7 hours. I'm sorry to say there is not much you can do. See your doctor and try all of the usual colic remedies, you never know what might help. Doctors usually do not test or investigate further if the baby is still gaining weight because it usually goes away on its own.



The word "colic" is a medical term which means pain in the lower abdominal region. They use this word for babies because they don't know exactly why the pain occurs. The most common theories are that the disgestive system is immature and that the processing of milk causes pain, there is another theory that the digestive tract spasms, and others that large gas bubbles form in the digestive tract. All they know for sure is that as the disgestive tract matures the pain goes away ("matures" means - becomes more able to absorb... how do I explain this... absorb the molecules out of from fat, carbs and protein from the milk and the digestive tract also grows in overall length).



There is a thing called the "witching hour", usually occurs at 6pm where the baby cries for 1-2 hours every night and does not have colic or anything else wrong with them.



The fact that she can cry for several hours tells me its newborn colic. The GOOD NEWS is that newborn colic normally clears up at 12 weeks (add additional weeks for premmie babies), over a period of about a week she will get better and better and then one day the crying will suddenly stop and it will all be over.

Kelsey - posted on 12/15/2009

Sounds like a little case of colic. Does she lift her legs up to her tummy and scream like shes in pain? That would be a classic symptom of colic. My daughter did that. Shes almost 6 mos now and has been perfectly happy for quite a while now. Dont let it bother you too much. I bothered my doctor so much about it she prescribes an antacid for my daughter in case it was acid reflux but turned out to hurt her tummy worse. I regret that, freaking out like I did wont do any good. I would just hang in there and do your best to comfort her.

Belinda - posted on 12/15/2009

It is very 'normal' for a baby to have hours each day where they cry for no 'apparent' reason. Nobody can explain why babies do this. Old wives tales use excuses like, wind, colic, reflux etc but the real truth is babies can just be usettled. My theory is it generally hurts to be growing so much so quickly??? It usually comes in waves. When you are in one of the waves of unexplained crying, it feels like it will never pass, but it always does. Try and be there emotionally for your baby. ie. Don't leave her to be upset alone. If you truly can't find a way to soothe her, just hold her, rock, sing, hold and bounce on a fitball whatever is most comfortable for you. By doing this when she is upset, she'll learn that in life, when you are upset, it helps to turn and rely on people whom you love and trust to help you feel better. She'll begin to really know and understand unconditional love which is what all of our babies deserve.

Anna - posted on 12/15/2009

Hey, that's great that she is already sleeping 4-5 hours at night. Sounds like you are both doing fine. Babies that age just cry a lot. I think they are just a bit freaked out about the world in general. My son used to cry in the evenings at that age too. There is no reason to leave her to cry - it is really unhealthy for them, messes up their blood sugar levels and uses so much energy that it slows their growth. Just comfort her the best you can. You can let her suck on your little finger, walk with her, sing to her, have a warm bath with her, take her to bed with you and nurse her. Just try everything and you'll find something that works. Once they get to be about 3 months, they get over that screaming stage. It won't last forever, I promise.

Vicki - posted on 12/14/2009

I know it probably doesn't seem like it but it will pass! My son was only like this a few times luckily for us. If it's gas bicycling her legs and pushing her knees up to her chest may help release it. I found that after I had checked and tried everything the only thing to do was let him cry on my shoulder - sort of CIO but not leaving him alone.

Kelly - posted on 12/14/2009

Look up resources for what is now called purple crying, it's the new name for what was once called colic and it is totally natural and it generally happens later in the day, mine is at seven thirty but it's shorter than yours, hang in there, I guess it lets up pretty permanently about six months old latest... But get info, there's no such thing as too much, and use people around you so you don't get a baby burn out. Btw, you can walk away for up to about 20 minutes I was told, as long as they are safe.

Jessica - posted on 12/14/2009

Sometimes babies just have fussy times and I heard that is it mostly at night. I am always a fan of letting them work it out for themselves so cyring it out is what has worked best for me. I have 3 girls and their fussy times where always at different times. If you have feed them and changed them and tried everything to soothe them then they need to learn how to make it better for themselves, and i know that sounds weird cuase they are so little but after i have tried everthing then i will lay them down and let them cry just keep a close watch after 2 or 3 times of crying they will stop or at least get better about being fussy. I hate those fussy times and i know it will be hard but when you put her down to cry dont give in until she stops crying babies are so smart at this age and can pick up on things like when she crys you pick her up.Good luck i hope it get better. Oh one more thing I did try bathing my girls at night about the time they would get fussy and that seemed to help.

April - posted on 12/14/2009

My son is also 6 weeks and does the same thing!! I started giving him a warm bath befor bed and then feed him and that seems to be working. Good luck

Heather - posted on 12/14/2009

It sounds like she could be a little colicky...I have not experienced it personally, but that is what it sounds like. Sometimes it could be gas causing it. I would talk to her doctor, there are different formulas they can have you try that can help ease acid reflux, and that are suppose to help with colic. After she has been crying for a while she could be getting gas, so it might not hurt to give her some gas drops in her bottle or before she nurses (which ever you are doing) You should see if there is a group on here for moms with experience with colic, that might help alot...again that is what it sounds like to me and I belive that can last well into 3 months old. Good luck and keep your spirits high :)

Anna - posted on 03/28/2010

i no the felling my 7 week old baby starts crying about half 6 ans dont settle till about 5 in the morning and i dont no what else to try

Erin - posted on 12/17/2009

My son had a fussy time from 4 pm til about 9 pm every night. No matter what we did, he was fussy during this time. He out grew it about 10-12 weeks. Hope your 6 week old baby does too!

Hannah - posted on 12/17/2009

Babies like to cry, some more than others. it could be colic but it usually starts earlier about 4pm and is accompanied by them pullin in their arms and legs in pain. there are lots of anti colic things you can try. Gripe water and infacol worked for me, my friend uses anti colic bottles for her son. Raising the head end of the cot slightly can help also. rolled towels or a wedge will do this or a phone book what ever you have about the house.

I would defo try to establish a bed time routine for your 6 week old baby, the 5 B's work for me

1)Bath- we take a bath together which he loves!!

2)Booby/bottle- I do this upstairs with as few lights on as possible to distinguish between day and night feeds.

3)Book- again up stairs with few lights on as possible.

4)Bear- my son has a small blue bear which I originally used to keep his dummy in and now he loves it so much he likes it over his dummy all the time to sleep now.

5)Bed- put to bed with mobile or lullabys playing. once in bed do not talk to baby. the odd shhh shhh is ok but this is especially important when they get older as older children try to converse with you as a means of staying awake longer!!! if you have to get them out if crying gets distressed do so only to sooth them and once they are a bit calmer put back to bed with some shhh shhh's. hope this helps but most of all don't worry 6 weeks old is still very young and to have any routines established that young would be a miricle!! just keep plodding on they settle down considerably by 3 months.x

Hana - posted on 12/16/2009

Have you tryed inforcol for your 6 week old baby?.You can buy it in boots and you put a drop in the bottle before every feed or give it to the baby if your breast feeding,it helps with gripy windy pains.

Gripe water is another thing to try again you can get it in boots and does the same sort of thing as inforcol.

Rhiannon - posted on 12/16/2009

I find that when my daughter is irritable i sit outside with her, i don't know what it is but it calms her even if for just fifteen mins. Also another thing that helped was laying her on her stomach across my knees supporting her head in one hane and rubbing and patting her back and bottom quite firmly, would help bring up any stubborn wind and often relaxed her enough that she would fall asleep. Maybe a book that was featured on Oprah would help it was about the language hidden within a babies cries . Your 6 week old baby sleeping 5 hours is fantastic.

Kerry - posted on 12/15/2009

We have been going through the same exact thing. My son is also 6 weeks old. We switched his formula to soy today to see if that helps. Sometimes I let him cry in his crib which is very hard. But he usually cries himself to sleep.

Jessica - posted on 12/15/2009

it does sound like a bit of colic or wind, try a bit of gripe water after her bottle or nurse, also before she has a bottle/breast you can give her wind drops too. Because it starts around the same time every night it could be a build up of wind through the day, try burping more frequently through the day time feeds. Because she is so young i wouldnt try the CIO method just yet wait till she's 8-10 weeks old, for a baby to cry for that long there has to be something wrong.



The other thing is that she could be over tired, alot of mothers get colic and over tiredness confused because they do the same things, crying, unsettled, wont sleep, arch their backs ect ect. Does she sleep well during the day?? She should be having close to 5 hours of sleep through the day broken up into 2 hour sleeps and 1 hour nap. So if she doesnt sleep that much through the day by 7pm she could be that tired she cant fall asleep easy. When babies are over tired they get more hyper and therefore more tired then frustrated cos they cant fall asleep or stay asleep once asleep.



I hope this helps, good luck!!