Baby fussy while feeding at night

Why It Happens and What You Can Do

Fussy Baby at Night: Why It Happens and What You Can Do

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Medically reviewed by Carissa Stephens, R. N., CCRN, CPN — By Catherine Crider on April 30, 2020

“Waaahhhh! Waaaahhh!” Just the thought of a crying baby can make your blood pressure rise. Nonstop crying is especially stressful for new parents who might not know how to make it stop!

You may have been warned about the dreaded “witching hour” — those late afternoon and early evening hours when your baby just can’t seem to settle down.

For many parents, it seems like the hours stretch on forever. But rest assured, your baby is not the only one who seems unsettled in the evening. Nighttime fussiness is common for babies.

Still new parents want to know: Why is it happening? How long will it last? And perhaps most importantly, how do you get it to stop? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with the information you need to survive (and dare we say thrive?) during this challenging time.

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. While many moms assume a fussy baby isn’t getting enough to eat, that may not always be the case. Still, your milk composition changes at night, and you may experience a slower milk flow. The change in milk volume might make for a cranky baby.
Gas. If your baby is feeling gassy, and they can’t seem to pass it out of their tiny digestive system, they may feel very uncomfortable!
Overtired baby. It’s a common misconception that keeping a baby awake longer will make them sleep longer. By the end of the day, if your little one has gone too long without a good nap they’ll be very tired. An overtired baby will have a hard time settling down.
Overstimulated baby. A baby’s underdeveloped nervous system is more sensitive to bright lights, sounds, and changes in their environment. For instance, you may notice the light of the TV in a dark room, or maybe the volume alone, makes your baby cry.
Colic. While all babies cry, if you find that your baby is crying for three hours or more, for three days a week, for three or more weeks, it’s time to see the doctor! Your pediatrician should do a thorough exam to rule out other conditions.

You may first notice your baby getting a little fussier in the evening hours when they hit 2 to 3 weeks of age. This period will likely correspond with a growth spurt and some increased cluster feeding.

For many babies the peak of evening fussiness occurs around 6 weeks. If you’re reaching that point, hold onto hope that it’s about to get better!

While there is no guaranteed time when babies outgrow the “witching hour,” it often ends around 3 to 4 months of age.

Calming a fussy baby can seem like an intricate dance that you’ll never be able to master. You may find that a technique that works today won’t work tomorrow. Fear not, though. We’ve got you covered with plenty of suggestions to try calming your fussy baby.

Wear your baby. Not only does babywearing free up your hands to finish those end-of-day tasks, but being close to your heartbeat is extremely comforting for your little one.
Take a walk. Not only can a change of environment be good for your baby, but the rhythm of walking is often a game changer. Bonus: meeting up with another adult to chat as you walk will help you keep your sanity!
Reduce stimulation. Turn down the lights, reduce noises, and swaddle your baby to make it easier for their nervous system to calm. Doing so might even convince your baby to take a short cat nap.
Give baby a massage. Touch is a great way to relax and bond with your baby. While you could incorporate oils or specific types of touch, massage is still effective when it’s very basic.
Start bath time. Water can be extremely soothing for little ones and a great distraction. Even better, you’ll have a clean baby afterwards!
Soothe with sound. Ssshhhing, soft music, and white noise can all be effective ways to soothe your little one. Don’t be afraid to experiment playing different types of music and different types of vocalists. You may be surprised by what your baby likes, and it may change from day to day!
Vary breastfeeding positions. If your baby is hungry and keeps wanting to feed, try switching up positions. Even simple changes to your position can impact milk flow and your baby’s comfort.

If your baby seems to have gas, you may want to:

Spend extra time burping baby. If your baby doesn’t burp after a few minutes of trying, it’s OK to move on and try something else!
Bicycle their legs in the air. This technique is also useful if your baby is constipated.
Try over-the-counter options. Before you consider gripe water or gas drops, discuss options with your baby’s doctor first.
Choose slow-flow bottle nipples. By adjusting the nipple flow, less air may enter your baby’s digestive system with their milk.
Change your baby’s formula. Before giving up on a beloved formula brand, you can also consider trying the same formula in a ready-made formula version, which might lead to less gas than the powdered kind.
Experiment with your diet. If your breastfed baby is showing signs of gas discomfort and you’ve tried other solutions to no avail, it may be time to consider eliminating certain foods from your diet. (Foods to consider avoiding include dairy products and cruciferous vegetables like broccoli.)

The late afternoon and early evening hours may seem very long if you have a fussy baby. Understanding the potential causes of your baby’s fussiness and trying different methods to soothe your little one will help you get through the witching hour. Remember that this, too, will pass.

Last medically reviewed on April 30, 2020

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How we reviewed this article:

Healthline has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical associations. We avoid using tertiary references. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.

Foods – for mothers. (n.d.).
llli.org/breastfeeding-info/foods/
Mayo Clinic Staff. (2108) Colic.
mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/colic/symptoms-causes/syc-20371074
Pundir S, et al. (2017). Variation of human milk glucocorticoids over 24 hour period.
link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10911-017-9375-x
Sanchez CL, et al. (2013). The possible role of human milk nucleotides as sleep inducers. DOI:
10.1179/147683009X388922

Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space, and we update our articles when new information becomes available.

Current Version

Apr 30, 2020

Written By

Catherine Crider

Edited By

Saralyn Ward

Medically Reviewed By

Carissa Stephens, RN, CCRN, CPN

Copy Edited By

Kara Williams

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Medically reviewed by Carissa Stephens, R. N., CCRN, CPN — By Catherine Crider on April 30, 2020

What to Expect and Tips for Managing It

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What’s a normal baby feeding schedule?

Every baby is different, but a typical feeding session for a baby that isn’t cluster feeding can range from 10 to 30 minutes. Experts advise to feed your newborn baby an average of at least 8 to 12 times in 24 hours. Your baby may show hunger signs and need to eat more frequently.

Frequent feeding may help:

prevent jaundice
promote healthy weight gain in babies
mothers develop a milk supply

Cluster feeding vs. colic

If your baby is fussier than usual, you might wonder if they have colic. Colic is similar to cluster feeding in that it can come on suddenly and often occurs in the evening.

A baby with colic usually can’t be soothed with nursing or formula. However, a cluster feeding baby will be soothed during nursing sessions.

Colic is defined as at least three hours of crying for at least three days a week, at least three weeks in a row. It affects 10 to 40 percent of all babies worldwide. There’s no difference in risk between male or female babies, nor between breastfed or formula-fed babies.

Colic symptoms include:

crying that sounds more like screaming
face and body that appears tense or contorted
crying at a predictable time each day, often in the evenings
crying that peaks at six weeks and usually passes by 3 months old

Researchers don’t fully understand why babies cluster feed, but there are many unproven theories. Cluster feeding probably meets a combination of needs that your baby has at this developmental stage.

Heather Turgeon, MFT, a psychotherapist and author of The Happy Sleeper, says, “cluster feeding is likely a way for babies, who have maturing nervous systems, to regulate. It could also be a way to store up on food for the night.

“What we do know about breastfeeding is that it’s a supply and demand system. When little babies want to feed, that’s a good sign that we should let them, because trying to schedule or space feedings out doesn’t give that supply and demand system the right feedback.

“So while we can have theories about why they cluster feed, what matters is that we let them do it — that’s the way to establish and maintain mom’s milk supply.”

Cluster feeding can be exhausting and you may hear people stressing the importance of a schedule for baby, but cluster feeding is a normal part of the development of many babies.

Is cluster feeding a sign of low milk supply?

More frequent eating shouldn’t cause worry about your milk supply. A doctor can easily tell you if your baby is getting enough milk based on their weight gain.

Tracking a young baby’s wet diapers can also help you tell if they’re getting enough milk. Below are the average number of wet diapers per day, based on baby’s age:

Age	Average wet diapers per day
Newborn	1 to 2
4 to 5 days old	6 to 8
1 to 2 months	4 to 6

If you’re ever concerned about your baby’s eating, ask your pediatrician and meet with a lactation consultant. Babies who struggle to gain weight or seem frustrated while eating may not be getting enough milk.

Other reasons for nighttime fussiness

Some babies just tend to get fussier in the evenings. Reasons may include:

being overtired or overstimulated
missing parents who’ve been at work or away all day
needing to be burped if they’ve been eating a lot

Cluster feeding has both positive and negative effects.

Benefits

Baby may sleep longer after cluster feeding.
It may help to increase your milk supply.
It may help babies emotionally and neurologically regulate.
It can increase your skin-to-skin time with baby, which has benefits for both mom and baby.

Risks

It can increase nipple soreness.
It’s unpredictable.
It can be exhausting, both physically and emotionally.
It often takes time away from other family or household needs in the evening.

While cluster feeding is a normal, brief behavior, it can still be taxing on the whole family. Here are some tips for taking care of yourself, your family, and your baby during cluster feedings:

Keep a large bottle of water and snacks near your nursing area to stay hydrated and nourished during cluster feeds.
Set up a nursing area in front of the TV so you can watch something during cluster feedings. Or use the time to listen to audiobooks or podcasts. Keep chargers within reach.
Change breastfeeding positions often so you don’t get sore.
Use the downtime to call a friend. Since you’ll want to keep your hands free to hold and aid your baby, consider using earbuds.
Sit on the couch or floor while you feed baby so you can read or play with older kids at the same time.
Have a basket of special toys for older siblings that they only play with when the baby is nursing.
Practice nursing your baby while they’re in a baby carrier so you can potentially walk around while they feed.
Plan ahead. If baby usually starts cluster feeding around 7 p.m., plan to use the restroom, eat, and get comfortable before then.
Hand off the baby to your partner or a close friend whenever you can to get a short break. This also allows for other people to have time with them.
Talk with your partner about expectations and plan for how you’ll handle evening chores if the baby starts to cluster feed.
Let friends help cook or do housework, or, if possible, consider hiring a housekeeper for the first few weeks postpartum.

Cluster feeding isn’t a sign that you need to supplement with formula. If you’re nursing and need a break, you or someone else can offer a bottle of breastmilk.

You’ll still need to pump at this time in order to keep up your milk supply at pace with the baby’s eating, however.

There are many tricks other than feeding you can try to soothe a fussy baby. Some babies may be soothed by the same method every time. For other babies, what worked yesterday, or even earlier in the same day, may no longer work. Feel free to experiment with these or other ideas:

Wrap baby in a swaddle to help recreate the experiences from the womb.
Offer a pacifier.
Hold baby as you slowly walk or rock.
Dim the lights and reduce other stimuli, such as loud noises.
Use white noise, either from a white noise machine or cell phone app, or from a fan, gently running water, or even a vacuum. You can also create your own white noise by holding your baby upright on your chest and humming in low tones.
Hold them in different positions. They may be fussy because they’re uncomfortable or want a change of scenery.
Sing peaceful songs, recite poems, or speak to baby in a soft, gentle voice.

It’s important to go to your baby’s recommended checkups or wellness visits so the doctor can keep track of growth and development. These visits are more frequent when your baby is first born, when tracking weight gain is vital.

Your doctor will tell you if they suspect your baby isn’t getting enough milk or if they aren’t gaining enough weight. More frequent feedings, fussiness, or breasts not feeling full don’t necessarily mean your baby isn’t getting enough milk.

Always call your pediatrician if your baby seems very sick, lethargic, or has trouble breathing.

Cluster feeding is normal baby behavior and can happen any time, though it’s most common with newborns and in the evenings. Researchers don’t totally understand why it happens, but it’s not a sign that there’s anything wrong.

You may need to reset your expectations for these periods but cluster feeding isn’t permanent and will pass eventually.

Why does the baby cry during breastfeeding

Yakovleva Ekaterina Andreevna

pediatrician, breastfeeding consultant

Why does baby cry while breastfeeding? The answer may lie on the surface and depend on the situation. Some mothers themselves begin to put forward theories that are often incorrect - “I don’t have milk”, “I ate something wrong”, “The milk became tasteless and bitter”, “I shouldn’t have bought silicone pads” . .. Consider the most frequent causes of crying at the breast and options for helping the baby together with Ekaterina Andreevna Yakovleva, pediatrician, breastfeeding consultant and mother of two babies. She knows about the tears of babies not only from professional, but also from maternal experience.

WHY A CHILD CRYS DURING FOOD

— Ekaterina Andreevna, is crying during feeding dangerous?

— Crying during feeding is a normal way for a baby to communicate with the outside world. So he calls his mother, shows that he wants to eat or something bothers him. The only thing that crying can affect is that the baby will come off the chest and take in air. This will lead to more abundant regurgitation, increased pain in the tummy.

Table. Newborn cries during feeding - 9 reasons0018

— Can a change in priorities of a child affect his behavior at the breast?

- Up to three months, babies have one priority - they need to either eat and sleep or change a wet diaper. After the children become more active, they are already interested in the world around them. Therefore, when feeding in public places, and also when the mother combines the process with talking on the phone or watching TV, the child can be distracted: suck - turn away - suck, ask for different breasts in turn, indulge.

After three or four months, the baby should not be on the breast very often, but mothers find it difficult to readjust and continue to breastfeed constantly to soothe him. But in fact, the child’s needs are already different - he wants to be vilified on the handles, paid attention to him, played with him, showed him toys.

- Let's discuss misattachment in more detail. What can a mother do wrong if the child does not eat well and cries?

- A very common symptom of improper attachment or refusal of the breast is trouble-free feeding only in sleep. When the child sleeps, he eats calmly, and when he is awake, he begins to twist at the chest, cry. Mom can get tired of this, and in order to calm and feed the baby, during the day she gives him a bottle. In such a situation, it makes sense to talk about breastfeeding and work to restore normal feeding.

Problems may arise from awkward or repetitive posture during feeding. By trial and error, the mother should choose the position that will be most convenient for her and the child. However, if a baby is fed only lying down from birth, at an older age he may refuse to eat in his arms, break out and cry.

A CHILD CRYING WHEN FEEDING - HOW TO HELP

- Ekaterina Andreevna, everything is very individual for small children. How to understand why a child eats and cries?

— If the baby cries during feeding, the mother should examine the possible reasons for this behavior step by step and:

Eliminate the reasons related to the child's well-being, which she can deal with herself.
Work on breastfeeding techniques.
Seek medical attention if all else fails - child continues to cry and has additional questionable symptoms.

A triad of symptoms that are always alarming

You should also consult a doctor if, during feeding, the child wriggles and cries from constant acute pain, cannot calm down, vomiting, blood and mucus in the stool, rashes in the mouth, stuffy nose are observed. Fever is an acute condition that is not associated with constant (for example, for a month) baby crying during feeding.

— What should I do if my baby refuses to breastfeed?

— The main thing for a mother is to remain calm and adequate. For a breastfed baby, one break can last an hour, and another five to six hours if the baby has slept long and well. Taking long breaks during the day, the child will still finish his daily allowance in order to develop normally. For example, if he has not eaten for six hours during the daytime, he will breastfeed more often at night. Therefore, in feeding children in the first half of life during the day, it is better not to take breaks for more than 3-3. 5 hours. With the introduction of complementary foods, the intervals may be slightly longer.

Night breaks are individual and depend only on the child - some children are born with a 6-8 hour interval, and some sleep at night for eight to twelve hours or eat every hour.

Read also

About the reasons why a child refuses breast milk and whether it is necessary to switch to mixed or artificial feeding in such cases.

— Is it necessary to stop feeding if the baby is naughty?

- Depends on age. Mom should feel what exactly the child needs at this moment. If a newborn cries and refuses to breastfeed, you can calm him down, vilify him with a column, shake him, and then attach him to the breast again. If, having calmed down, the child turns away from the chest, then he has eaten.

An older child is distracted from the breast, becoming interested in something else. Do not force feed him. We must try to remove all irritants - feed in isolation in a separate room, not be distracted by gadgets, sounds, or give the child the opportunity to satisfy his interests, and then offer the breast again.

— What else can help calm the baby?

- Since most causes of crying are not related to medical problems, medication is not needed. It is necessary to relax, set up the baby, pump him, try to competently organize breastfeeding - apply correctly, do not give a dummy, nipple, supplement from a cup or syringe without a needle. As a rule, this is how most feeding problems go away.

— In what situations can a breast be replaced with a bottle?

— It is not worth replacing breastfeeding with formula feeding without acute vital signs. When a baby is not accepting the breast well, it is worth removing all bottles, continuing to supplement with “non-sucking” items, and contacting a breastfeeding specialist to try to establish attachment and breastfeeding. This is done by a lot of people.

- Does changing the feeding regimen help to get rid of crying?

- Rather, these are unrelated things. It is not worth forcibly adjusting the feeding regimen, you need to listen to the child - in the first three months, the children constantly hang on their chest, after they begin to form a regimen and the intervals between meals increase. It is important to feel the needs of the child, because not only hunger, but also other things can disturb him, and if he constantly poke his chest, he will not be very pleased.

Table. Mistakes during breastfeeding

The baby cries during breastfeeding for many reasons. It can be improper attachment to the breast, "tangled nipples", inflammatory diseases of the oral cavity, runny nose, colic, teething, lactase deficiency, or a very nervous state of the mother. It is possible to understand what the problem is only by eliminating the organic and psychological causes of crying. With prolonged ongoing anxiety, the child should be shown to a specialist.

* Breast milk is the best food for babies. WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of a child's life and continued breastfeeding after complementary foods are introduced until the age of 2 years. Before introducing new products into the baby's diet, you should consult with a specialist. The material is for informational purposes and cannot replace the advice of a healthcare professional. For feeding children from birth. The product is certified.

#advice for mom #breastfeeding

12 reasons why breastfeeding is not only about milk

Breastfeeding is the right choice for expectant mothers and their babies.

Increasingly, at appointments, pediatricians on the day of a healthy child are faced with the problems of breastfeeding in new mothers. This problem is very relevant, because at the moment in the world there is a "boom" of breastfeeding, and that's fine.
It is important to remember that the best food for a baby is and will always be the mother's breast milk in the first year of life.
Breastfeeding is a natural process that replaces pregnancy and childbirth. A newborn and his mother equally need breastfeeding.

12 reasons why breastfeeding is not just about milk.

1. Relaxation. Babies have a need to suck. Even when the baby is full, the baby can still continue to breastfeed. Even if you are scared by the thought that your baby is “hanging on his chest” too much and for you this means that he is not full, then this is not so. The child has one of the most pronounced reflexes in the first weeks of life - the sucking reflex. And best of all, he satisfies him naturally, and not through pacifiers or bottles.

2. Analgesic effect. Attachment to the chest helps to remove pain from cutting teeth, ear pain and other similar phenomena. Note that this is not always the case. If your child is restless on the chest, draws his legs during feeding, is naughty, hits his ears, then it is best to contact a specialist to examine the child.

3. Quenching thirst. Breast milk contains a lot of water, so the baby can take it if he wants to drink, but not eat.
It is important not to supplement your breastfeeding baby! If your personal physician or consultant claims otherwise, you should consider another candidate. Supplementation with water takes place to be bottle-fed. Don't force your child to drink water if he doesn't want to.

4. Natural medicine. If a child is sick, he may ask for a breast more often, because his body dictates to him so. Babies are less likely to get sick while breastfed. Most often, parents do not experience respiratory diseases in the first year of a child's life.

5. Relaxation. When the baby is overworked or frightened, the chest will help to relax and calm him down. First of all, here plays the role of contact between mother and child. The baby has no one dearer and closer than the mother, and this will continue for the first years, until the child socializes and feels himself in society. Mom is like a whole world for him, and when a child feels warmth and mother's touch, he feels completely safe. At the time of breastfeeding, this is especially pronounced.

6. Sleeping pills. An interesting fact: at night, the level of melatonin, a natural sleeping pill for an infant, rises in breast milk. Perhaps that is why most babies fall asleep on their breasts with ease. And at the same time they continue to suck

7. Breast milk is easily digested. There is no danger of overfeeding the baby, you can breastfeed whenever you ask. When feeding with a mixture, you should always monitor the amount eaten per day.

8. Sucking regulates milk production. Every time a baby is breastfed, it shows the mother's body how much milk she needs. It is important not to skip breastfeeding on demand so that milk is produced in sufficient quantities. The same applies to the quality and composition of milk.

9. Attachment. When a baby suckles, the mother's body releases the hormone oxytocin, also known as the love hormone. And the truth is, every time you feed a child, you fall in love with each other even more.

10. Everything is free! Why buy bottles, breast pumps, bags...? Breast milk is both healthy and free. No bottles and nipples, it's better to once again spend money on really necessary or pleasant things for the baby, or for yourself)

11. Breast milk from the breast is always at the ideal temperature. No need to freeze, defrost, heat…

13. You can get enough sleep while breastfeeding☺ Believe it or not, many breastfeeding mothers say they get enough sleep even though no one helps them with nighttime feedings. And the reason is that they don't have to get out of bed to cook and heat the formula. Breastfeeding mothers, and especially those who practice co-sleeping, breastfeed the baby that has not yet fully woken up, which allows both of them to fall asleep sooner.

Dear mothers, remember that these moments of solitude and your contact with your baby will never be repeated. The child grows very quickly, especially for parents. Over time, he will have his own priorities and you will sadly remember those sweet moments when you were together and really needed each other.
Everything is fine in breastfeeding and the most important thing is that there is not a single minus in it.
“When a child cries or throws a tantrum to get our attention, one should not think that he does it out of spite or capriciousness; proceed from the fact that he really needs us and loves us.

Carlos Gonzalez
Kiss me! How to raise children with love”

The article was prepared by pediatrician Sumina Nadezhda Alekseevna,

“Polymedica” in Veliky Novgorod.