why is my baby so fussy in the late afternoons?

Claire - I'm already using Tommee Tippee bottles which are also anti-colic, I can't afford to switch to new bottles now as all my sterilising equipment is Tommee Tippee too and I have like 13 bottles - so far, the Bennets mixture seems to settle him, I will see how that goes for a few days - tnx for the tips though!!

Desiree, if you are bottle feeding, try Dr Brown's bottles - they are awesome, sorted Liam out almost immediately.

You can also crush a MagPhos (Tissues salts #8) and give him that once a day, works wonders for cramps.

Hi ladies - its been a week since I last posted about Connors afternoon irritable session, anyway, its continued, like clockwork, this week - no crying, just extremely fussy and cranky and unsettled, to having one crying spell on Thursday afternoon, it was awful, nothing I tried helped him - I was so stressed out because it was only then that it was really hitting me that he might indeed be a little colicky!

Anyhow - I didn't really want to believe that it was colic before, but all the signs point to it ... At first I felt like of a bit of a failure, as if it was somehow my fault - but, I've gotten over the blaming game and I'm now dealing with the situation. He is still feeding well and sleeping well at night so I know he isn't ill - and now I can just try and deal with the colic ... I do think its a mildish case of colic as he doesn't always cry - can there be varying degrees of colic?

Julz - thanks for all your advice, I'm trying to watch he over-stimulation, and I'll doing some massage after bathtime - and for that afternoon spell, I've started to give him some Bennets colic mixture, which relaxes him and actually helps him have an afternoon nap - so he basically sleeps through the worst part of his day - FABULOUS!! So far, the colic mixture has worked but I'm still keeping an eye on everything else too. He is now 10 weeks old, so, I'm hoping he outgrows this phase sooner rather than later - we are so close to that 3 month mark!!

Tnx ladies!!

Claire.

At 17 months Dylan gets cranky at about 6 so he is tired etc.

Most babies are niggly at that time. It is the end of the day and they are usually over-stimulated and tired. Does your baby have regular daytime sleeps? This will help with his mood at that time of the day. Also try a nice bath using lavender oil and baby massage also works wonders.

My son is almost 3 yrs old and still gets grumpy at that time of the day. Completely normal for children to do that.

LOL Claire, but ya I agree.

I've found that making 4 - 5 bath time and then it's supper time (so they are ready to go to bed!) and calm time and depends on how tired they are, i.e. how they behave they can either just watch a bit of Barney or colour in or draw or play or whatever and then it's bed time anytime between 7 - 9. Megan gets totally out of control when she's tired and Kayla gets really whiney and teary for everything.

Is he actually screaming, or just niggly & irratable.

if screaming, then it is likely to be colic as mentioned by Julz.

if only irratable & niggly, it is actually normal and carries on until they leave your house as young adults

I also call it suicide hour, starts around 4 or 5 and carries on until bedtime and is usually just cos they are hungry, tired, want your attention, want to drive you up the wall etc.

Only way I have found to combat it is to get my boys fed and into bed ASAP.
Okay that sounds harsh, but there are some nights when they are more tired than usual and i have no qualms about bathing them a bit earlier and getting them into bed, even if I need to read an extra story or 2 to get them to sleep.