The dreaded witching hour. Have you heard of it? The time typically in the evening when baby is inconsolable. On and off the boob. Doesn’t want to settle. Cries and nothing works. Can last for two hours or more. You may think you’re doing something wrong or you don’t have milk. You check your breasts and milk is still there. You become panicked when baby will take a bottle but refuses the breasts. Babies have been doing this as long as babies have been around. You are not alone. It usually starts around 2-3 weeks and can last 6 or more weeks. We suspect it happens when baby has been over stimulated throughout the day and now doesn’t know how to self soothe. Most likely they wanted to sleep but missed the magic window and now their still developing brain goes haywire.
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Unfortunately it also coincides with a natural dip in supply at the end of the day which gets baby ready for sleep at night. However most mamas blame their breasts and a perceived low supply as the cause of the crying and often reach for a bottle. If this happens every night for multiple nights, moms body thinks baby doesn’t need that milk and what was a perceived low supply turns into a real one. What can you do instead?
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Know what’s actually going on! If your baby normally takes the breast through the rest of the day and over night, DON’T BLAME THE BREAST. If you know around the time the baby becomes fussy each night, try to jump the gun and get baby down for a nap before the fussiness begins. If the baby is already in a meltdown, offer the breast. If baby won’t take it, don’t push it. Rock, cuddle, snuggle, bounce and soothe. It may take you a few days or even weeks to figure out how your baby likes to be soothed, but this too shall pass. If baby is making lots of wet and poopy diapers and latching well the rest of the day, don’t blame the breast as the culprit for your baby’s melt down.
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My little peach went through this for over a month until I figured out it always happened around dinner time when I was trying to make food for my older daughter and had the baby in the kitchen with me. I changed my routine to put her in her sleep sack in her bed twenty minutes before dinner prep and it changed the whole mood of the night. She outgrew it around 9 weeks.
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Are you in the witching hour phase? You’re not alone.