For Otter -- your worst crying episode w/a baby?

[Deleted]

It's all a blur to me now. I think I subconsciously blocked out the bad memories, lol.

[eddy]

I have a funny sleep deprived story.

So with Jack I was up in the middle of the night. I had nursed him and he wouldn't calm down. I got all huffy and frustrated and decided to take him for a car ride at 3 am. I tried to wake H up but that was not a success. So I am all pissy at hime and driving around with a screaming baby. Of course the whole time I am making up all of these stories of what is wrong with him like you know some mysterious illness or something.

I get home. That didn't work. I sit down to nurse him again, he ate and passed out.

Oh so you are trying to tell me you were just hungry. Well why the fuck didn't I think of that.

[Deleted]

Payne screamed for one hour every night from 2 weeks to 3 months old.

We just held him and activated the captions on the tv. Lol. We went to a NYE party with him (we WARNED THE hosts and they were all "no it's ok! Please come!".

He fucking terrified them. Everyone was super uncomfortable until he stopped, despite me hiding with him across the house.

[luckyval]

Hart was colicky as an infant and there was a stretch there around 3-4 weeks old when I slept on the floor next to his crib because I knew there was no point in going back to bed because he'd be back up crying again in 10 minutes time (note to self: put bed in nursery next time)

Late night car rides, 3 am runs to WalMart for gas drops, bouncing on that exercise ball until our arms fell off...we did it all until it subsided around 2 months

[cc]

I think I blocked most of it out, but I do distinctly remember thinking to myself, "WTF were we thinking when we decided we wanted another child?"

During the hard days, one of my mantras was to remind myself that it won't be like that forever and that, eventually, that phase will be over. I know it sucks in the moment, though.

[Deleted]

Crying story:

The first night home from the hospital, both boys seriously cried from 12am to 3am. Jake and I were blurry eyed walking around, feeding, changing diapers, changing clothes, putting them on each other?, putting them on us?, skin to skin?, maybe he wants the swing OH HE DOESN'T LIKE THE SWING maybe the other one wants the swing, who are you holding?, who just threw up?, Icantwalkanotherstep

Three. Fucking. Hours. It felt like a lifetime. The next night was 2hrs from 10pm to 12am. Repeated the next night. The next night after that was 7 to 9, then they finally settled into their witching hour from 5 to 7. Which they had until they were .... god. Maybe it completely stopped around 3 or 4 months old.

[eddy]

Sept 6, 2013 8:52:10 GMT -5 @tambcat said:

It's all kind of a blur to me too now, but I do remember H having to drive her around a couple of times late at night to get her to settle down. That was before she started hating the car. lol. Sigh, babies... And then there was a period where I had to walk laps around our house in the evenings, because if I stopped and sat down, she would start crying again.

God yes

This was Leo

He was happy as can be if he was in a sling with me standing during the evening. My back still aches thinking about that.

[lilafowler]

Ellie wasn't even a month old because I was still trying to nurse her (I only lasted one month half-arsed). We had had the worst night yet, with her sleeping no longer than a half hour, maybe. We put her in the car and went to my parents for a change of scenery. She started SCREAMING and wouldn't stop. My parents were all "What is wrong with this baby?!" and that made me even more tense-my mom was trying to think out loud of what could be wrong with her and I just flipped and yelled "WHY DON'T I JUST TAKE HER TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM SINCE NOTHING IS WORKING! I CAN'T DO THIS!!!!"

My mom told me to give her the baby, go outside and sit down for a few minutes to relax. My mom worked a huge burp and a few farts out of her while I was calming myself...lol.

Not one of my prouder moments...

[Deleted]

Sept 6, 2013 8:52:30 GMT -5 frkls said:

it felt like jonah cried constantly for six weeks. otter, there is something magical about the six week mark!! i remember sitting on the floor in the bathroom absolutely SOBBING and trying to explain to dh how it felt to not know how to take care of him. omg. it was so horrible. add in teh sleep deprivation and the whole thing was just horrific.

For us it was 7 weeks.  And one night in that week we were sitting eating with sleeping babies next to us in swings and we looked at each other like "God that was fucking hard."  But it didn't feel like it at the time b/c we were so into it, the adrenaline and everything.

Literally every week since the fog lifted at 7 weeks has gotten progressively better in the logistics regard.  Now the hard stuff is toddler stuff (independence, omg).

[eddy]

Sept 6, 2013 8:54:25 GMT -5 ninjabridemom said:

Crying story:

The first night home from the hospital, both boys seriously cried from 12am to 3am. Jake and I were blurry eyed walking around, feeding, changing diapers, changing clothes, putting them on each other?, putting them on us?, skin to skin?, maybe he wants the swing OH HE DOESN'T LIKE THE SWING maybe the other one wants the swing, who are you holding?, who just threw up?, Icantwalkanotherstep

Three. Fucking. Hours. It felt like a lifetime. The next night was 2hrs from 10pm to 12am. Repeated the next night. The next night after that was 7 to 9, then they finally settled into their witching hour from 5 to 7. Which they had until they were .... god. Maybe it completely stopped around 3 or 4 months old.

How do you not switch them around during moments like this? I mean you probably didn't know their faces yet. And you are changing clothes, and exhausted, and putting them in different places. How did you keep track of who was who?

[lilafowler]

Sept 6, 2013 8:50:34 GMT -5 @stellasmom said:

Payne screamed for one hour every night from 2 weeks to 3 months old.

We just held him and activated the captions on the tv. Lol. We went to a NYE party with him (we WARNED THE hosts and they were all "no it's ok! Please come!".

He fucking terrified them. Everyone was super uncomfortable until he stopped, despite me hiding with him across the house.

Ellie had something like this-we finally realized she had her freakout around the same time at night-I started calling it "getting the grouchies out".  Once she fussed and had her grouchies out she'd be fine.
Maybe just working off some of the stimulation of the day?  She stopped having grouchy time around 4 months or so.

[sunshineluv]

Sept 6, 2013 8:53:12 GMT -5 @tambcat said:

Man, I can't wait to do this again.

Haha, I know, I am not sure why I am in this thread, I need to back away fast!!!

The newborn cry can still give me anxiety :-(

[jreeds]

When DS was a baby he cried every night from 3ish to 7ish pretty much non stop. Nothing we did helped. But, without fail he'd fall asleep at 7 and sleep til midnight. DH & I used to take turns rocking/bouncing him. That stopped at 4 months and now he's the best sleeper in the house

[lilafowler]

Sept 6, 2013 8:54:25 GMT -5 ninjabridemom said:

Crying story:

The first night home from the hospital, both boys seriously cried from 12am to 3am. Jake and I were blurry eyed walking around, feeding, changing diapers, changing clothes, putting them on each other?, putting them on us?, skin to skin?, maybe he wants the swing OH HE DOESN'T LIKE THE SWING maybe the other one wants the swing, who are you holding?, who just threw up?, Icantwalkanotherstep

Three. Fucking. Hours. It felt like a lifetime. The next night was 2hrs from 10pm to 12am. Repeated the next night. The next night after that was 7 to 9, then they finally settled into their witching hour from 5 to 7. Which they had until they were .... god. Maybe it completely stopped around 3 or 4 months old.

THE WITCHING HOUR!  That's what my mom called it, lol!

[Deleted]

Mine involved nudity from the waist up, save for a baby K'tan wrap and some Lansinoh nursing pads to handle the leakage. I dared not remove her, so I just draped a blanket over my shoulders.

[Deleted]

Sept 6, 2013 8:56:27 GMT -5 eddy said:

Sept 6, 2013 8:54:25 GMT -5 ninjabridemom said:

Crying story:

The first night home from the hospital, both boys seriously cried from 12am to 3am. Jake and I were blurry eyed walking around, feeding, changing diapers, changing clothes, putting them on each other?, putting them on us?, skin to skin?, maybe he wants the swing OH HE DOESN'T LIKE THE SWING maybe the other one wants the swing, who are you holding?, who just threw up?, Icantwalkanotherstep

Three. Fucking. Hours. It felt like a lifetime. The next night was 2hrs from 10pm to 12am. Repeated the next night. The next night after that was 7 to 9, then they finally settled into their witching hour from 5 to 7. Which they had until they were .... god. Maybe it completely stopped around 3 or 4 months old.

How do you not switch them around during moments like this? I mean you probably didn't know their faces yet. And you are changing clothes, and exhausted, and putting them in different places. How did you keep track of who was who?

Marc's left ear saved our lives.

 
He's the one to the left.  You can see it indents a lot and creates a point, whereas Gabe's folds in like a normal ear.  Now it is way less noticeable but I think they look completely different.

Had we not had that I had knitted anklets in different colors just in case.

[eddy]

Sept 6, 2013 8:56:55 GMT -5 sunshineluv said:

Sept 6, 2013 8:53:12 GMT -5 @tambcat said:

Man, I can't wait to do this again.

Haha, I know, I am not sure why I am in this thread, I need to back away fast!!!

The newborn cry can still give me anxiety

Me too and I am 15 months out from having a newborn.

I hear it in a public place and I get all sick stomachy feeling. SOMEONE HELP THAT POOR BABY. OMG WHY IS IT CRYING.

[Deleted]

One week down, five to go!

[CurlyQ284]

DS didn't have long spells of crying (ETA as a newborn) but every time I put him in his bassinet he would scream. After 4-5 nights of this I started to get into bed with DS and DH starts panicking "you're not supposed to sleep with the baby! The doctors said!"

I yelled "oh yeah? Well all these doctors are fucking sadists and I don't give a fuck what they say. Google a way for me to sleep with the baby or sit in the corner and watch us if it makes you feel better. But this is happening, so get on board!"

DH googled and DS slept with me until he was 3 months old.

ETA He has started having crying spells lately. On Sunday I tried everything I could think of. Then I just sat with him on the family room floor crying while he screamed. He screamed for 2-3 more minutes and then said "Da? DAAAA!" Smacked his toy on the table and laughed. He fucking LAUGHED guys.

[Deleted]

Oh and we had a system where we said their names a LOT.

"I have Marcus in the swing and Gabriel's sleeping in his crib. Where is Marcus? Where is Gabriel?" I made Jake repeat it back to me.

I sort of knew them apart more from the beginning anyway -- mother's intuition jibberty jabberty or whatever.

[HiC]

A week or two old, it was very very late at night and E was wailing. She was in her stroller and we were rolling her back and forth. Her little tongue was sticking straight out of her head with each scream and in my mind it morphed into a very grotesque, dark cartoonish snake tongue that curled and whipped at us. I looked at my dh and said, "What the fuck did we do? Wheel her into the elevator and just press the down button." Meaning send her on her way....she's on her own. We were exhausted and almost beyond reason. The next night I discovered the blow dryer trick and she slept through the night.

[Deleted]

Sept 6, 2013 8:53:12 GMT -5 @tambcat said:

Man, I can't wait to do this again.

yeah.  pardon me while i hyperventilate.


i don't remember if it was a particularly bad session or i was particularly sleep deprived or what, but i remember L crying in the middle of the night when she was teeny (maybe 3 weeks old?) and i just looked at her sweet, small, sad little face and said "shut the fuck up."  like in an eerie calm serial killer voice.  then i realized how psycho i sounded and started laughing hysterically.  then i realized that neither of these things were good, so i went and lay on the couch alone for a few minutes to recollect myself.  i turned back into a more normal person.

[eddy]

Oh yeah I am now remember how when we brought Scarlett (the dog) home after Jack was born and she was a total anxiety mess. Each night for a week she would vomit the most putrid, acidy vomit ever all over at 3 am. The whole house reeked. She was a fucking mess. She was picking up on our anxiety and did not deal well.

[fivechickens]

Annie used to cry so hard that she threw up. This happened almost every night until we started using the vacuum.

Thats all I remember. The rest is a sleep deprived blur. I did not enjoy the newborn stage.

[Deleted]

Sept 6, 2013 9:04:32 GMT -5 fivechickens said:

Annie used to cry so hard that she threw up. This happened almost every night until we started using the vacuum.

Thats all I remember. The rest is a sleep deprived blur. I did not enjoy the newborn stage.

How in the world you did it with three I will never know.

I think HOM parents are mega rockstars.  Like, at least way it's 1 kid per hand you know?  The logistics you go through every day.  I bow to you.  BOW TO YOU!

[circa1978]

It's too soon for me to talk about it and he's 2.5 years old. I think I might recover from the newborn weeks sometime around his high school graduation.

[Deleted]

Sept 6, 2013 9:04:00 GMT -5 cville said:

Sept 6, 2013 8:53:12 GMT -5 @tambcat said:

Man, I can't wait to do this again.

yeah.  pardon me while i hyperventilate.


i don't remember if it was a particularly bad session or i was particularly sleep deprived or what, but i remember L crying in the middle of the night when she was teeny (maybe 3 weeks old?) and i just looked at her sweet, small, sad little face and said "shut the fuck up."  like in an eerie calm serial killer voice.  then i realized how psycho i sounded and started laughing hysterically.  then i realized that neither of these things were good, so i went and lay on the couch alone for a few minutes to recollect myself.  i turned back into a more normal person.

I threw a pacifier across the room b/c Gabriel didn't want it, or the boob, or whatever.

I have put a crying baby on the floor in a boppy and walked out of the room.  I figured I would freak out when he stopped crying, lol, and I could collect myself as long as I could hear him.

[bornbaker]

Mine was about two months ago. Both Em and I were napping. Just must have woke up first and was crying, I must not have heard her. By the time I did she was SCREAMING bloody murder. I thought she was dying, no joke. She was crying so hard she was gasping for breath, leading me to think she was having an asthma attack. This seemed to last forever.

No joke, I almost called 911. I finally got her calmed down, rocked, held her tightly, hummed. She would stop crying then start again, gasping in between crying fits.

When she realized everything was ok she went to her toys, did her thing, and everything was fine.

[rondonalddo]

A couple different stories: DD cried a lot, even in the hospital when she was new. She would get too worked up to nurse. We asked the LC to help us out and she had us do skin to skin, and DD HATED it. It didn't calm her down at all. The LC, in a very calm voice, said, "Okay, you just get her calmed down and I'll come back in 5 minutes." SHE DOESN'T CALM DOWN, LADY! YOU MADE IT WORSE! DD was so cranky the lady who goes around and does newborn photos in the hospital couldn't get a picture of her. We tried twice, and when she said she'd come back a third time, we told her to stay away.

A month or two later, we had a storm and the power went out in the evening-- which meant that every white noise device we used (drier, bathroom fan, floor fan) was out of commission during the evening screamy hours. The house was silent, and it was hot, and DD was just crying and crying and crying. Even though we knew she hated the car, we tried it anyway in a last ditch effort. I was moving something into the trunk of the car, and a guy pulled into our driveway and asked what was going on. He thought we were evacuating or something. "Oh, no, it's just the power's out, and our baby's screaming and we're desperate." We drove around and she never stopped crying, but when we passed by the house again, the power was back on.

[McGavin]

Once, after a particularly spectacular 2:00 am crying fit, I was so frustrated that I punched myself in the leg.

Better my leg than the baby, right?