How do you handle the witching hour?

[Deleted]

How do you handle the witching hour (or hours) in your home? DS is 4 months old. He used to sit semi-quietly in his Rock N' Play while I made dinner. The last 4 days, he has yelled non-stop. He doesn't seem to be hungry or wet, he just wants to yell until he gets my undivided attention. I feel I'm reinforcing this behavior by consoling him, but he's only 4 months old! I don't feel like I can just ignore him. But I need to make dinner while DH does his farm chores.

What are your witching hours like and how do you handle them? I'm thinking of buying a swing or something to entertain him.

[mrshandy]

DS was on the boob on and off for most of that time period.

Maybe look into a baby carrier and carry baby around with you while doing chores.

I loved our swing, it was a true life saver.

[Willis Jackson]

Make dinner ahead of time.

[jenny1223]

The swing worked for us for awhile but now, at 5 months, it doesn't do the trick anymore. I try to prep as much as I can on the weekends or while DS is calmer and then throw everything together while DS plays on his play mat for a few minutes. Lately we've actually been waiting to make dinner until after DS goes to bed around 7. I'd prefer to eat earlier but it's so much easier to manage when DS is asleep.

[zarapipe]

Jun 21, 2012 11:41:13 GMT -5 jenny1223 said:

The swing worked for us for awhile but now, at 5 months, it doesn't do the trick anymore. I try to prep as much as I can on the weekends or while DS is calmer and then throw everything together while DS plays on his play mat for a few minutes. Lately we've actually been waiting to make dinner until after DS goes to bed around 7. I'd prefer to eat earlier but it's so much easier to manage when DS is asleep.

DD is over 2 and we still have a witching our at our house! When she was an infant the swing was a lifesaver and being outside, she also loves the stroller, so I would go for a walk just to pass the time and time it specifically for 4:30PM. Easy dinners and leftovers.

Now that she is older it is basically the same thing. Snack when we first get home, go outside after the snack and try to stay outside until dinner. She also likes to "help" me make dinner.

The witching our is what is scaring me out of having a 2nd child... one child at 5PM is easy, two... :-|

[ijack]

wearing them always helped and around 4-5m I'd pop them in the bumbo so they could watch me cook.

[8675309]

I put our 4 month old in his bumbo seat on the kitchen table while I cook dinner. So far it's working out but he gets oober cranky for no reason lately. Forgot about the witching hour!

[Deleted]

Around 4 months, he was big enough to go on my back in the Ergo. That was great for cooking.

I also got good at prepping meals during any afternoon naps.

[dcrunnergirl]

4:27pm was always the start of the witching hour for us. The only thing that helped was making sure they had an early bedtime. When we started a 6:30pm bedtime around 4 months, it made the witching hour almost disappear (I say almost b/c there are still times now when they get cranky around that time).

[h]

When I had a baby that age I kept dinner simple and did as much food prep as I could the night before when the kids were asleep. Then I fixed dinner with the baby in a carrier. I basically wore DS2 24/7 when he was 4 months old.

[Mrs.Syntax]

I call Jimmy Johns.

Seriously, making dinner was such a PITA until DD was, oh, 18 months old which was when she started getting better about entertaining herself. When she was little she would tolerate the Ergo sometimes, but she mostly insisted on being held in arms (not with a carrier) and I couldn't stand to hear her scream. My strategy to this day is to prep stuff while she is sleeping, but that's tough because I have a million other things to do during her naptime.

[MamaMaui24]

DS is the same age and he LOVES this car. (SIL bought it for him and I just saw the price today. !!!)

www.amazon.com/Combi-All-Activity-Walker-Black/dp/B001Q6M0M8/ref=sr_1_1?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1340304558&sr=1-1&keywords=combi+car

So that is where he goes. Otherwise we have a jumper that I'd probably stick him in.

[livinitup]

At 4 months old, I just wore DD in her Ergo while I did stuff. Or kept her in a bouncy seat close, set to vibrate. But the Ergo was the golden ticket.

[Deleted]

I second early bedtime. DS goes down by 6:30 pm at the latest, & that really goes a long way to help him not be so overtired in the afternoons.