Laura’s Story: A Fussy Baby & Breastfeeding

My name is Laura, and I would describe my baby as very intense. I have to admit that I am very happy the infant stage is finally over. During that time, I felt like I was going to lose my mind. I had an easy pregnancy and super fast, easy birth, so I did not expect such a hard time afterward. After all, I had been a teacher for seven years and have taken care of kids all of my life.

When Caleb first came home with us I tried to breastfeed and it was not happening. He would scream bloody murder and pull off of me every time. My milk came in before I even left the hospital but Caleb wasn’t having any part of it. So needless to say neither one of us slept, and he cried constantly.

After a week of this, I stopped breastfeeding because I thought that was the problem. Well, he continued to be a difficult eater and it didn’t stop there. He would cry or scream for food often, and then he would continue to cry or scream every time I burped him.

During the day, he would cry or scream anytime I tried to put him down and the only way he would sleep was if someone was holding him. This was exhausting! I felt trapped in my home because I was afraid if I took him out he would cry and I wouldn’t be able to stop it.

I never thought he had colic because he didn’t cry at the same time of day for hours and hours. He just cried off and on all day when he wasn’t being held or fed. Caleb ate a lot and I think that caused him to have stomach aches as well. He never spit up so the pediatrician said if he was hungry to continue to feed him and I did.

Caleb is now almost 7 months old and he has gotten much better. I found that the key with him was to make sure he got his sleep. This did not come easily for us and was a LOT of work on my part. I used the book, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child to help me. Now, he will only sleep in HIS CRIB and if he doesn’t get his naps in then he is a BEAR! I am revolving everything I do around these nap times to avoid meltdowns. Caleb still has his intense moments but it is nothing like it was.

Caleb has always been an active baby as well. He is constantly moving and kicking his legs. He rolled over early and is all over the place in his crib. He is getting very close to learning how to crawl. Caleb needs to be entertained all of the time. He doesn’t just sit and relax. If I am holding him, he tries to roll over on me. He loves jumping and exploring new toys. He likes to grab at everything.

He also can be extremely excited and happy. When he is happy, he laughs out loud. He laughs at simple things like the cats and funny noises. There is never a dull moment living with Caleb. It will be fun to continue to watch him grow up and change.

If there is any advice I can give it would be that you are not alone and it does get better with time. When you are in the throws of the moment, it seems like it will never end but it eventually does. It always helped me a lot when someone came by to relieve me for a short period of time. You need a break so seek out the help from others and accept it. I know this is hard when your baby is crying but you need to take care of yourself first. Then, I would try everything you read and hear about to calm your child such as the swaddling, white noise, sleep routine, carrying, etc. and see if anything helps and go with it. For us, the only thing that helped for a while was being held and then getting him on a good sleep schedule.