Ive had 4 kids, 2 from a previous marriage (one which passed at 6 months) and 2 from my current wife.
I have custody of my first born, nice house a full time job and everything is perfect except....
I cant be arsed to listen to the wife, I feel going to work is a great break away from real life. Oldest is great, does everything for us, middle is suffering from middle child syndrome moreso that the youngest (6 weeks old) just screams, day and night.
Hes been to the doctor loads of times because of it and they have tried changing his milk, and ended coming up with the conclusion that he just likes to cry. I dont know if I can handle it anymore though. I feel like im going to explode.
Im constantly tired, not just a little tired - like, reall really tired to the point i could fall asleep whilst walking.
Me and the wife dont sleep together due to the screaming.
Has anyone felt like this before?
Hi There and welcome 🙂
...I feel for you, I really do! Here are some suggestions.....
Is the baby suffering from Colic? Does he draw his knees up to his tummy when he screams? if he does then he could have an upset tummy. try lying him across your knees on his tummy and rocking him whist rubbing his back. There are also mattress pads that are specificallly for helping with colic...I think they might vibrate but I'm not too sure. Gripe water can help with Colic too.
Is he a hungry baby? It might help to introduce baby rice to his diet.
Have you tried putting a ticking clock in his cot with him...this mimics the sound of mums heart when he was in the womb and can help to settle a baby.
There are CDs of different sounds that some mothers say help to soothe the baby.
Does he settle when he is picked up and nursed? I used to swaddle my baby tightly, thats wrapping them in a sheet with their arms by their sides, tightly enough so that they cant really move freely, then some really serious rythmic rocking! The best one was keeping one foot still, and taking one step forward and then one step back with the other foot, whilst patting their bottom gently. Sometimes with quite a loud shhhhing noise....again this mimics how he would have felt and what he would have heard within the warm, safe enviroment of the womb.
Buy some earplugs! 😆
Some parents strap their babies into their car seat and drive around until theyve dropped off.
The one consolation is that this really wont last forever, so hang on in there, and know that there will be countless other new parents, tearing there hair out and feeling just the way you are now.
Good luck with it and if you try any of my suggestions and they work, please come back and let me know.
Hi Skivey,
Sorry to hear how it's going mate, sounds very tough. I don't have any kind of expert advice but from reading your mail here's what I picked out:
1. As you say - full time job and everything is perfect, apart from the screaming. A total cliche but I guess try to count your blessings. I know I', bad for focusing on the one thing that is not going right - it can be all I think about - life is short and I guess remembering all the good stuff and not taking it for granted may help.
2. Not listening to the wife/not sleeping together doesn't sound great. With a screaming baby I think you and the mrs need to be on the same page - easier said than done. Any way you can get a break from all the kids for an hour or two and just sit and talk it through with her? Make some kind of action plan for the crying, work out what you've tried and what you could yet try? at least if you are working together on it then it may help?
As I say, no expert advice but I'd say trying to make a break from the routine and work out a plan may help.
Hope things get better mate, not getting enough sleep is hard but as you say - you have a lot of good things going on and maybe need to take a step back and think about good life is?
All the best,
Gondola