Babies can go wild sometimes; however, most of the time, this can be unpredictable. Therefore, new mothers should learn how to handle their babies cry, even if it is painful and hard. This means they should have a clear understanding of moods that are innumerable from their babies and function appropriately with the available minimal information. Furthermore, this will enable them to decode the dispositions of the baby. During the first months of your delivery, you will experience a witching hour with your infant. This article will make you more informed on why babies usually have a witching hour.
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What Is An Hour of Witching?
This is the duration from late afternoons-late evenings; it is normally from approximately 4 pm to 10 pm. During this time, babies tend to be difficult to please as well as unsettled. It is time the entire calming strategies do not work for you or make the baby any better since crying will be at its peak, making your baby unhappy and tired. The witching hour has other names, such as arsenic or colic hour, with the same meaning.
So, Why Do Babies Undergo Witching?
There are several reasons as to why babies undergo witching. These are:
Overstimulation
Newborns often get overwhelmed with stimulation since their nervous system is still immature, with a limit to what they can take. Therefore, issues of getting to sleep as well as crying can be as a result of your baby experiencing overstimulation. Note that, when newborns are below three months, they lack the experience of soothing themselves. It is difficult for babies to cope with new things in the world, such as feelings, smells, and sight. So, this can make your baby find consolation from fussing, crying, and whining. Therefore, when your babies feel cranky and start meltdown, you might have a tiresome task of calming them down. We recommend keeping them barefoot to limit stimulation to their sensitive feet.
In case your baby is experiencing overstimulation, it is appropriate that you do away with a bit of stimulation. You can opt to stop the unnecessary noise from either your radio or TV. Afterward, you can introduce him or her to the darkroom. On the other hand, fussy babies like movement as well as white noise because this is the experience they get in the womb; moreover, you can also use the saddle to generate a calming reflex.
Gas pain
Your baby might be undergoing witching because of gas pain. Thus, examine your infant if it is pulling up the legs or squirming, it might be a sign of feeling quite uncomfortable. Note that babies get gas pains from the way they take their drinks. If your baby drinks too slowly or too fast, he is likely to gulp a lot of air. The air bubbles are also gas. Therefore, the remedy to a gassy baby is through pacifiers, swaddles, movement, bouncing by womb stimulation, and endorphins released.
Lack of attention
If the baby is deprived of attention, this can be an essential reason for your baby’s wailing nightmare. However, most mothers tend to think that babies are too small to feel they lack attention. It is appropriate to know that babies have the potential to sense separation due to lack of awareness more so during the late afternoons when running the house chores. These chores are likely to take away your entire attention from your baby.
So, to make your baby calm down, you are supposed to offer her or him sufficient attention. Learn to engage you, babies, play some music to them, talk to them, and make them active all the time you are with them. We recommend giving them safe toys and decorating their room with soothing colors too.
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Colic
This is an infant fussiness or crying that emerges beyond three weeks continuously. It is likely to happen approximately in a week three times and last for three hours and above. You can only experience this in an early infant. It is expected to come to a stop at around 5 or 3 months. Colic does not have a real cause; however, statistics have it that it is a stage of development.
In case your infant is undergoing colic, calm the baby down using white noise and movement too. It is vital that you find movements that are similar to those that the baby experienced in the womb, such as using the exercise ball to bounce. The white noise will also benefit your infant because the baby is familiar to a constant sound, such as a heartbeat. You can also try breastfeeding to help your baby calm down. Furthermore, if your baby is full, the breast still generates comfort and warmth that your infant must calm down during the witching hour.
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Prolactin levels
It is a hormone in the body of mothers that has the potential to make them produce milk. The prolactin level can make your milk flow to reduce hence being frustrating to your baby. Therefore, when your milk volume is lower, your baby tries harder for an equal amount of milk. Furthermore, your baby is likely to want to feed most of the time. However, this should not make you worried because it is a normal procedure during feeding and breastfeeding your baby, and with the time, you will be able to produce a sufficient amount of milk for your baby.
Fatigue
If your babe is experiencing fatigue, chances are very high that he may commence being fussy. This might be due to being colicky that can lead your baby to sleep whenever he feels like. So, when the baby gets four months old, he will commence going to bed earlier. This period is a transition time to an appropriate bedtime; after your babe has adjusted properly, his sleeping duration will be familiar to the sleeping pattern of adults. In case your babe is experiencing fatigue, it might be the correct time to start a sleeping routine that is much better.
Conclusion
From the above information, you now have a proper understanding as to why babies have a witching hour. Therefore, it is upon you to examine them during that period and exercise useful remedies to calm down. I hope that this article has made you adequately informed. Cheers.