newborns crying every 20 min help!!

We are at our wits end. They are fed, changed , warm etc. DD seems to grunt and struggle with pooping and sometimes we give her gas drops or gripe water. I have no idea whats wrong with DS. We feed change, soothe and they go down to sleep and then wake up in 10-20minutes later, at first with little whimpers then if we let it go longer, full blown.
Inexplicably they sleep 3-4 hours straight at night but sometimes its hard for them to go back to sleeo.
The only thing that quiets them is bfing but then fall aslee at the boob, I put them in the rnp then they start all over again. They are also getting about 3 oz pumped breastmilk every 3 hours. Please give me insight! Tia

Re: newborns crying every 20 min help!!

Could they be needing more milk during the day? When my DD was an infant she was a great sleeper during the night, but during the day she would want to feed. I would see if they 3.5 ounces and if they finish everything, try 4 next time.

Also, try doing baby massage along with the gas drops.

Re: newborns crying every 20 min help!!

My DS was like that. Turns out he had a milk allergy.

Re: newborns crying every 20 min help!!

Do u swaddle? It wasd the obly thing that helped at times

newborns crying every 20 min help!!

My older DD was like that. Turns out she was just a frustratingly fussy newborn! Do you do the 5 S's?

Swaddling: Tight swaddling provides the continuous touching and support your baby is used to experiencing within the womb.

Side/stomach position: The infant is placed on their left side to assist in digestion, or on their stomach to provide reassuring support. “But never use the stomach position for putting your baby to sleep,” cautions Karp. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is linked to stomach-down sleep positions.

Shushing sounds: These imitate the continual whooshing sound made by the blood flowing through arteries near the womb.

Swinging: Newborns are used to the swinging motions within their mother’s womb, so entering the gravity driven world of the outside is like a sailor adapting to land after nine months at sea. “It’s disorienting and unnatural,” says Karp. Rocking, car rides, and other swinging movements all can help.

Sucking: “Sucking has its effects deep within the nervous system,” notes Karp, “and triggers the calming reflex and releases natural chemicals within the brain.”

Message edited 1/1/2013 3:08:52 PM.

Re: newborns crying every 20 min help!!

Swaddling really helped my DD> She needed to be swaddled really tightly.

Check out "The Happiest Baby on the Block"

The 5 S's worked for us when she was a newborn.

Swaddle. Swing. Side. Shh .Suck
So Swaddled tight..swinging her a certain way, laying her in our arm on her side...making a "shhhh" sound worked really well and sucking on her pacifer.

They have videos I think on Youtube. It worked really well for us.

Re: newborns crying every 20 min help!!

Re: newborns crying every 20 min help!!

How old is she? My DD went thru a phase where I had to hold her constantly...esp at night but alot during the day too. I kept trying diff things and nothing worked, but she did grow out of it! I also started swaddling for naps and that helped! We do eat, play, sleep and try to keep her awake time to a max of 2 hours then nap, but she sometimes won't go down for 4 hours lol!!!! Babies have a mind of their own. It is tough but hang in there and just keep trying diff things. Feed more if that quiets her! I had to out DD on the boob every hour at times ughhhh! It's so hard but know it isn't you and just her being a baby.

Re: newborns crying every 20 min help!!

Swaddle doesn't work and we do rock them.
I keep thinking theyrebhungry as well. I know you cant overfeed a newborn but sometimes we feed them 2-3 oz and then they stop asking for it ( by whimpering) so we stop feeding them. Should we keep feeding them till they purse their lips?

Re: newborns crying every 20 min help!!

ughs itssooo hard.... someone helped me by remembering that they still think they should be inside mama...especially if they came early.


ok...do you burp once or twice during feedings?

what swaddle do you use?

when they are asleep and put down...is there music or white noise like a fan on?

these are just a few things i thought of.


now in my case ds had colic for 4 months and alsmot nothing worked at times.

i pretty much lived with him sleeping on my chest or in my arms for months allll day long.

i would do everything "right" and put him down and not more than 3 minutes later he would be hysterical.

btw you can overfeed a baby...docs told me not to worry and when my ds was an infant and he screamed all day so we just fed him...we got up to over 40 oz a day and it actually hurt his stomach more but i think 3-4 oz every 3 hours or so is not bad at all!!!!

its frustrating and can be so overwhelming i can imagine with two crying babes. i hope someone here can give more or better suggestions!!!! hang in there!!!

Re: newborns crying every 20 min help!!

Re: newborns crying every 20 min help!!

How old are they? And does this happen at a particular time or all day?

DD hated the swaddle at first. We still don't do it at night bc she thrashes alot and breaks out but I do it for naps. I started this at 8 weeks after her 10/11am feeding - eat, play, nap. Swaddled her, rocked and put in crib. First day she cried alot, rocked again put her back. Cried, again, more rocking, back in crib. She finally fell asleep for maybe 10-20 min. It was torture! Next day tried again, cried on and off, and rocked on and off, fell asleep for an hour. It was not CIO bc I kept going in and rocking her and she looked so tired! Anyway I kept doing this for a few days. Same thing, swaddle, rock, play music box, etc, put her down. After 4 days or so she got it and now she goes down for lonnng naps in her crib - almost too long (see other post). She still cries a bit at first and may need some rocking but she goes down. She is almost 12 weeks.

About the over eating, it is possible and they can get an upset stomach. But I EBF for the most part and in the beginning I let her suckle alot to quiet her and soothe her. It was SO HARD - I felt like she was on me all night frm 6-12! But she had a witching hour at that time.

Re: newborns crying every 20 min help!!

I think it may be a witching hour. It happens mostly at night but randomly throughout the day on and off. Im so tired, I cant keep track.
To answer prunepie's questions, we burp twice during feedings, we swaddle with swaddle me's or halo sleep sacks, and we dont use white noise bc dh and i are afraid that they will depend on it, although at this poin we ar desperate for anything!
im going to break it out. we do the 5 s's except for "side". im ging to try that too. but before they start because once they're screaming, there's no calming down. we've even given a pacifier even though that wasnt our plan but they both spit it out usually.
thanks everyone! they've been quiet since 1:30 so lets all knock wood!

Re: newborns crying every 20 min help!!

Sounds like you are doing everything right!!! Hope tonight is a quiet one!!!

Re: newborns crying every 20 min help!!

I remember this well... and I only had one. And I wanted to return her. It WILL pass. You are doing an amazing job.

Re: newborns crying every 20 min help!!

Re: newborns crying every 20 min help!!

Posted by cateyemm

Posted by Bearcat
. And I wanted to return her. g:

Ok so its not just me?
Than ks guys

Re: newborns crying every 20 min help!!

Re: newborns crying every 20 min help!!

Posted by cateyemm

Posted by Bearcat
. And I wanted to return her. g:

Ok so its not just me?
Than ks guys

newborns crying every 20 min help!!

I have twins & one of them had the witching hour EVERY NIGHT From 6-9pm. We used gripe water & little tummy's gas drops & even chaomile tea in bottle. I also bought a fisher price rocking chair which was AWESOME & calmed him quite a bit. He loved the motion. Good Luck to you

Re: newborns crying every 20 min help!!

Sounds like you are doing everything right. I wish I had a quick solution for you but the only thing that worked for us was time...4-5 months later he is finally a happier/easier (still high needs/demanding) baby. Wishing you as much sanity as possible, and don't beat yourself up as hard as it is!

newborns crying every 20 min help!!

We used to go to sleep with white noise BLASTING. Like, it was kind of ridiculous how loud it was! It's the last thing you need to worry about them becoming dependent on (one day, we just stopped using it and it was fine!). They eventually just won't need it. The 5 S's (ALL of them!) are there for a reason - (some) newborns NEED them.

Get the video The Happiest Baby on the Block. Seriously. Life changer.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Happiest-Baby-Block-Crying/dp/B0006J021C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357141415&sr=8-1&keywords=happiest+baby+on+the+block+dvd

Message edited 1/2/2013 10:44:10 AM.

Re: newborns crying every 20 min help!!

vaccum and hair dryer worked great he loved it. also wearing him helped a lot. but the swaddle was a godsend

newborns crying every 20 min help!!

dd was like that. i you tubed colic massages, swaddled and used white noise via you tube it worked for a little but i'm golad she grew out of it. GL

Re: newborns crying every 20 min help!!

We watched the youtube video last night and we got to put it into action asap. Dh was able to calm her after 5 min of the s' s. Thanks! And today is much better.