Worried Something is wrong...

[@llli*phi]

My formula fed niece and nephew were really, really screamy at night. Breastfeeding has absolutely nothing to do with evening fussiness. I'm pretty sure formula and bottles are not easier when you have to prepare a bottle while your baby screams. It's certainly not easier when SIL is digging through an overly stuffed diaper bag to mix a bottle while I just pop a boob out and only carry a couple extra diapers and wipes in my pack.

I'm glad to hear your baby is well. Don't stress too much about work. Your baby will adjust to the new routine.

[@llli*mommal]

with Phi. As a nursing mom, it's really hard to remember not to blame everything your baby does, or doesn't do, on breastfeeding and on yourself. But babies emerge from the womb as full-fledged little individuals, and right from birth there is a lot of stuff that they do that is not your fault!

One great thing about nursing and evening fussiness is that you can nurse, and nurse, and nurse and nurse and nurse, without the baby getting overfed. If you bottle-feed, and the baby is still screaming and fussing after finishing the bottle, then what do you do? You can't give her another bottle if she just ate one- she'll puke it all back up!

I am convinced that coping with evening fussiness is a matter of changing the baby's sensory input. Here are some things that work:
- nurse, nurse, nurse, nurse
- white noise
- calm house (list, tv, and stereo down or off)
- warm bath
- trip outside to the fresh air
- motion (rocking, swinging, stroller ride, etc.)
- snuggling close in a sling

ETA: just wanted to add that my first kid went from zero to sixty in a heartbeat. She'd be placid one moment and screaming the next. Nothing to do with nursing- it was just her temperament. It still is, to be honest with you, and she's 6.

[@llli*krystine]

1 month old can be a pretty fussy age, I read that fussiness peaks at 6 weeks (according to Dr Karp in Happiest Baby on the Block). I had a very fussy baby and I believe it was mostly personality. She is very sensitive and little things still upset her at almost 3 yrs old.

Many of the suggestions given by mommal helped, though. I wore her in a Moby wrap almost constantly, took her on walks outside as much as I could, give her soft pats on her back (this still works for her). I would also find a static station on the radio when we drove so she could hear white noise. It was very stressful much of the time to have the screaming so much, but we did get through it and even last night when she was having a meltdown, nursing for just a second or two helped her calm down.