This is our first kid and I'm losing my mind. He's 2 weeks old and basically cries from 8pm till 1am every single night. We've tried everything - fed him, changed him, burped him, white noise, swaddling. Wife is exhausted, I'm exhausted. The pediatrician said it might be colic but how do I deal with this? Is there anything that actually helps or do I just suffer through 3 more months of this?
We called ours the witching hour. 2 weeks in is absolute torture I know. Have you ruled out reflux with your pediatrician? Could be colic but definitely worth checking.
Pro tip from a first time dad still in the trenches: white noise machine, swaddling tight, and sometimes just accepting that some babies cry no matter what you do. I spent weeks thinking I was doing something wrong before I realized my newborn was just a crier. It gets better.
The sleep deprivation is brutal. My advice: take shifts with your partner if you can. One person takes 8-11pm, the other takes 11pm-2am. Doesn't fix the crying but at least one of you gets a solid chunk of sleep. You need that to not go crazy.
First kid jitters on top of actual newborn crying is a nightmare combo. Call your pediatrician tomorrow if you haven't already. Could be reflux, could be colic, could be something simple. But you need professional eyes on it.
Survive mode right now. Seriously. This phase ends. You're two weeks in which is peak chaos. Get help from family if you can, trade off with your wife so you both sleep, and know that this isn't forever even though it feels like it.
This is the part nobody really prepares you for. Everyone talks about how magical a newborn is but nobody mentions the hours of screaming where you have no idea what's wrong. Have you ruled out gas and reflux? Those were huge culprits for my son at that age.
That five hour window is rough. Colic is real and it sucks but it does pass. In the meantime make sure you and your wife are tag teaming so you both get some sleep. You can't help the baby if you're running on empty.
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Two weeks in and you're still sane enough to post about it, so that's something. The 8pm to 1am window is rough but it does pass. My first kid did the same thing and around week 4 or 5 something just clicked and the crying got better. You're doing fine even if it doesn't feel like it.