Hellobee Boards Topic: The "Witching Hour"

Hellobee Boards Topic: The "Witching Hour" https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 11 Jun 2026 21:21:34 +0000 illumina on "The "Witching Hour"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-witching-hour#post-1114584 Thu, 26 Sep 2013 17:38:11 +0000 illumina 1114584@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Does anyone know the reasoning behind the "witching hour?". LO's is from roughly 8,9 or 10pm to 1am (exactly) every night. She rarely settles and if she does it's only for half an hour and she's screaming again. She is pretty much perfect the rest of the night and day, so I struggle to understand why this happens like clockwork! edelweiss on "The "Witching Hour"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-witching-hour#post-1105577 Mon, 23 Sep 2013 12:44:29 +0000 edelweiss 1105577@https://boards.hellobee.com/ we went through a period of 2 to 3 weeks around the same time with fussiness. unfortunately, nothing helped--we tried everything you did--except for LO to grow out of it. Pepper on "The "Witching Hour"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-witching-hour#post-1105168 Mon, 23 Sep 2013 10:51:00 +0000 Pepper 1105168@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @redsmarties: Ugh my LO went through a fussing at the breast stage. Actually what calmed him down enough to latch on was attempting to feed him while walking around. The movement would calm him down enough that he'd latch. Once he latched, I could sit down. As for the routine, some nights it works for us, some nights (like last night) it doesn't. He's not hysterical like he used to be, but it doesn't always help with sleeping well. Foodnerd81 on "The "Witching Hour"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-witching-hour#post-1105092 Mon, 23 Sep 2013 10:35:42 +0000 Foodnerd81 1105092@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @redsmarties: c was doing that for a while, or shed latch then scream like my boob was full of daggers. It was horrible. Then she just kind of chilled out. She was 7 weeks on the dot for the worst of it- we were all in tears. No advice but waiting it out though. It sucked. Mrs. Oatmeal on "The "Witching Hour"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-witching-hour#post-1105050 Mon, 23 Sep 2013 10:28:10 +0000 Mrs. Oatmeal 1105050@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Thanks for all of the suggestions! I like the idea of a bedtime routine, but I'm unsure as to whether this would work for her - some nights she falls asleep by nine, others its ten-thirty or eleven. Maybe a routine would fix this? Also, to those who suggested cluster feeding - she *won't* latch properly because she is so upset. I try over and over, but it just makes her more angry. Do you start cluster feeding before the fussiness kicks in? Anagram on "The "Witching Hour"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-witching-hour#post-1104933 Mon, 23 Sep 2013 10:05:39 +0000 Anagram 1104933@https://boards.hellobee.com/ My LO was like this from 4:30-8 pm every evening from 4-8 weeks and started tapering off after that. Now at 10 weeks, she still gets minorly fussy at night, but no actual crying, just some crankiness. She goes down between 7:30-8:00 pm. keiki_mama on "The "Witching Hour"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-witching-hour#post-1104914 Mon, 23 Sep 2013 09:59:36 +0000 keiki_mama 1104914@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Our LO did this too! If I remember right, it went away by 2 1/2 months. mrsjyw on "The "Witching Hour"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-witching-hour#post-1104908 Mon, 23 Sep 2013 09:58:29 +0000 mrsjyw 1104908@https://boards.hellobee.com/ ended right around 8 weeks! lawbee11 on "The "Witching Hour"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-witching-hour#post-1104905 Mon, 23 Sep 2013 09:57:49 +0000 lawbee11 1104905@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @Foodnerd81: We start our routine at 8:00. We do bath at 8 (I use soap every other night; on nights we don't do soap I add Aveeno calming bath to the water). I wash her hair every night because she has so much hair and it gets oily quickly. If your LO doesn't have much hair I think you could definitely skip the head washing. After bath I dry her off then take her into our room (she sleeps in a PNP in our room). I turn off all lights but one dim lamp. I turn on the white noise machine then give her a lotion massage (she is usually fussy by this point, but as soon as I turn on the dohm she calms down...it's like she knows lotion and nursing is coming!). After that I put on her pjs, swaddle, then nurse. She falls asleep nursing then I burp her. She is usually asleep and in PNP by 8:30-8:45. DH is home most nights, but I pretty much do it alone even when he's home. I find the less interaction/stimulation the better. Foodnerd81 on "The "Witching Hour"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-witching-hour#post-1104831 Mon, 23 Sep 2013 09:32:34 +0000 Foodnerd81 1104831@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @lawbee11: @rahlyrah: what does your routine entail? I've resisted adding a nightly bath bc she hated it, though lately she is ok up until we get her head wet. I guess if I skipped any head washing most nights we might be able to do it. Take me through the whole routine! Also are your husbands home for this? Dh frequently doesn't even get home until 7 and she starts getting cranky by 5 or 6. We start out wind down around 8 usually- feed one side, diaper change, swaddle, feed the other side until she drifts off, into bed. Ten minutes later she wakes up for no reason, rock her back to sleep, the end. Usually about an hour and a half in total. lawbee11 on "The "Witching Hour"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-witching-hour#post-1104553 Mon, 23 Sep 2013 07:48:31 +0000 lawbee11 1104553@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I agree with @rahlyrah--starting a a routine did wonders for her nighttime fussiness. Now she's typically only fussy for half an hour whereas it used to be up to two hours. emg86 on "The "Witching Hour"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-witching-hour#post-1104545 Mon, 23 Sep 2013 07:44:21 +0000 emg86 1104545@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Oh yes, still happening every day and she's 4.5 months. Ours starts at 7pm on the dot. If she's not in her bath by 715 she really loses it. So we do bath time every day and by 745-8 she's passed out and out for the night. Adira on "The "Witching Hour"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-witching-hour#post-1104461 Mon, 23 Sep 2013 06:46:35 +0000 Adira 1104461@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Ended around 10 weeks for us! betsyboop on "The "Witching Hour"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-witching-hour#post-1104448 Mon, 23 Sep 2013 06:26:48 +0000 betsyboop 1104448@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Ended at around 3 months. Hang in there! Smurfette on "The "Witching Hour"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-witching-hour#post-1104432 Mon, 23 Sep 2013 05:13:36 +0000 Smurfette 1104432@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Ended around 9-10 weeks for us. Ra on "The "Witching Hour"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-witching-hour#post-1104427 Mon, 23 Sep 2013 04:41:11 +0000 Ra 1104427@https://boards.hellobee.com/ It ended for us around 7 weeks. A bedtime routine that included a nightly bath really helped. shopaholic on "The "Witching Hour"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-witching-hour#post-1104393 Mon, 23 Sep 2013 01:18:39 +0000 shopaholic 1104393@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I want to say our "witching hours" lasted about 2 months (though, it would come and go and not always be so intense.) I would take lots of walks outside with her in the baby carrier. And as pp said, cluster-feed. Hang in there! Sapphiresun on "The "Witching Hour"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-witching-hour#post-1104389 Mon, 23 Sep 2013 01:14:06 +0000 Sapphiresun 1104389@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Today was the first time that we haven't had a horrible witching hour. (Well, let's be honest it was usually 3-4 hours only helped by cluster feeding from 8pm-1am) We did absolutely nothing different than usual, so fingers crossed that at 7w2d it's just over?? boots on "The "Witching Hour"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-witching-hour#post-1104370 Mon, 23 Sep 2013 00:08:02 +0000 boots 1104370@https://boards.hellobee.com/ My daughter's witching hour started between 7-8 and ended between 9-10...every night like clockwork. She'd cry and cry and then magically fall asleep like she hadn't been trying to kill us for an hour+. I think it started around 6 weeks and ended around 11/12 weeks. Navy_Mommy on "The "Witching Hour"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-witching-hour#post-1104328 Sun, 22 Sep 2013 22:33:04 +0000 Navy_Mommy 1104328@https://boards.hellobee.com/ It didn't stop till he was well past 6 months. I would wear him and dothe dishes or go for a walk to calm him down enough to nurse him to sleep. yoursilverlining on "The "Witching Hour"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-witching-hour#post-1104322 Sun, 22 Sep 2013 22:26:54 +0000 yoursilverlining 1104322@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Witching "hour" over here lasted from 6-10pm like clockwork for about 12 weeks, then it went away. LO had colic and some digestive issues, and in the end, I think that it just took time and digestive maturation to get over the witching hour. Probiotics did help us as well. Colic water, gas drops, bicycling, hot baths all helped some, too but everyone was hit or miss. Good luck, it does generally pass! LO was *not* *not* *not* an easy baby, but she is a super, duper easy toddler. googly-eyes on "The "Witching Hour"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-witching-hour#post-1104321 Sun, 22 Sep 2013 22:26:47 +0000 googly-eyes 1104321@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Probably happened on and off by around three to four months and went away by 4ish! Bookish on "The "Witching Hour"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-witching-hour#post-1104312 Sun, 22 Sep 2013 22:15:39 +0000 Bookish 1104312@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @lawbee11: our LO loves her baths too. She'd stay in there all night if we let her! Apparently it relaxes yours quite a bit lol! We got rid of our witching hour by starting a routine and cluster feeding. Also, 5 weeks was when LO went through a heck of a growth spurt and wanted to eat all. the. time. Hang in there!! lawbee11 on "The "Witching Hour"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-witching-hour#post-1104309 Sun, 22 Sep 2013 22:11:38 +0000 lawbee11 1104309@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @Ree723: Thank you for the info! I will check CVS and Walgreens. @.twist.: She loves the bath. She immediately stops fussing when we put her in it. She'd be content for an hour if we let her, but usually if we bathe her longer than 15 minutes she poops in the tub! .twist. on "The "Witching Hour"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-witching-hour#post-1104298 Sun, 22 Sep 2013 21:52:54 +0000 .twist. 1104298@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @lawbee11: I need to start nightly baths. I swear they help us too I just can't get my act together enough for every night! pinkb on "The "Witching Hour"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-witching-hour#post-1104286 Sun, 22 Sep 2013 21:37:39 +0000 pinkb 1104286@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I am not sure when Lo started with the witching hour as it is when DH is home with her and I am at work. But I know it ended around 16 weeks for us. But I dont think she started with it until she was 10 weeks or so. Sorry to hear nothing is helping. Gas drops were our life saver. I hope it gets better soon. Ree723 on "The "Witching Hour"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-witching-hour#post-1104284 Sun, 22 Sep 2013 21:36:22 +0000 Ree723 1104284@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @lawbee11: I'm in Australia so it might be a bit different here, but I just got them at the pharmacy. Most of our pharmacies have midwife calling hours (certain hours during the week when a midwife is available to answer walk in questions) so I went in with the intent of asking about gas drops. The MW told me I could ever treat the symptoms (gas drops) or treat the cause (probiotics). She led me to the probiotics, which were kept in the refrigerated section of the pharmacy, and off we went. I'm sure you could go in to a Walgreens or CVS and ask a pharmacist about them...at least I hope so! I'm sorry my answer is probably not the most helpful. I know there are bees based in the US who have used them so hopefully one of them can provide a more helpful response, specific to the US! Elderberrygin on "The "Witching Hour"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-witching-hour#post-1104281 Sun, 22 Sep 2013 21:35:16 +0000 Elderberrygin 1104281@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Witching hour went from around 5pm, sometimes earlier, until 10pm. It started to ease off at 8 weeks and was pretty much over at 14 weeks. We did 5 S's and bounced her on a fitness ball with dimmed lights, or wore her in the Moby wrap. Gas drops didn't work and cluster feeding was a disaster because I had oversupply and she'd just spit up and cry more. To give you some hope, its 7.30 here, bub's been down since six, I'm enjoying a glass of wine and its been like this in the evenings for the most part since 14 weeks. There is an end in sight! .twist. on "The "Witching Hour"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-witching-hour#post-1104279 Sun, 22 Sep 2013 21:31:51 +0000 .twist. 1104279@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I'm still in it. Ugh! lawbee11 on "The "Witching Hour"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-witching-hour#post-1104278 Sun, 22 Sep 2013 21:31:38 +0000 lawbee11 1104278@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @Ree723: Ok this may me the dumbest question ever, but where do you get probiotics? Do you have a link to them? Thank you!