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You're not alone. My LO was like this for the first 3ish months of her life, and it's slowly getting better. What made it worse for us was that she has a cousin who is three months older who NEVER EVER CRIES, and is always happy and smiling. Took me a while to come to terms with the fact that it isn't anything I'm doing; she's just got a different temperament, and that's ok, (((hugs)))

@daniellemybelle: sounds like a normal baby to me! Lo is 6 months and I am just starting to enjoy going places. She had gas and barfs when little. She had to be nursed through every poo and she hated everything except my boob in her mouth. Remember this: baby cries to communicate and express. I know it is hard but baby isn't mad at you. You are a great mom and try not to take it personal. And visitors are a nightmare! And my baby doesn't nap. I think older people forget what it is like having a baby.

Unfortunately (though, also luckily!) there are quite a number of moms on here who have or had high needs babies.
LO had colic and it was ROUGH. I mean, ROUGH. I do not look back fondly on the newborn days

Have you ruled out dietary/digestive issues from either breastmilk or formula? Does your LO seem to have gas or some other identifiable trouble?

What sorts of things have you tried? Some babies need almost forceful level of movement; bouncing or swinging back and forth while others like more calm movements. My LO responded somewhat well to being bounced on the edge of the bed in a colic hold (our ped showed us a few), as well as being swung back and forth while being held very tightly against me. LO also only liked one type of pacifier, the Avent Soothie was the only paci that would soothe her; the rest did nothing. LO also hated swaddling with the passion of a thousand suns; but has always calmed down when I hold her hands. Gently stroking the bridge of her nose also helped calm her.

I found the newborn days to be a lot of trial and error; which stinks. It sucks when you feel like you are not succeeding at something that should be “natural”, but every baby has different needs and it’s an ongoing process of finding out what works best.

@yoursilverlining: your post just reminded me of something. During her absolute worst times, the ONLY thing we could count on calming her down was bouncing with her on an exercise ball. That thing was a LIFESAVER.

@daniellemybelle: you are not alone. For dd it was like a light switched on around four months! She would cry for hours until we solved her tummy problems and after that she would cry about an hour or two (edit: straight) a night (edit: and a huge meltdown if we missed naptime by ten minutes or even less.) We barely left the house. I had bad ppd so that didn't help. She was a "good baby" after that and she is a great toddler so far although we just started that stage. (15m) take all the help and breaks you can get and one day this will just be a blurry distant memory! Hang in there!

@daniellemybelle: also I try not to compare or bother with general guidelines. They just don't apply. If I read a blog saying my baby only takes 1 three hour nap I am just like "what?" I wish. My lo was rolling around her crib the night she was born (not all the way over but legs in the air and then turning on side to get anywhere she wanted to go.) Every baby is different and just don't compare. Especially online because people tend to put their best foot forward so.to.say. hugs.

I have a "high needs" baby in a very different way, but I empathize with you. The only way out is through! Hugs to you.

It really does feel lonely when you have a high needs LO. I felt exactly like you - I didn't want to take him anywhere for months and constantly felt like I was being judged since my baby would cry all the time. I'm so sorry you're feeling this way, but just know you ARE NOT a bad mother. Now that I'm on the other side of the initial challenges of a high need baby, I am so glad my LO is high needs! There are so many wonderful positives and its just made me a better mother.

I know none of that helps in a concrete way now, but I wish you all the best!

Also, if you haven't already, try bouncing LO on an exercise ball - saved my life!

The thing that helped us turn a corner were naps. She was taking 40 minute naps and it was a struggle to get her down. So we started having her take her naps in the swing and she was much happier when she was getting better sleep. It doesn't always work, but it does 75% of the time. I also second bouncing on the exercise ball. Two things: a good workout for you, and it calms the baby.

It gets better. At 9.5 weeks, Hyla is a different baby. ***hugs***

I'm there with you at 8 weeks. Taking him places is very anxiety provoking.

Our ped nurse told me she tells people to just survive/ get through the first couple months. It really does get better.

This was my LO for the first 3-3.5 months. Many times I just didn't want to go anywhere because I knew she would eventually cry. Her awake window was so short, and she was so hard to put down for naps (plus, I had to hold her for her to sleep during the day!). Now she is the coolest baby, and people remark about how happy and pleasant she is. The newborn months are tough, and it will get better.

We call my child demon child from his infant days. He screamed 12-14 hours a day every day for 4 months. Ultimately for him it was MSPI issues and now at 2 1/2 he is an amazing little dude. I don't know how we got through it but we did. One thing that helped was sending him to other people . Seriously those hours where my godsend.

@Corduroy: I know exactly what you mean. I had visitors when lo was 2 months and they wanted to go out to eat for every meal! What.the.heck?! Dh ended up pacing outside the restaurant with her in a tummy pack while I golfed down a burger. Nightmare!

@daniellemybelle: I feel a lot of guilt over using the swing since it's a baby container, but I was going insane having her on me 24/7. I am a much better mom now that she is sleeping in her crib and every nap isn't happening on me (though, I do like at least one nap a day on me). And the fact that she is sleeping helps me to put the guilt aside.

@daniellemybelle: No, no, don't feel bad! I was only tying myself in knots trying to soothe her because I couldn't stand one more minute of the crying.... and to be honest, nothing really worked - only the passage of time. It does get better. I know everyone says that but it really does.

@daniellemybelle: I'm so sorry. Mine SCREAMED for 6 months straight. I thought I was going to lose my mind. I posted about it and what caused it here: http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/high-needs-colicky-acid-reflux-babies

Hugs mama!!!

This was us!! I was so desperate I literally tried everything. I cut a whole bunch of gassy foods from my diet. Used gripe water religiously, etc. Bicycling, etc. It helped for about 2 weeks then it was back.

I knew it wasnt' acid reflux because she wasn't spitting up a ton.

So the next thing I tried was cutting major dairy. OMG. Huge difference. Different baby within 10 days. Have you considered she might be MSPI or even just dairy intolerant?

I think my biggest fear was a colicky baby. Because then there is just nothing you can do. But interesting enough after all that I actually read a couple articles that some doctors believe the term "colic" was used back in the day because they just could not figure out why babies were so fussy! LOL And we know now that a lot of them quite possibly could have had a dairy allergy.

Best of luck! There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

@daniellemybelle: Hugs, my baby was crazy when he was very young (0-3 months?). He was colic and he couldn't put himself to sleep at night, and I was pretty clueless. Anyhoo, he also cried and cried and sometimes nothing I do could help him. we would be burping him forever and he still couldn't burp and would cry. Nothing helped. One time I had to leave him in his crib, close the door, went to the corridor and bang my head on the wall and cried. Sigh. It didn't help when my friends' babies (all of the same age) were such angels... while mine just cried and cried.

But let me tell you. He ended up to be such an angel. He is now 22 months and I am so thankful everyday that he turns out to be such a good and sweet boy. Tantrums sometimes but I am able to deal with it. Those 0-3 months were inhumane! Maybe those 3 months in the beginning was a test run to let us know how hard it can get. If we could get through this, we could get through almost anything. haha!

So you are not alone, hugs!!! Light is at the end of the tunnel so hang in there dear.