6 thoughts on “Not Colicky. High-Need.”

  2. marta

    Interesting. I don’t ask this to disagree, but I’m honestly curious. How do you know a one month is high need? You’re the mom and you know, but I’d like to know too–if you don’t mind.

  3. marta

    Oh, okay. I know I could read the links you posted to find out more about the meaning of the term, but I really just wanted to know what made you consider it. That’s all.

    love to you and baby!

  4. Kathryn Post author

    Perhaps it’s a simple desire to find a name for a new experience. She’s not quite fitting the definition of colicky (crying inconsolably for 3 hours at a time at least 3 days a week for 3 weeks), but she is not a placid or somnolent baby either. She often will not stay asleep unless she’s in our arms or in her swing. She startles easily and wakes crying. She’s very alert and seems to fight sleeping. She will often not sleep unless tightly swaddled, and she dislikes her crib unless she’s swaddled and the white noise CD is playing loudly. Even then she’ll only sleep there a few hours. When being held, she will enjoy a position for a short time, and then begin to cry and fuss until her position is changed or the jiggling is done differently, after which she’ll calm down for a little while, only to repeat the fussing when she’s bored or tired of the position. What soothes her one day may not work the next.

    She has an on/off switch with hunger — when hungry she goes from calm (lip smacking, rooting) to crying angrily within seconds. She cries during feedings — not while she is eating but while being burped — she gets totally pissed off then the food is taken away and cries and fights until the bottle is returned to her mouth (at least until she’s more sated, at which point she is drowsy). She seems to have a sensitive stomach and hiccups a lot, which don’t really upset her but make her gassy.

    If we tried to sleep with her in our room (or bed), we’d neither ever get rest. I am up with her alone from 5 a.m. until 1 p.m. We’re both on duty from 1-10 p.m. Husband is up with her from 10 p.m. until 5 a.m., but someday he needs to return to work. So the mid-night watch and feeding will shift to me. This is probably all normal, but you know me. If it can be researched, learned about, and named, I feel as though I can handle it. Ah, illusions…

  5. marta

    I applaud your research efforts. For all my obsessing on any one thing, I have to be dragged kicking and screaming to do research. So many parenting books left unread…really, most of the time I have no idea whether what my son does is developmentally “appropriate” or not. Either I think it’s okay or I think it’s a problem and wait for somebody to tell me otherwise.

    Hey, whatever helps you get through the day.

Comments are closed.