The Case of the Crying Baby

The Clues
-- Baby goes to sleep easily in his crib for naps
-- He's on a 3-hour eat-activity-sleep cycle during the day and rarely cries
-- Around 8:30pm, he gets his last meal and then goes to bed by 9pm
-- Between 8:30pm-10:00pm he often cries for 30-60min - most vigorously when placed in his crib
-- He's been crying around bedtime for the past 2 months and it did not improve at the magical 3-month mark (when colic is supposed to improve)
-- When his last meal and bedtime were moved 1 hour earlier, there was no change

The Context
Josh and I have spent the past month or two racking our brains. We tried music, swaddling, pacifiers, light, dark, rocking, temperature, etc. We thought he might be overtired or overstimulated. We thought he might have gas or a burp. We tried the Pick-up/Put-down technique recommended for babies who won't go to sleep on their own. We tried tracking my eating habits. Nothing worked. As a result, our evenings were tense and consumed by consoling our son, trying to get him to sleep without establishing bad habits.

Then, Sunday night, after striking out again, we had a breakthrough.

The Answer
Reflux.

We thought his crying was a sleep problem. It was an eating problem. Bedtime was the only time he ate and went directly to bed. So last night and tonight, we've fed him earlier (6-7pm) and then waited to put him to bed around 8pm. Sweet success. He's gone right to sleep both nights. And boy do I feel the difference. I'd forgotten what it felt like to have a peaceful evening.

Maybe this was God's gentle way of giving me extra empathy for parents of colicky babies? If so, I'm so glad this case seems to be drawing to a close -- and just in time for the new year.

Speaking of New Year's, I'll write about Christmas soon - you can tell my priorities have shifted a little!