Won't do anything "on his own"

JoanOfArc · #1 (**permalink**) 06-07-2008, 04:20 AM

All right--would love your input on this!! I'm really stuck in between something being wrong & just being a baby!

Caleb's a month old now & has decided he doesn't want to do anything on his own... as in--I'm holding him almost non-stop. He won't nap during the day unless I'm holding him. This, of course, is ridiculous because I have a 3 year old who needs help going potty, etc. So every time I need to help her, I put him down, he wakes, and so he really isn't sleeping well during the day and is exhausted! Makes for a very cranky little guy.
He also won't let you put him anywhere like a swing or a bouncy. He really seems to enjoy tummy time--but we're talking maybe 5 minutes. (Swing & bouncy--2 minutes, tops.)

He sometimes seems gassy, but that only lasted about a week. Now he just seems to be complaining?? He sleeps on his own at night for the first little bit, but by 2 or 3, he wants to be held. Needless to say, I don't get anything done. At all.

So what do you think? Is he just a baby? Or could there be something else? I'm feeling clueless--my daughter was an absolute angel of an infant.

Brandi_love · #2 (**permalink**) 06-07-2008, 07:12 AM

Sounds like Max when he was a baby. I was lucky to get a shower every two to three days. Aspen is the complete opposite of him as a baby. She likes to sleep, I can put her in her swing and she is content. Has Caleb had his one month appt yet? Aspen has hers on Monday. Maybe you could bring it up to your pedi and see what he says.
Good luck! Total exhaustion is no fun and it's double hard with a toddler.

3xmommy · #3 (**permalink**) 06-07-2008, 09:50 AM

Have you tried swaddling? It may help him still feel like he is being held. Also, snuggli/sling have helped me in the past when my kids went through this phase. It can be so hard trying to get things done and finding time for other kids when your arms are always full up. I would not think anything is wrong per se, other than he really wants to be near his mommy.

hidee04 · #4 (**permalink**) 06-07-2008, 08:26 PM

I don't have any advice but man, it sounds exactly like Dylan. Exactly. I can't even go to he bathroom without listening to him scream. Not cry, scream!

ibnalgas · #5 (**permalink**) 06-07-2008, 11:29 PM

I have the same issue with Cecilia

its a miricle i can be on here right now .....but i will say things are getting better. i did think it was gas too at first. but i was trying mylecon and gripe water...then i got colic tablets cause ppl were just sure it was colic. i didnt think so cause as soon as i pick her up she would be content. so after one dose of the colic tablets and things were the same i knew it wasnt colic.....i tried the swaddling and if she didnt feel like that at the time then she wasnt having tht either...i just chalked it up to the growth spurt that i read you all talking about on here. its something that in my years of having kids never heard of but it is getting better. I hope he calms down a bit for you.

May · #6 (**permalink**) 06-08-2008, 08:30 AM

Harrison has been just like that too. He is just now starting to get a little better with it. He is now 6 weeks. So maybe it will slowly start to get better for you too.
Its been difficult with having 2 other kids and a clingy baby but it will continue to get better.
GL!!

JennRH4 · #7 (**permalink**) 06-09-2008, 09:28 PM

Mine is about to hit 2 weeks and he LOVES for mommy to hold him, constantly and I do. He doesnt' want to sleep in his crib at all but I got him to sleep in his papassan swing which sort of tricks him into thinking I'm holding him. He has to be fully fed and changed of course or he objects to the swing. That swing has been worth EVERY penny.