Witching Hour
A common pattern to the day for babies is angel in the morning and screaming monster in the early evening, frequently known as the “Witching Hour.” Now there are extreme versions of this that meet the threshold of what is called colic, but that is a whole different article.
Do us pediatricians know exactly why your little babe suddenly turns nuclear around the same time every evening for about 2-3 months? Nope. But we have some descent educated guesses. The first is that when babies first come out into the world, they are programmed to be more aware and interactive at night. For well over a millennium, humans were hunters and gathers which meant that they were busy all day-so when were the grown-ups around to hang out and feed the new little human? Night-time of course! So we often see babies in the first two weeks rock out all night and act rather lazy during the day, waking mainly for feedings, but not staying up to hang.
After those first two weeks, babies start getting the idea that daytime is actually the best time to hang out with everybody. They start to be awake during the day more and more when there is a lot more stimulation, which can be a lot for a baby brain to process. I mean remember when you first saw Star Wars or the Matrix or anything insanely awesome- It messes your brain up for a bit. It takes time to process and to let it simmer in your brain. Another similar instance is a cranky 3-year-old throwing a fit because their favorite toy is slightly askew from its normal spot while screaming that they are not tired after missing their nap and its fast-approaching normal nighttime bedtime. The same way your 3-year-old is freaking out from being over tired and over stimulated, your baby does that as well during the “Witching Hour.”
Also, at two weeks the adrenaline of having a new baby wane and, as parents, we are just as tired when the sun sets, and it is tougher to deal with a crying baby the later the day gets. This makes the “witching hour” even witchier.
But not to worry, over the next 2(ish) months your baby will slowly start to figure out how to make it through a day, start to understand the normal sleep wake pattern that your family prefers, and make new neural connections to deal with exciting things they saw or learned that day.
Some things that can make the “witching hour” worse for babies is that new parents often think their kiddo screaming in the evening means they are hungry, even if they ate 30 minutes ago. This does a couple things that can set you back a step when dealing with the “witching hour.” The first is that the baby will be overstuffed with milk or formula, which can cause uncomfortable bloating and cramping and a lot of spit up, which is not very comfortable. They will also think that if you always offer the bottle or the boob when they are doing their witching thing, that this is the only way to soothe themselves when upset. So, if you just fed your baby and they are still screaming, don’t rush to keep feeding them. Offer other soothing mechanisms like all the S’s (sway, shush, swaddle…etc), or take them for a walk around the room or the block.
As pediatricians and parents we know this evening time can suck and it is super tough to just hold and rock a baby that is screaming in your face, but the more we allow the witchy baby figure out how best to handle the day’s events and learn different ways to soothe, the faster they will be past this “witching hour” phase and transition into a lifetime (lots of hours) of chill kiddo time at the end of the day.