Anyone else's baby still cry down the house?

My 4 month (18 weeks) old baby still does that colic/witching hour cry every day, several times a day. We've had maybe 5 days in her entire life that were a bit more normal. Every other day we've had some issues. Since shebwas around 7-8 weeks, she's been crying every day, very often inconsolably and sometimes for hours. Even now, I have to rock her several times a daybwhole she high pitched screams into my ear. I try everything, I make sure she has all her needs covered, though sometimes I can't if she's hungry or sleepy as she won't latch when crying. It normally ends with her falling asleep being completely exhausted. We've been to numerous healthcare professionals and they either fob me off completely saying she's just acting like a baby and I just have to suck it up, or they say something like it's colic/reflux/teething and therefore normal. I'm always on edge, terrified she will stay crying again. Every time she does and I can't seem to work out how to make it better it breaks my heart. I'm ebf so I've also cut out everything that might upset her tummy and now every time I eat, I get scared the food I eat might hurt her. When I feed her I'm scared my breastmilk will make her upset. Or maybe the way I'm holding her when rocking her or if a strand of my hair is tickling her. When I do fall asleep for a moment, I have nightmares about her crying and me having to figure out how to soothe her. I'm not getting a break and she won't be soothed by my husband so it's all up to me. I think I'm asking this to see if this *is* normal and I do just need to suck it up, or if every other parent is having an easier time. Maybe I'm doing something terribly wrong

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Oh babe that sounds so hard. No you don’t need to suck it up, it sounds like something is not right. Our first had colic and it was like this but it was 6-9pm then sometimes for hours in the night. Our second started to have the witching hour but then my parents told me to hold him upright more and actively burp him. It worked. Have you tried burping her more throughout the day? You’re doing so well, this is a tricky situation 😘😘😘

My first screamed non stop until he was 6m old, nothing was good enough for him and I felt like an absolute failure, I had antenatal depression and had no bond whatsoever with him and those first 6 months really didn't help. He did eventually stop but he is an incredibly strong willed, determined and firey little boy. My July baby was almost silent until 8 weeks- he really lulled me into a false sense of security! He now is exactly the same. High pitched screaming for what feels like 23hrs a day with no discernable cause. It's definitely helped that my first was like this otherwise I would be a lot more worried. I just have to take 5 minutes pop my ear plugs in to take the edge off and keep going. I really don't think it's anything we're doing wrong and it's just temperament. My eldest might be a fiesty, stubborn little thing but he loves me so hard and his cuddles are the one of best things I've ever experienced. They do make it up to you as they grow older but it's so hard in the moment,I truly understand x

@Kryssi thank you for saying this! So it got better after 6 months? I kinda had the impression my baby would be strong-willed when she was still in my womb. I really hope she will be. It's definitely all worth while and I'd do it all over again for her... just like your second baby, she was super chill in the beginning

Yeahh it did improve slowly from 6m onwards, I was able to go out at least and he started calming down with other people - he couldn't be with anyone apart from me without screaming for hours until I was back, even his dad. By the time he was 1 he was absolutely fine, his tantrums are still extremely intense but I think no more frequent than other nearly 3yo. Both my boys were monkeys in the womb and they have definitely brought it earthside with them! But my eldest has a cracking personality and I reckon my 2nd is getting one too, in those brief moments he's not screaming he's got a super cheeky smile so by the summer I think I'm going to be in trouble with the both of them together! I'm trying not to think too much into it until we get to 6m, regression should have finished, first tooth should be in, weaning will have started and jabs were a distant memory. If it's still no better then, I might think about contacting the HV to ask advice.

I'm finding if I film the good moments then when I'm about to break down I can watch them back to try and remind myself it's not all bad. I really hooe she settles for you xx

@Kryssi thank you so much Kryssi, you've given me a lot of hope! It all sounds very similar to our situation only that I also can't be away from her without crying myself 🤣

@Kryssi that's a lovely idea. She's such a great kid when she isn't crying

I am sure you have gone through all this but - could he be hungry? When I was breastfeeding my baby cried lots and it turned out she just wasn’t getting enough milk - although I had supply, and she appeared to latch and be feeding. It became obvious as she wasn’t putting on weight. So, if your baby is chunky up well it’s prob not this. But I just wonder if you have considered introducing some formula, and combination feeding? I imagine you won’t want to - I really wanted to EBF too - but just a thought if you are looking at options. I hope things get better, sounds v tough.

@Hollie that sounds very tough, sorry to hear! I also want to ebf as much as possible and can imagine that being very difficult if you can't! Hope your baby is thriving now! My baby is in the 99th percentile so it's not a worry for us. I've been told to feed her less, but I'm still going by her feeding cues. I don't think me not feeding her when she's hungry would help with the crying

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