I really want to talk (or would it be venting?) to you all about the FUN I've learned comes with formula-feeding... however, a more important subject (and probably more educational) is: purple crying. Heard of it? Good because I sure hadn't.
When you hear the term purple crying, I bet you think it has something to do with the fact that your little one's face gets close to a shade of purple when he/she is screaming their head off... right? I mean, that would make sense to me. Turns out that is not what it stands for.
PURPLE:
Peak of crying
Unexpected
Resists soothing
Pain-like face
Long lasting
Evening
What does this mean?:
Basically, your baby will be crying for anything and everything (and nothing), driving you crazy & making you question your capability of being a parent, from about two weeks old until three months old... but especially around the six weeks mark (the peak of purple crying). There is NOTHING you can do to stop it or control it, but there are ways to try to make it a little more bearable.
For my son - the only way I'm able to calm him down is by putting the pacifier in his mouth (holding it in gently so he can't push it out to resume his screaming), walk around the house in a bouncing-like fashion, and sing to him (fairly loudly so he can't ignore it). While it is fairly successful for us, sometimes nothing will work. When that happens, I just have to grab a drink, hold my baby against my chest, and listen to his heartbreaking cries until he tires himself out. It's the worst. I wish I could tell you the secret to survival but I'm still trying to figure it out myself.
The only reason I even know about purple crying is because my little one was having tummy issues, so I ended up taking him to the doctor. For our family, week six not only blessed us with this purple crying peak but also tummy issues that resulted in constipation, formula changes, juice/water attempts, and rectal stimulation. For several days, it felt like all my son was doing was crying and fussing. Being that my only job right now is to keep my baby happy and healthy, you can imagine what this does to the mind. My poor fiancé was getting phone calls and texts up the wazoo (pun intended) for several days, including requests for him to leave work to make errands or just help me. I struggled a bit. It was rough, I won't lie.
But today, I write this post as I am sitting across from my beautiful Benjamin sleeping peacefully in his swing (since when does he like the swing?!?). In addition to this, an hour ago our little man burped THREE times after his feeding - which is three times more than he had been the last few days - and made a huge, stinky diaper for me (I never thought I'd be so excited about cleaning up a dirty diaper. I called my future sister-in-law to show her and everything. It was kinda a big deal for us!). And while I know the quiet is temporary, and he will probably go back to screaming and clawing at my face with his fingernails any minute now - I am taking this moment to remind myself that I am doing great and that my baby is so loved and cared for. That is what will get me through the next crying session. And the one after that. And so on.
I say all this to tell you that you are not a bad parent, your little one is probably not ill, every parent who as ever existed deals with this, and it's so "normal" that they made a name for it.
This period of frustration (for both you and little one) is temporary. You both will get through it. Hang in there!
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