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Ladies, I need your help, especially those of you who have tons of baby experience! Most of my dcks have come to me after they are 6mths old, so baby age is not overly familiar to me. DS is 5 months old. He is a handful and not in a fun way! He has always been on the crabbier side. The last 2 weeks have been terrible. I need some more ideas on what I can do with/for him. His routine is eat, play, sleep. He's usually up for no more than 2 hours at a time and is usually crabby/tired by an hour and a half. While he's up, he takes about 15-20 minutes for his bottle. Then it's play time, which is a challenge and lots of fussing, then it's naptime, and then the cycle starts all over again. Honestly, if he was a dck, I would term him 
Playtime: He does ok in his exersaucer, but isn't in it for long (10 minutes max) before he starts to fuss. He'll do floor time with a few toys (only 2-3 that he likes) and a play gym for a short time. Tummy time is very minimal because he ends up screaming and takes a long time to calm down. He does like to lay in his crib and watch his mobile overhead. He also does better on the floor when we are overhead without toys. There is always fussing.
Naps: They aren't the greatest and never have been. I finally got him off of being swaddled a few weeks ago. He's still in a sleep sack. His morning nap is his best nap and is usually 1 1/2 hrs. The afternoon nap is terrible! He wakes up after 45 minutes usually and is still tired and a bear so I'll put him in his swing. Sometimes he'll fall asleep (please don't lecture me on sleeping in a swing...honestly, we (DH and I) are operating in survival mode and the swing is a comfort to DS so we go with it). He will not go back to sleep in his crib once he wakes up. He takes an evening nap and is starting to give it up, which makes evenings UGLY! However, he is sleeping through the night, around 7pm-6:30/7am.
Fussiness: He seems fussy A LOT! It's not new for him, but it seems to have gotten worse. He was on Zantac, but stopped at 3 months. I really don't think he needs to be back on it. He doesn't seem to be in pain, just crabby. We end up holding him a lot and he's not as fussy, but still fusses. We've tried Tylenol, but that doesn't seem to change his mood, so it doesn't look like he's having pain that's causing the fussiness. I do wear him when he gets fussy, but it's hit and miss if that helps. I have found that singing Itsy Bitsy Spider calms him, but I can't sing that all day long
Physical Development: He can roll from back to tummy. Started to reach at 5 months. Hands have been in the mouth since 4 months. Is on formula, no baby food. He use to "chat" more, but not so much lately.
I know all baby are fussy at times, this just seems to be more than average. I feel like I'm missing something, but can't see it because I'm in the situation. I'm hoping someone from the outside looking in can see something I can't! I'm looking for:
1. Ideas on how to make playtime more fun for him
2. Ideas on how I can keep him occupied/entertained while I make lunch (it's almost impossible to do that now without him screaming)
3. Am I just expecting too much from him? DS1 was easy going. DD was difficult, but not for this long. This one I feel like I don't know what I'm doing!
4. Do you think it's something physical that's causing the fussiness?
5. Any insights would be appreciated!!!
Sorry this is so long! I wanted to give all the information so that it might be easier to figure out what I'm missing or where I'm going wrong. Thank you so much!
Playtime: He does ok in his exersaucer, but isn't in it for long (10 minutes max) before he starts to fuss. He'll do floor time with a few toys (only 2-3 that he likes) and a play gym for a short time. Tummy time is very minimal because he ends up screaming and takes a long time to calm down. He does like to lay in his crib and watch his mobile overhead. He also does better on the floor when we are overhead without toys. There is always fussing.
Naps: They aren't the greatest and never have been. I finally got him off of being swaddled a few weeks ago. He's still in a sleep sack. His morning nap is his best nap and is usually 1 1/2 hrs. The afternoon nap is terrible! He wakes up after 45 minutes usually and is still tired and a bear so I'll put him in his swing. Sometimes he'll fall asleep (please don't lecture me on sleeping in a swing...honestly, we (DH and I) are operating in survival mode and the swing is a comfort to DS so we go with it). He will not go back to sleep in his crib once he wakes up. He takes an evening nap and is starting to give it up, which makes evenings UGLY! However, he is sleeping through the night, around 7pm-6:30/7am.
Fussiness: He seems fussy A LOT! It's not new for him, but it seems to have gotten worse. He was on Zantac, but stopped at 3 months. I really don't think he needs to be back on it. He doesn't seem to be in pain, just crabby. We end up holding him a lot and he's not as fussy, but still fusses. We've tried Tylenol, but that doesn't seem to change his mood, so it doesn't look like he's having pain that's causing the fussiness. I do wear him when he gets fussy, but it's hit and miss if that helps. I have found that singing Itsy Bitsy Spider calms him, but I can't sing that all day long
Physical Development: He can roll from back to tummy. Started to reach at 5 months. Hands have been in the mouth since 4 months. Is on formula, no baby food. He use to "chat" more, but not so much lately.
I know all baby are fussy at times, this just seems to be more than average. I feel like I'm missing something, but can't see it because I'm in the situation. I'm hoping someone from the outside looking in can see something I can't! I'm looking for:
1. Ideas on how to make playtime more fun for him
2. Ideas on how I can keep him occupied/entertained while I make lunch (it's almost impossible to do that now without him screaming)
3. Am I just expecting too much from him? DS1 was easy going. DD was difficult, but not for this long. This one I feel like I don't know what I'm doing!
4. Do you think it's something physical that's causing the fussiness?
5. Any insights would be appreciated!!!
Sorry this is so long! I wanted to give all the information so that it might be easier to figure out what I'm missing or where I'm going wrong. Thank you so much!