Why does my baby scream nonstop every evening?
Babies often go through predictable periods of intense evening fussiness where nothing—feeding, diapering, or holding—seems to calm them down. This relentless crying triggers intense frustration and feelings of rejection in parents, quickly taking a heavy emotional toll on the entire household.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
Why does my baby scream nonstop every evening?
- 1Skipping or shortening downtime to avoid leaving the partner alone with the babyDid this help you?
- 2Taking 10-15 minutes of decompression time in the car before entering the homeDid this help you?
- 3Taking walks outside with the babyDid this help you?
- 4Wearing earplugs to muffle the cryingDid this help you?
- 5Baby wearing and walking around the living roomDid this help you?
- 6Using a baby swingDid this help you?
- 7Offering extra evening feedings or cluster feedingDid this help you?
- 8Adjusting bedtime earlier or waiting for the phase to passDid this help you?
- 9giving her a pacifierDid this help you?
- 10cuddling, walking around, shushing, rocking, or any type of soothingDid this help you?
- 11waiting for them to age out of itDid this help you?
- 12Waiting it out and hoping they grow out of the moody stageDid this help you?
- 13Attributing the behavior to teething, developmental milestones, or vaccine side effectsDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“He's fed, diaper changed, wrapped in a warm blanket, and cradled by his mom. Yet cannot calm down in the slightest and sometimes feels like he falls asleep through sheer exhaustion. Right before going to bed every day. It's taking a toll. How can we stop this?”source ↗
“Sometimes my baby gets into big fits of anger that make her completely zone the world out and she's just screaming and thrashing in anger.”source ↗
“This mainly occurs when she's being put to bed or if she wakes up and is inconsolable in the middle of the night.”source ↗
“I mean obviously she fussed like normal babies would but nothing to this extent. I’m just tired I guess 😩”source ↗
“I had this with my second. Unfortunately he just wanted to cry for hours in the evening. It was awful.”source ↗
“My one month old has hers from 5-8 every night. She screams nonstop and practically lives on the boob, then just stops at 8 every time.”source ↗
“It's distressing because there's nothing we can do to help her.”source ↗
“She is so happy, goofy, active, etc. But lately all she has done is whine, scream, & cry.”source ↗
“She crawls to me to pick her up, still fussing. She’s fed, changed, and napped.. and still fusses. And I mean it’s probably like 75% of the day it is EXHAUSTING.”source ↗
“Dad finds it incredibly frustrating and tends to quickly lose his temper.”source ↗
“He has come to believe that baby doesn’t like him in particular and that he can’t do anything right.”source ↗
“He’s started calling baby names and has told me tonight that he hates baby right now.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 15Why won't my baby eat meals or sleep for naps?
- 8Baby won't stop screeching all day
- 5Toddler wakes every hour and only wants to sleep on me
- 6How to snap a toddler out of night terrors?
- 3How do you handle a toddler who can't move on from routines or transitions?
- 8Baby cries hysterically whenever I put them down