# 6 Month-Old Increasingly Fussy



## Julia_Says (Jun 19, 2007)

I'm hoping someone can give me some insight here. If this is normal, then I would love to hear so. My husband and I are starting to worry that we are doing something wrong. Anyhow, my DD is 6 months old and she has always been an easy baby. She never fussed much since she was born and she only cried when there was something specific bothering her (hungry, wet, etc.). But for the last month or so she is increasingly fussy. She won't cry necessarily, but she will whine and make a grunting noise. She seems frustrated and upset. I don't think it is a sleep issue since she sleeps well and goes down for naps no problem. And she doesn't seem to have any food issues either. During the day she will seem to get annoyed with whatever we are doing with her and whine or grunt until we do something else. That is fine, but there never seems to be anything that she doesn't get frustrated about in a matter of minutes. We've carried her a lot since she was born and now I'm worried that is part of the problem. We can't set her down at all without her instantly protesting. But at the same time when we carry her, she isn't happy with that either. She is always leaning over and trying to squirm out of our hands. The one thing that keeps her content is taking walks in her stroller. If I had to make a wild guess, I would suspect that she is frustrated that she can't quite crawl yet. I feel like maybe she sees so many neat things and is just upset that she can't quite get to them yet. You know? Anyhow, I would love to hear if anyone else went through this. We are more than fine with it if this is normal, but we worry that we are doing something to cause her undue stress or frustration. We just want her to be happy. Any suggestions?


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## elmh23 (Jul 1, 2004)

I'd bet she's either frustrated that she can't move yet, is teething or both.


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## Qestia (Sep 26, 2005)

My son used to get totally upset at every developmental stage, first so upset he couldn't move, then upset her couldn't walk, etc etc. My 6 month old though too seems increasingly clingy, a happy apparently healthy baby but I feel like I'm holding her just as much as I did when she was a newborn, she just wants to be part of whatever I'm doing. So no advice just commiseration... and this does pass. They do grow up fast. The days are endless but the years are short, I think the phrase is.


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## sgmom (Mar 5, 2009)

Could it be possible that she's just bored and looking for more interaction/stimulation? It's gotta suck for the littles to want to move and not be able to, which is likely why she loves the walks so much.

My girl started doing this around 5 months and what stopped it completely was if I got down to her level and started to interact with her more (singing, and just teaching her basic baby stuff - even if she doesn't understand yet). Her favorite game was peekaboo (with mama, toys, the dog... ANYTHING that could hide and magically reappear from anywhere - behind the couch, around a corner, from behind my back, under a blanket, etc). Peekaboo in a mirror was (is) a BIG hit. Today (at 6.5 months) she LOVES to hide herself from behind a cloth diaper or blanket and WHIP it away to expose herself. The poor thing doesn't quite understand why her toys don't laugh back though. haha


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## Honey693 (May 5, 2008)

DD is the same age as your and we are going through the exact same thing. I was so worried she was sick or I was doing something wrong that I actually brought it up with her doctor. She said it's typical 6 month stuff and she's probably teething or working on a milestone like sitting up or crawling. I've noticed that the fussiness is a lot better if I'm on the floor with her playing instead of trying to do it while I'm sitting and she's laying down or in her Bumbo.


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## WyattsMom2008 (May 9, 2008)

She sounds bored. She can see the world now, as well as an adult can. She is interested in grabbing everything she can see. She is interested in seeing all she can see of the world. Yet she's not mobile enough to get a change of scenery on her own or to crawl or walk up to the things she wants to grab. It really makes perfect sense from her perspective.

At that age, I wore ds in a wrap, facing outward. I was constantly active when he was not sleeping, walking around with him, talking to him about everything I did and handing things to him for him to grab. If I was putting away laundry, I'd give him socks and things to grab. If I was setting the table, I'd give him a paper napkin to rip up. If I was making dinner and had five minutes to pop out into the backyard with him while waiting for the biscuits to be done baking or whatever, we went outside and I walked around the yard with him. When I had to stand in one place and cook and he didn't like it, I danced and sang to get him to stop whining.


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## funfunkyfantastic (Feb 9, 2008)

My dd is doing the same thing. I guessed she was bored. She does a lot of back arching. She is incredibly frustrated that she can't crawl yet. She lays on her tummy and reaches for things and gets frustrated when she can't reach them. Lately she's been fussing when I leave the room, for anything. She doesn't want me to eat, do the dishes, do the laundry... do anything. I try to get her distracted so I can leave the room for a minute to make food or something. My friend told me to try to make it into a game... but I haven't quite figured that out yet. She likes peekaboo. But if I leave the room even for a split second, she cries... and then the game means nothing to her. *sigh*


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