What can I do to calm down my newborn (4 week old) who cries for no apparent reason every night from 9-midnight? Is this normal? Has anyone else experienced this? We've tried the usual tricks (swaddling, swing, feeding, clean diaper, etc.)

I would think it might be a case of colic.. are u BF or bottle feeding? make sure they are burped after every feed ( more often for bottle fed) and if its BF then change your diet around.. some factors are chocolate, aspartame ( stuff found in chewing gum and diet coke, sweetners,) onion and cabbage also can bring up bad gas in babies.. the main one for me was the aspartame,, i was a fiend for diet coke.. once i got rid of that and caffeine she got better.

Maybe he's gassy. Does he spit up a lot? Could be acid reflux.

because she has these bouts late at night it would seem to point to colic.. from what I have seen on the net anyway.. my daughter had it bad from 10 pm - 1 am ! and she was breast fed.. it was a real pain and the lack of sleep and being a first time mum myself i was going mental. make sure you get someone to help you out or get the daddy to pitch in when your about to lose the plot.. it can be so frustrating.. unfortunately it may take a while to grow out of.. my daughter grew out of it around 4 months..she only had it ocassionally as she got older ( shes 9 months now) but it was mainly the early beginnings.. its so hard and there isnt too much you can do but what you are doing.. there is also baby liquid you could try.., im in australia and we tried gripe water.. but not sure if its in the US.. she hated it and we rarely used it as it was so foul for her.. its basically oils and herbs.. taste horrible i tried it .:)

first of all it is normal. and many of us have gone through it. you are not alone and it sounds like you are doing all of the right things. my son was a big crier. if the baby is arching back when crying and spitting up often you could talk to the dr. about medications for acid reflux. do you or your partner suffer from frequent heartburn? it runs in families. you can try to keep your baby upright for 20-30 minutes after a feeding. but, since you are saying that it is from 9-midnight my thought is that the baby is over tired. i would try starting a bed time routine around 6:30-7 pm. bath, diaper/pj's, swaddle, feed (burp) and put to bed. you can try putting a towel or blanket under the mattress to raise the head of the bed. are you able to get a really good swaddle that the baby doesn't get out of? i love my Miracle Blanket. worth the $30. a nice tight swaddle is very calming. a loose swaddle is frustrating. good luck!

My son did that he was colic, sometimes the gas drops would help,

Colic last for the first to 4 th month or so if you are lucky, hang in there mom, it will get better, just cuddle and love him.

My daughter would get soo worked up over nothing that I would have to hold her close, and rock her (while standing, while going "Shhhh" in her ear. Her face against mine and she would calm down within a minute or two. Once she realized how soothing it was. It really helped. Then once I got her calmed down I could move her to either a cradle position or even try to feed her if that's what she wanted.

It could be that your child simply has gas. And doing some simple home remedies for that can help relieve him. Don't jump to the fact that he has colic, because that's not a garuntee.

Definately Colic. Research info about colic. There are lots of different things you can try.