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My baby has been pretty chill, but ever since the end of her second week, she has been inconsolable in the evenings for hours at a time. My mom calls this “the witching hour.” Is this real, or is this one of those myths from back in the day? Is there any research about this? Or ways to manage it? I just feel like sobbing along with her every time she starts.
—Feeling Spooky
It is very common for babies to cry more in the evening than during the day. In popular culture, this is often called “the witching hour,” as your mother notes. We see it in data; as far back as 1977, researchers noticed more crying in babies between 6 p.m. and midnight than earlier in the day. (Yes, this is “back in the day,” but also, it’s data!) There is some similar data from 1990. These patterns focus on small babies — this pattern of behavior is likely to change as babies move past 3 months.
Although the pattern of more evening crying is generally accepted, I was unable to find any significant new data on this. I find this surprising, given that you’d think the current technological era would allow for quite a bit more detailed data. This may be a place where the facts are so obvious that it’s not even interesting to analyze in detail.
It is not completely clear why this happens. One reasonable possibility is that babies get more tired over the course of the day, and by the evening, they are overstimulated and do not have a good way to express it. Your baby may also be hungrier, but too tired to eat for long stretches, so they are frustrated and, again, they don’t have another way to express that. Or maybe your baby is just being a jerk! Just kidding.
There is likely not much you can do to really fix this, other than just live through it and know it will end. You can try to keep the stimulation level low — a darker room, sitting quietly — but this will only go so far. Some of the time, you may just be sitting there with a screaming baby, and there is just nothing you can do other than manage your own emotions around this. Just remember: it does end, and things will get easier.
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