The Witching Hour: Why Evenings Get Hard

Tyria LockhartTyria Lockhartยท

Many babies have a fussy stretch in the late afternoon and evening, often peaking between five and eight at night. It is so common it has a name, and it usually fades on its own by three or four months.

Ride it out with a few coping strategies.

  • Cluster feeding is normal and helps calm the baby
  • Keep the evening dim and quiet to reduce stimulation
  • Wear the baby or rock them to ease the crying
  • Tag-team with a partner so no one gets overwhelmed

The witching hour is a phase, not a parenting failure. It peaks, it plateaus, and then one evening it simply does not happen anymore.

The witching hour is one of the most universal and least discussed parts of early parenthood. Knowing it is a phase, not a failure, makes those long evenings far more bearable.