4.5 months bad mood during activity time

[shira1206]

Hi,
My LO is now 4.5 months and she is a very happy baby - but the last week or so she is not happy during her activity time.
When she wakes in morning or from naps she likes being in her crib, she sleeps on her belly and wakes and looks around. then turns on her back and chit chats, i sometimes sit next to her, sometimes shes by herself.
but after she eats i put her on her activity mattress in the living room and she plays with one of her toys for couple minutes and then starts to fuss, get cranky and eventually cry.
if i show her the toy again she can calm but very fast go back to her bad mood.
she will just lie there, not trying to turn and look for the toy or try to look at anything for that matter.
if i pick her up she mostly settles or if i sit next to her.
up until a week ago or so she was just fine there playing and didn't have a problem if i was in the kitchen doing something.
I am not sure what changed - i have this feeling she got so used to me bringing her toys to her or sitting next to her that she doesn't want or know to play alone? not sure...
once she had a lot of toys surrounding her and i felt that it was too much for her in terms of too much stimulation and confusion so i left only 1-2. could this be related?

we currently can't leave the house because we have heat waves and you can't breath outside it's so bad. i have a trampoline i put her in sometimes which she does like very much (no bouncing or anything, she just likes the little animals on it) and i put her in a baby "swimming pool" in our porch sometimes to cool down.

I want her to be happy
any advice?

[cath~]

could she be in the fussy/stormy period that comes just before a wonder week?
http://www.thewonderweeks.com/mental-leap-4/
http://www.thewonderweeks.com/crankiness-and-crying/
Development leaps and disequilibrium periods: what they are and tips to help LOs

lots of babies go through patches where they are fussier and need more cuddles/entertaining.

Also, maybe she's getting a bit bored of the toys now and would like something different?

Have you looked at this thread for some more ideas to try?
Activity and toy ideas for 3-6mths
or
Activity and toy ideas for 6-9mths

[deb]

I was also going to suggest that she's about to make a developmental leap.

This might also be a good time to make sure she's getting plenty of tummy time while she's awake: you can put the toy in front of her when she's on her tummy so she has to work those muscles to touch it (support herself on 2 legs but only one arm if she reaches for it, and eventually you can place it just out of reach and put a hand behind one foot to encourage her to push off and begin "army crawling" (crawling on the tummy), which is a precursor to true cross-pattern crawling. In addition to building up lots of good core strength, this is important for a number of other developmental purposes (including coordination and vision), plus it might give her someting new and interesting to do in the short term.

She may also just be bored inside and coping the only way she knows how, the same as you're coping by staying inside when it's so miserably hot. Hang in there! 

[shira1206]

thank you both, I will try some new activities with her, maybe she does need something new.
and it might be a development leap - she also doesn't eat all her bottle like before, wakes up during the night (though this has been going on for over a month  ), moody... perhaps this is all part of it.

This might also be a good time to make sure she's getting plenty of tummy time while she's awake: you can put the toy in front of her when she's on her tummy so she has to work those muscles to touch it (support herself on 2 legs but only one arm if she reaches for it, and eventually you can place it just out of reach and put a hand behind one foot to encourage her to push off and begin "army crawling" (crawling on the tummy), which is a precursor to true cross-pattern crawling. In addition to building up lots of good core strength, this is important for a number of other developmental purposes (including coordination and vision), plus it might give her someting new and interesting to do in the short term.

we have tummy time, but she gets upset really fast. i think she gets mad she can't get her toys in her mouth (so cute really)

She may also just be bored inside and coping the only way she knows how, the same as you're coping by staying inside when it's so miserably hot. Hang in there! 

yep - it's driving both of us crazy being inside all day, thanks!

[cath~]

and it might be a development leap - she also doesn't eat all her bottle like before, wakes up during the night (though this has been going on for over a month  ), moody... perhaps this is all part of it.

yep, these can all be signs/symptoms of a leap coming up.  Also maybe the heat?

[shira1206]

I wouldn't be surprised, the heat is driving everyone nuts - and being inside with AC all day isn't good either.
I guess this is one of those phases we will need to hang in there and see what happens - it's like every day is a new thing.

thank you

[deb]

How about play in the bathtub?

[shira1206]

she takes her bath towards end of day and enjoys it,  and besides that i put her in her swimming pool outside. did you mean anything else besides that?

[Ima shel Alon]

Shira, it was just like this for us till a few days ago, maybe a week, when DS started rolling. The bottles grew and spaced to 4h, we are down to 2 bottles a night, A time is longer and most important - the crankiness and shouting is gone! So yeah, I do think it's a developmental leap like pp mentioned.
Hang in there!

[shira1206]

thanks (Toda  )
My LO also started with rolling - wow it's like everything happens at same time