Witching Hour: Evening Crying Causes & Proven Ways to Cope

If your baby seems to fall apart every evening, crying more, harder to settle, and needing to be held constantly, you are not imagining it. Many parents experience this phase known as the Witching Hour, when babies become especially fussy and difficult to soothe. And you are not alone.

For many families, there’s a predictable window in the late afternoon or evening when things feel especially hard. You might feel like you’ve tried everything: feeding, rocking, walking, bouncing, changing positions. Sometimes something helps briefly. Often, nothing really “works.”

This experience is commonly called the witching hour. It’s exhausting, emotionally draining, and can make even confident parents question themselves. The most important thing to know up front is this: the witching hour is a common developmental phase, not a sign that something is wrong or that you’re doing something wrong.

This guide will explain what the witching hour is,

• Why evenings are particularly difficult for babies,
• What can help in the moment, and
• What doesn’t need fixing.

What is the witching hour?

The witching hour refers to a period of increased fussiness or crying that many babies experience, typically in the late afternoon or evening. It often happens around the same time each day and can last anywhere from minutes to a few hours.

It’s not a diagnosis, and it’s not a medical condition. It’s a pattern that shows up for many babies – especially in the first few months – as their nervous systems are still learning how to regulate. Researchers describe this pattern as part of the Period of PURPLE Crying – a normal developmental phase in which crying peaks around 2 months and gradually decreases, typically resolving by 3–5 months ¹.

Importantly, the witching hour can happen even when a baby is fed, changed, loved, and cared for attentively. It doesn’t mean your baby is spoiled, overtired beyond repair, or in pain by default.

When does the witching hour start and when does it end?

For many babies, the witching hour begins sometime in the newborn period and becomes most noticeable in the first few weeks of life. Understanding your baby’s sleep schedule by age can help you spot when evening fussiness is most likely to appear. It often peaks in the early months and gradually eases as babies grow and their nervous systems mature.

There isn’t a single end date. Some babies move through this phase quickly. Others experience a more intense or longer-lasting version. For most families, improvement comes gradually — fewer intense evenings, shorter durations, or easier settling — rather than a sudden stop.

Why evenings are so hard for babies

Evenings are uniquely challenging for babies, and understanding why can take some of the pressure off.

Throughout the day, babies take in an enormous amount of sensory information: light, sound, movement, faces, voices, touch. Their nervous systems are still immature, which means their capacity to process and regulate all of that input is limited.

By the end of the day, that system is often overloaded. Add hunger, fatigue, and the natural dip in coping resources that happens for everyone — babies included — and evenings can tip into overwhelm.

This is why:

• Even “good days” can end in meltdowns – which is why managing wake windows early on can sometimes help reduce the intensity
• Babies who nap well can still struggle in the evening
• Crying can escalate quickly and feel hard to stop

The crying isn’t a behavior problem. It’s a regulation problem — and regulation is still developing.

Common signs of the witching hour

The witching hour can look different from baby to baby, but many parents notice some combination of:

• Increased crying or fussiness in the late afternoon or evening
• Difficulty settling, even with familiar soothing strategies
• Wanting to be held constantly
• Brief calming followed by renewed crying

Not every baby shows all of these signs, and the intensity can vary from night to night.

What helps during the witching hour (and what to expect)

Support, not solutions

This is an important reframe.

During the witching hour, the goal isn’t necessarily to stop the crying. Often, that’s not possible in the moment. The goal is to support your baby through a period of overwhelm, not to fix it.

Soothing doesn’t always result in silence — and silence is not the measure of success. Being present, responsive, and containing still matters, even if your baby continues to cry.

Common soothing strategies (that may or may not help)

Many families find that one or more of the following can help at times:

• Feeding or cluster feeding
• Holding, rocking, or babywearing
• Gentle movement (walking, swaying)
• White noise or rhythmic sound
• Swaddling
• Lowering stimulation (dim lights, fewer voices, quieter environment)

It’s normal for something to help one night and not the next. It’s also normal for nothing to work consistently.

The NHS recommends holding the baby close, gentle rocking, warm baths, and reducing stimulation as strategies that may help soothe a crying baby during fussy periods ³.

When nothing seems to work

This is where many parents feel the most helpless — and the most alone.

If you’ve tried comforting strategies and your baby is still crying, it doesn’t mean you’re missing something or doing it wrong. Sometimes the nervous system just needs time to move through the overload.

In those moments, it can help to:

• Slow down rather than cycling through new strategies
• Repeat one or two supports instead of constantly changing tactics
• Focus on staying present rather than achieving calm

Crying can still happen even when your baby is supported. That doesn’t negate your care.

Feeding and the witching hour

The witching hour often overlaps with cluster feeding, especially in younger babies. Many babies want to feed more frequently in the evening — sometimes for nourishment, sometimes for comfort, sometimes for both.

Feeding during this time does not mean you’re creating a problem or a bad habit. Comfort feeding is a normal regulatory strategy for infants, and it often decreases naturally over time.

Watching your baby’s cues, rather than sticking rigidly to intervals, is usually more helpful during this phase.

Witching hour vs. colic

The witching hour and colic can sound similar, but they’re not the same.

Witching hour typically involves predictable evening fussiness with periods of calm at other times of day. If your baby is around four months, what looks like a worsening witching hour could also overlap with the 4 month sleep regression.

Colic is a medical diagnosis characterized by intense, prolonged crying for many hours a day, on most days of the week, without a clear cause. Mayo Clinic defines colic as frequent, prolonged, and intense crying in an otherwise healthy infant, typically following a pattern of three or more hours per day, three or more days per week ².

If crying feels extreme, constant, or paired with feeding difficulties, poor weight gain, fever, or other concerns, it’s appropriate to check in with your pediatrician. Asking questions doesn’t mean something is wrong — it means you’re paying attention.

What you don’t need to worry about

During the witching hour, many parents worry that they’re failing their baby. It’s worth naming a few things clearly.

You don’t need to worry if your baby cries despite feeding, cries despite rocking, cries despite “doing everything right,” or if you need to hand your baby to someone else so you can take a break. None of these mean you’re not meeting your baby’s needs.

This phase is hard. Feeling stretched doesn’t mean you’re inadequate.

When to get extra support

If something about your baby’s crying doesn’t feel right to you, it’s always okay to ask for help.

Consider checking in with your pediatrician if crying is constant and intense across most of the day, if feeding or growth is a concern, or if your intuition tells you something needs a closer look. Support is part of care — not a last resort.

Cleveland Clinic advises parents to contact their pediatrician if crying is accompanied by fever, vomiting, poor feeding, or if the baby seems to be in pain — signs that may indicate something beyond typical evening fussiness ⁴.

FAQs about the witching hour

A grounding takeaway

The witching hour can feel relentless, especially when you’re already tired and emotionally spent. But it isn’t a reflection of your parenting, and it isn’t a problem you failed to solve.

Your baby is learning how to regulate in a world that’s still very big and very loud. Being there — even when the crying continues — is meaningful support.

This phase passes. And until it does, you don’t have to get through it perfectly. You just have to get through it together.