Why does my baby have such a different schedule every evening?

you could try pre-empting the tired signs, keep a log and try and figure out how long until that first yawn, or wide eyed stare, then start trying to soothe for a nap a good 20 min before that point, it "might" help. I've just been through this with my now 12 week old daughter, she was tough at around the 1 month mark and got much easier at around 8 weeks, so hang in there and don't stress about feeding her to sleep, sometimes you just have to do what works.

Reassuring reading...Mmmmmm, my DD is 5 weeks and exactly the same!

"Why is my baby so different? She is not like any of my friends' babies. They sleep through the night. They're happy being held by anyone. My friends don't seem as tired as I am. What am I doing wrong?" Sound familiar? Your baby acts the way she does because that's the way she is. Your baby acts the way she does, not because of your parenting, but because of her personality. "In the early weeks after birth you get a glimpse of who this little person really is. Even while pregnant you may have gotten a hint of the challenge to come. High need infants tend to be full-time tummy-thumpers and bladder- kickers, as if telling the world even before they're born that they need more space. In some ways all babies are high need babies, and most babies have high needs in at least one area of their life. Some have more high need areas than others. The neediness of the baby is often in the mind of the parent. Some experienced parents of children have widened their expectations of what babies are "normally" like, and they adapt more easily to a baby with high needs; new parents often are not so realistic. After Hayden introduced us to high-need babies, we learned a whole new way to parent. The babies that followed her each had their own particular high needs. We were able to recognize and respond to them because of our experience with her. None of them were as thoroughly "high need" as Hayden, but they came close. In retrospect, we realized that the babies who came before Hayden had high needs, too, in some areas. We had met those needs as best we could, knowing what we knew then. The difference between those babies and Hayden was not only a difference in need levels; Hayden also had the forceful personality to let us know just what she needed. (Factored into this whole spectrum of parenting is that we were young and full of energy with the first ones. Hayden was born eleven years after Jim. We had less energy, perhaps, but more experience.) We have met many high need babies over the years. Based on this "gallery" we have compiled the following profile of high need babies. All babies will show some of these features some of the time, and these features are descriptive only. As you will see, each of these personality traits has its blessings and its trials. These personality traits should not be judged as "good" or "bad." They are just differences between babies, but these differences do make high need babies challenging to parent. Ultimately, what matters is how the child learns to use these special gifts. Our goal is to help parents identify these unique features in their infant and child and channel these traits to work to the child's advantage." continued here :[url=http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/fussy-baby/high-need-baby/12-features-high-need-baby'>link[/url'>

its normal, more consistent patterns emerge from around 12-16 weeks. try not to miss tired signs during the day, I think some of the end of day crankiness comes from being over tired.

After having three children, I'd say this is perfectly normal. I can remember my first child being so fussy every night when she was a newborn. My most recent baby is now 6 months and I remember him being so fussy for a few hours every evening. Don't worry! That will stop soon and they cry less as they grow because they become more independent.