Why do babies cry more in the evening?

The evening crying peak is so consistent that it has a folk name — the witching hour — and it is one of the most predictable patterns in early infancy.

Crying in newborns follows a well-documented curve: it increases from around two weeks, peaks at roughly six to eight weeks, and declines substantially by three to four months. Within each day it clusters heavily in the late afternoon and evening. This holds across cultures and feeding methods, which is a strong hint that it is developmental rather than something being done wrong.

The likely contributors:

Accumulated overstimulation. A newborn nervous system has limited capacity to filter input. By evening, a full day of light, sound, handling and novelty has built up with no mechanism to discharge it except crying.

Overtiredness. Sleep pressure builds through the day, and an overtired baby becomes harder to settle rather than easier — a paradox that makes the evening worse the longer it goes on.

Cluster feeding. Many babies feed very frequently in the evening. This is normal and appears to help build supply, but it can look like constant hunger or constant dissatisfaction.

Immature circadian rhythms. Melatonin production is not established for the first couple of months, so the day–night distinction that helps older babies settle is not yet available.

What tends to help: reducing stimulation before it peaks rather than after, motion and contact, white noise, a warm bath, and getting outside earlier in the day. Sharing the evening shift matters — it is the hardest hour and doing it alone every day is corrosive.

When to seek advice: inconsolable crying with fever, vomiting, poor feeding, blood in the nappy, or a baby who seems floppy or unusually difficult to rouse needs medical assessment rather than settling techniques.