4 month old 4 days on EASY still waking every hour at night! HELP!

[FourGirlsNM]

OK so I posted in the EASY section yesterday and got some great response but wanted to post here specifically about our night wakening problems!!! Brief background- 18 week old (13 week adjusted for prematurity) about a month ago she started more sleep wakenings and working up to every 1-2hour and needing to nurse briefly to go back to sleep, she does NOT take a paci, I have tried every kind they make! So now I guess has an intense suck to sleep association and can't get through more than one to two sleep cycles without it. Sh/pat does work. She also does not nap longer than one hour during the day.  I am DYING! I am starting to wonder if she could have a medical condition or something that does not allow her to continue through the sleep cycle, although 6 weeks or so ago she was sleeping 4-6 hour stretches on occasion the first part of the nights.

Last night this was what happened:
6:30pm feed, asleep by 7:15 after sh/pat
8:45pm up- NF
10:30pm up- sh/pat back to sleep
11:45pm up-NF
12:45ish up- Sh/pat
1:45ish up- Sh/pat
3:30am NF
4:30am up Sh/pat did not go back to sleep for longer than 10 minutes at a time until 5:30ish am
7am- up for day, first feed

This is essentially how she has been for about 2 weeks now, before starting EASY I had her in my bed for the second portion of the night and would just pop my boob in her mouth each time she woke up and started to root, I know she has a strong suck to sleep association but this is RIDICULOUS! She has not slept more than 2 hrs straight (neither have I) in about 2 weeks!!!! I looked in BW book and it says at 4 months it could take 3-7 days to implement EASY, last night was night 4, is she just super stubborn and in the next 3 days it is going to click?? She is evenly split between an angel and textbook baby, seriously aside from this sleep issue she is a wonderful baby but she is getting more and more exhausted and so am I!!

 Otherwise I am just being more relaxed with her naps, allowing one hour naps during the day if she wakes up relatively happy, if crying making an attempt to put her back to sleep for another cycle and sticking with the 3hr feed schedule as best I can with 1.5 hr A. This I have been consistent with so hoping that it is going to help. I am essentially on my own here and don't know how many more nights I can go with this. This morning I did go to sleep after 7am feed for 2.5hours while DP took over and plan to do the same tomorrow morning or even other times during the day if I can, but it isn't enough!

Any other ideas about the night wakenings? If I don't immediately start to sh/pat when she starts rooting after the hour of sleep, she will escalate into a full cry and then it takes longer to get her back to sleep. Last night it did seem to take less minutes for most wake up of sh/pat to get her back to sleep for the next hour but not once we hit 4:30am or so.

I posted this in my EASY post thread as well!  TIA!!!!

[FourGirlsNM]

I am reading about reflux, we suspected it a couple months back- some pulling off and crying at breast (which I finally attributed to OT), lots of spitting up (still happening), frequent hiccups (does not cry a lot or seem in pain though) and now with these frequent wakenings and desire to nurse very frequently, I am starting to wonder again. The Pediatrician said to try max strength mylanta, the pharmacy didn't have when we bought 2 months ago so bought gaviscon which has same ingredients (aluminum hydroxide and magnesium carbonate) minus simethicone. Tried the dose doc recommended for the mylanta, one time. Wondering if we should experiment and try again???

[katie80]

Hi there, sorry for the rough time you're having. When I read through your first post, I did wonder about reflux, so I think you should definitely try the prescription your Dr gave you. I don't know a lot about reflux, but I would assume that it takes much more than one dose of the meds to see if they're working, probably a few days or a week would be a better indicator.

As for weaning the feed to sleep prop and getting on EASY, I think you're at an appropriate place for only day 4. I'd say the book's prediction of 3-7 days is a bit optimistic. It's likely going to take closer to two weeks. And if she truly is suffering from reflux, things won't greatly improve until she's treated properly. Are you doing any non-med things for reflux like having her mattress on an incline, keeping her upright after a feed, etc? I'd start implementing some of those as well, while you're trialling the meds.

Is she swaddled? Since she doesn't take a paci and has such a strong suck to sleep association, I wonder if you guided her to her thumb, if that would help her settle. If she's still swaddled, you could start leaving one arm out and help her do that. Or, maybe that's a road you don't want to go down.

I've asked for some help from moms more experienced in reflux. Until they are able to post, take a look at this board, there's a lot of helpful information. http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?board=13.0

[FourGirlsNM]

Thank you Katie! I will start her tonight, it is just an over the counter med and the dosage doc gave me was from when she was a couple pounds lighter so I may just slightly increase (she suggested .9, I will do 1.0 or 1.1 or something).
Her arms are out of swaddle, sometimes use a swaddle from waist down, sometimes sleep sac. She does suck on her fingers and I have been trying to help her to find her thumb but for the most part still unsuccessful and she just doesn't get the satisfaction.

Good news is: Today for the first time in weeks she took a 2 hour nap, I did nurse her down but she transitioned to a second sleep cycle on her own!!! I am hoping this means tonight will be a little bit better! It is good to hear, I guess, that she doesn't seem to be totally bizarre in the number of days this is taking, tonight is night 5 so we have to be more than half way there!!!!? I looked at paci weaning posts for inspiration but those moms and lOs all seemed to have fast success so not too helpful! I guess the breast is more powerful association than the paci. Thanks again and I look forward to other replies!!!

-Rebecca

[FourGirlsNM]

Well, I started the over the counter reflux med last night. Last night was much improved, mot sure I can attribute it to med, more likely that it was night 5, but I will continue wth med for now. Here's last night:

E:7pm with reflux bx so short
S: 7:10 - patted briefly, she sucked fingers and fell asleep on own!
9:15 NW with feed since 7pm was brief
1:45am!!!!!!!!!!!! NF (4.5hrs, longest stretch in weeks!)
3am NW, sh/pat for a few minutes fell back to sleep
4:15ish NW again, couldn't get her to settle so did early NF
5:00 NW, again just really fussy, sh/pat and tried to help her find fingers to suck, would fall alseep for a few minutes and wake again but I refused to feed. 5:45 DP came in help while I went to bed. 6-6:15ish fell back to sleep (with some holding by DP)
7:15 up for the day

So progress in the first part of the night for sure, but it is the early morning time that went south first weeks ago so that is going to be the hardest time to remedy I think. But overall progress and also progress with her sucking on fingers more effectively!! Hoping that over the next few nights it will just continue to improve! I do feel somewhat relieved and rejuvinated today though since finally see improvement.

[katie80]

Glad you've had some improvement. I think the early morning unsettledness could either be due to the suspected reflux or a routine issue.  If you want to post your routine for the last couple days, I can take a look, but if it's from reflux, you'll have to give the meds enough time to work to see if it gets better.  I'm not familiar with reflux meds at all, but with an OTC one is it supposed to last all night?

[MrsWils]

Hi FourGirls,

I'm new around here and I joined for the very reason that you have just posted! Seriously, I could have written your original post word for word. My DD is 4 months, just implemented a 3hr EASY and she usually will not nap for longer than an hr. Our night's are EXACTLY as yours are. I have never thought of reflux though... what are the signs (other than frequent night waking)?

I'll be following your progress with great interest  

[katie_osterritter]

Following along as well as DS has many of the same issues & relux. MrsWils - there are several common signs of reflux -
Spitting up & vomiting
Frequent hiccups
Feeding disturbances (arching & pulling away from boob/bottle)
Chronic irritabilty
Discomfort when lying on the back
Sleep distrubance
Chronic cough & /or congestion

HTH!

[katie80]

MrsWils... Welcome to BW!   If you'd like to make your own EASY post to get some specific advice, please feel free to post.  You just need to hit the "New Topic" button on the EASY board to start one.  Otherwise, you are always welcome to follow along here.  Also, here is a link to some good reflux info: http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=654.0

[becj86]

FourGirls - I just wanted to make a quick comment about the meds - You say you're giving your baby a different OTC medication from the one suggested by the doctor, but at the same or slightly higher volume of medicine. I just feel that I need to say to read the directions on the box for the meds you're actually giving and follow those - the concentrations of the active ingredients in the various medications may be different and that could lead to LO getting too much or too little of the medication.

[Shiv52]

As this poster has a post in props I am going to lock this.  Any help please post here:

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=233868.0