Premature baby

[blinky]

DD was born at 31 wks and stayed in SCBU for a month for weight gain. Her real age is 3 months 3 weeks but her corrected age is 1 month 3 weeks.  We started EASY 2 wks ago and it has worked well on and off. She is a Touchy/Angel baby which means she doens't cry but is sensitive to noise, waking up easily and getting over stimulated easily.  She says 'ning' when she's hungry and 'eh' when she's tired. She has terrible griping pains and gas which interfere with her sleeping - she doubles up in pain (then she'll cry).  She got so bad 4 days ago that we took her off breast milk, gave her formula and i changed my diet, cutting out lots of possible irritants.  After 2 days, we put her back on breast milk and she was just as bad so I've put her back on formula.

Now she's over-tired and I can't get her to sleep at all.  She's swaddled, the curtains drawn, we sit 5 mins, she sighs and relaxes, i put her in bed awake. She will either drop off and wake in 30 mins or not sleep at all.  She doesn't cry. Just 'eh'.  She hates shush/pat. The noise of shushing seems to make her more irritable, so I go with just the patting. If i leave her in her cot once she's woken up, she wont' fall asleep again and she won't cry. This is only when she's overtired. Normally she'll put herself back to sleep.

She hasn't slept since 2am (ie 16 hours) and she's desperate to sleep.
What should I do?
Thanks

[woopster]

My first thought is to treat her as her corrected age.  Is there anyway she would sleep on you or in a swing or stroller?  I wouldn't worry too much about having props at this stage - we can work on those once she has some sleep.
What was she fed on in SCBU? Did you express, were you able to feed at all?  Did she have any formula, what kind?
I don't think that 2 days is long enough to eliminate allergens from your breast milk - although I may be wrong. There are several mums here who have done that with great results.
Are you giving her anything for the gas?

Are you sure she's not sleeping in her cot? How long does she stay awake for once she's there?  Can she see you?

Sorry for the hundres of questions!!

[blinky]

Thanks Woopster for your answers.

In answer to your questions:-
swing or stroller - she'll sleep but wake up when you stop
props - she is dummy dependent but once she's in a deep sleep and it falls out, she'll stay asleep.  Needs it to fall asleep
In the SCBU she was fed on breast milk by bottle. She was too small to bf (1.5kg) and then when she got bigger she was used to the bottle. The nurses used to laugh at my flat nipples  so i tried for weeks but never really conquered it.
I express milk 3 times a day for her and have been doing so for nearly 4 months.  I think my supply is on the way out now though.
We're giving her Infacol and sometimes gripe water for gas.
She's in REM in her cot most of the time, jumping and jolting every 10 mins or so. She can stay awake for 6 hours.
Yes she can see me, sometimes i think I'm a distraction as she opens her eyes wider and stares at me.

Is there a chance she's developing a negative association with her cot - that she only gets tummy pain there and she wakes up in pain there?  Or is she too young?

Thanks for your help, it's much appreciated.

[JennŠ]

What formula have you been using?  That could also be part of the problem.  At this point, what would happen if she fell asleep in your arms and then got put to bed?  At work at the moment, so I'll keep thinking and check back.   

[blinky]

Thanks mousemom for your help.
We've been using S26 gold for 2 days only and she's been much better on it.
The rest of the time she's had breast milk.
After falling asleep in my arms, she'll wake up either when she reaches the bed, or ten mins later or 30 mns later.

Any tips on how to transfer a baby from arms to crib?  I always get my arm stuck under her neck.   

[woopster]

Hi Blinky
What do you do when you put her into her cot?  Do you just lay her straight down or slowly lean over with her (breaking your back in the process?!  )
Have you tried laying really close to her when you've layed her down? As if you were resting on her tummy?  Then once she is used to this you could gradually wean yourself away ending up with your hand on her tummy.
Is she sawaddled really tightly?  That should reduce the jerks.

One more thing - check out the reflux board.  My 2 were 12 weeks early and Lydia suffered with reflux quite bad.
Have you tried holding her upright after a feed for a while - it could be that she's having acid travel back up.

Will keep thinking.  Hang in there!

[JennŠ]

Ditto in checking reflux.  My preemie  has it too and the first weeks were REALLY hard.  We used a hot water bottle in the early days.  Put in the crib to warm it before taking it out and adding the babe.  Warm arms to warm bed.  Make sense?

[blinky]

Thanks again for helping me, 

When i put her in her cot, i lower her feet first, keeping tight hold of her upper body and i wait a minute or so before I let the rest of her go in completely, keeping hold of her shoulders whilst she adjusts and then i keep one hand on her for a couple of minutes. Yes she's swaddled tightly.
She crashed at 7pm yesterday, we gave her the dream feed at 11pm which she hardly noticed and then she woke at 4am.  I gave her the dummy until 5am and then i fed her. She didn't sleep again after that.
Her morning was disturbed because she had a hospital appointment but she's now in her cot and so far she's slept 30 mins though most of it REM.

I'll certainly check out the reflux board. We do keep her upright after a feed as she is prone to getting hiccups if you lay her down too quickly.

Thanks a million for taking the time to help me.
Blinky

[JennŠ]

Elevation of the head of the bed can also help.  And it all gets easier...