Grumbling night baby/Crying whilst asleep

[Jaxsta81]

Hi all,

My LO who is 4 wks old is suffering with terrible grumbles at night with lots of leg kicking!! Could this be wind? Or overtired?

For example, fed him last night at 2.30am, he took a full bottle (120ml) and went off to sleep fine about 3.20am but then woke about 4/4.15am whining and kicking his legs and couldn't get back to sleep easily unless he was in my arms with his dummy.

I obviously try winding him at that that time but rarely get anything. Is this more him wanting to be held and the leg kicking is overtired? Did I put him down in his Moses basket too quickly fitter the feed so he never really went off to sleep fully?

Any help appreciated as this cycle can persist till I take him down for his morning feed at 6am!

[becj86]

It could be wind - make sure to burp him well after any feeds...

It could also be reflux - does he have any other symptoms? http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=654.0

What time does he go to bed?

[Jaxsta81]

Oh wow i didnt consider reflux!! Reading the list of symptoms he does have a lot of those....

He has bath at 7.45pm, last feed at 8pm and DF at 11pm.

[becj86]

He could also be getting overtired - a baby's night should be about 12hr, eg. if he's getting up at 6am he should be in bed asleep for the night at 6pm.

You may want to have a chat with these lovely ladies about reflux: http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?board=13.0 They will be able to help you determine whether it could be the issue and how to approach your doctor.

[Jaxsta81]

He could also be getting overtired - a baby's night should be about 12hr, eg. if he's getting up at 6am he should be in bed asleep for the night at 6pm.

That's interesting becj86. So.....woe you do bath at 5pm and last feed at about 5.30pm and put to bed after then? Perhaps move the DF to 10pm? What happens to the 8pm feed? I can't imagine he'll sleep through till 10pm tho....

[katie80]

Another question from Jaxsta81: 

Does anyone else's LO do this (crying whilst asleep)? It's accompanied sometimes with grunts but his eyes never open and it stops after a few seconds. Is this reflux too?

[becj86]

Yes, that's what I'd do. The DF is ideally 3-4hr after LO falls asleep for the night, so if LO goes to sleep at 6, DF at 9 The idea of it is to get LO used to sleeping longer stretches without waking and to shift the longest stretch of sleep without a feed later so you can get some uninterrupted sleep

I'd cluster feed through the afternoon, so LO is getting the cluster feed while awake.

[Jaxsta81]

Thanks for all your replies. Interesting to think about moving his bedtime till earlier. It might be worth a shot, I mean more time for me and hubbie in evening is always welcome!

I have seen an improvement since using gripe water in the last 24 hrs. Also have been more persistent with the winding rather than stopping after a couple of mins.

[~*erin*~]

I have seen an improvement since using gripe water in the last 24 hrs. Also have been more persistent with the winding rather than stopping after a couple of mins.

whst's your best technique as i have similar issues and feel as though i spend twice the amount of time trying to get burps out than i do feeding her and it's driving me nuts! plus in the night, i do'nt neccessarily want to try every single burping position as it just wakes her up more and then it takes even longer to get her back to sleep!!!! lol. thanks!

[Jaxsta81]

Hiya mama2girls,

Well since I posted that we have come on leaps and bounds with the wind issue. We were using tommee tipped bottles and we've changed them to Dr Browns and I have noticed a MASSIVE difference in a positive way. Now when I wind him it comes up hard and fast and with force and if nothing is coming after a couple of mins Ive gone back to feeding him.  I can highly recommend them.

I personally prefer to wind him over my shoulder as the leaning forward on my lap position just looks awkward and painful to me. I make sure his little arms are over my shoulder and he must like it as he regularly falls asleep in that position!  Someone I know suggested 2 other positions which I have tried at times-one is simply sitting him upright on your leg and bouncing your leg, the other is sitting him on your lap again and rotating the body in a circular motion from the waist up. Think of a weeble!!

[~*erin*~]

haha. weeble! thanks for the tips. sadly the bottles will not help as i am bfing.....

i find a combo of over the shoulder and lap one work most times.... we'll keep trying! glad to hear things are going better for you!

[katie80]

Glad things are going much better for you Jaxsta. Wind and gas issues can be a big issue in those early weeks.

[becj86]

Lying LO on your forearm (head on hand, legs either side of elbow) can also help wind.

[londonmum2012]

When our LO was tiny our osteopath showed us a winding technique which always worked for us. You sit them on the lap with support for head and neck on one hand and the other hand on the back and then rock them back and forth.......makes the bubbles come easily apparently.

[~*erin*~]

Lying LO on your forearm (head on hand, legs either side of elbow) can also help wind.

I have tried this one bc I think it looks like it would work like a charm, but never seem to be able to hold her right! I'll have to give it another try for sure.

When our LO was tiny our osteopath showed us a winding technique which always worked for us. You sit them on the lap with support for head and neck on one hand and the other hand on the back and then rock them back and forth.......makes the bubbles come easily apparently

I tried this one last night because burping was taking forever, and sure enough, she had a huge belch! haha. poor things with their trapped gas.