Author Topic: Won't sleep more than two hours at night! And hard to get to sleep!  (Read 4387 times)

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Offline Lels

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Re: Won't sleep more than two hours at night! And hard to get to sleep!
« Reply #15 on: July 18, 2012, 17:06:18 pm »
She spits up for pretty much all feeds...but the dream feed worse because she is semi asleep sometimes and I don't burp her. 

Yesterday was a really bad night.  She was crying and fussy from 11 pm to 6 am.  I would calm her and put her down and use the shh pat and it didn't work.  It was a long night and I felt so bad that she wasn't sleeping.  So finally at 6 am I held her and just let her sleep until 9 am.  I know I am setting myself up for AP but I didn't know what else to do!  She needed to sleep! 

Night times have been pretty bad for her this last week.  Daytime is fine.  She usually goes down for naps and is easy to settle.  I don't know how I can make it better!

Offline katie80

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Re: Won't sleep more than two hours at night! And hard to get to sleep!
« Reply #16 on: July 18, 2012, 18:08:45 pm »
Oh dear, (((hugs))).  It just seems like something is up that's causing her to not sleep well, she sounds uncomfortable.  Don't worry about APing her right now, she needs the sleep and so do you.  She's so young that she's not likely to pick up bad habits with AP when needed.  You've got lots of time to get her going down independently and being well rested is one of the most important parts of that.

What was the pediatrician's reasoning for no reflux?  Are you engorged when you feed her?  Are you burping her often during and after feeds, even at night?  Do you hold her upright after a feed?  Gas can really cause upset tummies in LOs.



Offline Lels

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Re: Won't sleep more than two hours at night! And hard to get to sleep!
« Reply #17 on: July 18, 2012, 18:17:47 pm »
It's just so strange because she goes down so easy during the day and it's so difficult at night!   The pediatrician said that her weight gain was great and she didn't appear to be in pain when she spits up.

I try to burp in the middle and after a feed. Sometimes she is tough to burp. And I don't want to go on too long because than she will get overtired.

I am not engorged when I feed her. We just went off using a nipple shiel, she has been feeding faster. Usually 30 to 40 minutes now. Would that make a difference?

Offline katie80

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Re: Won't sleep more than two hours at night! And hard to get to sleep!
« Reply #18 on: July 18, 2012, 18:35:00 pm »
We just went off using a nipple shiel, she has been feeding faster. Usually 30 to 40 minutes now. Would that make a difference?
It could... a nipple shield makes for an easier latch, slower flow, so now with a faster flow she may be taking in more air and milk on top of it, so it gets stuck. 

I try to burp in the middle and after a feed. Sometimes she is tough to burp. And I don't want to go on too long because than she will get overtired.
I get this, feeds with my DS generally took about 30-40 min for a long time, because I was burping him often.  But, I do think it's better to get the gas out, so it doesn't cause disrupted sleep, than worry about her getting OT.  She's easily patted back to sleep, so a touch past her A time to get any gas out shouldn't be a problem. I tended to try to burp each time he pulled off in the beginning, because I have a fast flow and a good supply of milk.  I'd then put him back on the same breast until it felt empty.  As for being tough to burp, there are lots of different ways to try to do it.  You can put her on her stomach across your legs and gently pat or rub her back, push her up higher on your shoulder so her arms dangle over and again pat or rub, or hold her chin in your hand and gently rock her back and forth and side to side. Again, I found it easier to get a burp out if I did it more frequently, than if I waited til the midpoint or end of the feed.



Offline Lels

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Re: Won't sleep more than two hours at night! And hard to get to sleep!
« Reply #19 on: July 18, 2012, 19:46:56 pm »
Okay..I will try to burp her several times during the feed.  Hopefully that works and makes her feel better.

I use shh/pat to try to settle her.  It works great during the day.  But at night..she seems to cry right through it.  I pick up her calm her and put her back down..and she is up again right after and we start it all over again.  Maybe I am not using the shh/pat right?

Offline becj86

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Re: Won't sleep more than two hours at night! And hard to get to sleep!
« Reply #20 on: July 18, 2012, 20:55:55 pm »
Is she gassy at night? That can cause some bad gas pain.

I wonder if you have tried dropping the dream feed to see if it is that which is causing some gassiness/sleep disturbance at night? Inclining the mattress can help with gas - means it comes up as a burp rather than making it down to get trapped in the gut.

Offline my3girlsjde

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Re: Won't sleep more than two hours at night! And hard to get to sleep!
« Reply #21 on: July 18, 2012, 21:27:37 pm »
I wonder if you have tried dropping the dream feed to see if it is that which is causing some gassiness/sleep disturbance at night?
I'm wondering this as well.

I'm also going to second the opinion of inclining the mattress and trying to keep her up after feeds. If your paed says no, you can still do some reflux tricks that do help all lo's who are in discomfort ie, keeping upright after feeds, constant winding, AP when necessary.

But don't hesitate to go back to the Paed if you suspect discomfort/reflux still. Many Dr's are of the mind that if a lo grows and thrives then things are fine. I'm not sure what the case is here, but if your lo is showing any signs of reflux, don't hesitate to go back or ask for another opinion. Take a peek here to see if anything rings a bell just in case it could be reflux http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=654.0 and here if something else might be up http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=107244.0

Regardless of the cause, it does sound like your lo has some discomfort of some kind.
Vicki - nursing student and proud mother to three refluxers in two years





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Offline Lels

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Re: Won't sleep more than two hours at night! And hard to get to sleep!
« Reply #22 on: July 18, 2012, 21:51:47 pm »
I have already elevated her matress a few weeks back..it seemed to help a bit. Thanks for all the info. :)  I will definitely read those posts.


Offline katie80

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Re: Won't sleep more than two hours at night! And hard to get to sleep!
« Reply #23 on: July 19, 2012, 01:57:45 am »
I pick up her calm her and put her back down..and she is up again right after and we start it all over again.  Maybe I am not using the shh/pat right?
Typically, at her age there isn't any PU involved, it's just shhing and patting in the crib. However, if she's suffering from gas, picking her up and gently patting her back can help. I would actually get her calm and pat her to all the way to sleep at this point, just so you can both get some sleep. As time goes on and you figure out what's causing her to be up so much and can remedy it, then you can start patting less and less and get her to go back to sleep independently. Is she swaddled? That seems to help the whole process, as well.



Offline Lels

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Re: Won't sleep more than two hours at night! And hard to get to sleep!
« Reply #24 on: July 19, 2012, 02:57:47 am »
Hi Katie. Yes she is swaddled.  Sometimes I pat her right to sleep, only to put her down and she wakes in five or ten minutes.  Than I usually use shh/pat to calm her down.  It should usually calm them from crying?  Does it ever take longer than 10 mins of it before baby calms down?

Offline katie80

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Re: Won't sleep more than two hours at night! And hard to get to sleep!
« Reply #25 on: July 19, 2012, 15:12:07 pm »
Yes, it can take longer than 10 min, but if it's taking that long consistently or lasting up to 20-30 min, I'd say there's something else going on, either OS, OT, possibly UT, or discomfort.



Offline Lels

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Re: Won't sleep more than two hours at night! And hard to get to sleep!
« Reply #26 on: July 19, 2012, 16:34:45 pm »
If she is OS or OT, how do I prevent that?

Offline katie80

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Re: Won't sleep more than two hours at night! And hard to get to sleep!
« Reply #27 on: July 19, 2012, 18:30:14 pm »
It's basically a matter of knowing what she can handle for A time, looking for patterns, and keeping the last 10-15 min of activity before wind-down pretty low-key.



Offline katie80

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Re: Won't sleep more than two hours at night! And hard to get to sleep!
« Reply #28 on: July 20, 2012, 03:05:12 am »
Since Lels has a current thread going on the EASY board, this one will be locked to keep all advice in one place.  Please visit this thread in order to continue giving advice and support: http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=233781.0