not eating but still waking at night

[*Jo*]

well after only giving him 100mls at 3.15am he woke up at 7.15am and only took 90mls, i thought he would be hungry after 4 hours!

Ive just put him to bed now, im gonna let him sleep 2.5 hours to make it to the 3.5 hour easy (thats if his sleeping lets me!)

[*Jo*]

Ok it has gone completely pear shaped! he woke after 45mins, took 30mins to resettle then woke exactly on 45mins again so got him up for his next feed. He took 150mls! so i thought, woohoo success! but then i put him down for his nap, he sleep for 45mins to the exact minute, i even said to my DH "in 30 seconds he will probably wake" and he did. SInce then he wont eat or sleep, he has now gone 5 hours since his last feed and still wont eat. He wont sleep no matter what i do, im lost, so lost, i just cried before because everyone says "dont let them go more than 5 hours without a feed" but i cant get him to take his bottle!!!!!

I dont know what to do, im so lost on the routine that i have no idea if he is hungry or tired (probably both) but wont take either.
What the heck do i do!!!!!

[TDR'smom]

45 minute naps usually means they are ready for some more A time.  What has Caleb's routine been in the past few days?  Sometimes not eating is "not" an EATING ISSUE, rather than a Sleeping/routine issue.

[*Jo*]

its been a 3 hour routine with 1 hour A times and 45min naps that we try to extend, some with no luck and thinking he is hungry as he isnt taking much at his feeds we try to feed him a bit earlier.

Ive tried extending A times, very quietly and he is still waking at the 45min mark. If i try to extend his A time then when i do the wind down he is grumpy and fusses and grizzles and pushes away from me so i put him straight into his cot where he then grizzles for 20mins. Even if i just try to do a longer wind down time i get the same thing from him.

However, even after yesterday when he only took in about 500mls all day (he ended up not eating for nearly 7 hours and even then only took 100mls) and didnt sleep for 5 hours, we put him straight to bed at 7.30 (he had been up since 2.30ish) and he slept right through to 6am this morning for the first time in about 3 weeks without waking!!! it just doesnt make sense! when he eats more than 500mls but still not alot he wakes through the night to eat yet yesterday he hardly ate anything and he slept through! He still only took roughly 100mls at his dreamfeed as well. Here i am making up 200ml bottles as thats roughly what he should be on and im just wasting it. Yet when i have made only 150mls it seems to be the time he wants slightly more! AAAHH

When i tried feeding him yesterday he was nearly screaming, he refused the bottle. I took him to the dr who said its either the formula or his tummy and that i have to see a pediatrician as he cant help me, so im off to the childrens hospital today to get him checked out, i dont want another day like yesterday. If he is fine and they find that out then im ok with that but if he has tummy issues i would rather know about it now and get it sorted out.

[*Jo*]

didnt end up going to the hospital, but now i just want to scream. Hes started not eating or sleeping again, he had a 45min nap this morning and it took 30mins to resettle him for him to only sleep 20mins. Got him up and fed him, he didnt take much,he looked tired after only being up 25mins so i tried to put him down, have spent the last 2.5 hours trying to get him to sleep, hes grumpy and fussy when hes awake because he is tired but when i take him to his room he just starts crying. Hes never been left to cry so i dont know why he is crying when he sees his room, cot etc. I thought it was the wrap that he was frustrated with so i took him out of it but no, that didnt work. I tried putting him on his side, nope that didnt work. When the patting actually did work he only slept for 15mins!!!

Im going out of my mind. i just tried feeding him cos its been 3 hours and he doesnt want any of it, starts crying when i put the bottle in his mouth again.

Hes hungry but wont eat. Hes tired but wont sleep. I have spent most of today in his darkened room, just crying silently while i pat and sometimes when hes started crying, i just join in.

I feel like i dont even know my own son anymore, if i cant read his cues how the heck am i supposed to give him what he needs!
I dont know what to do!

[TDR'smom]

{{{HUGS}}}}

I still think he is OT, but it might be worth getting him checked by a pediatrician to rule out tummy ache, ear infection etc. etc.

Forgive me if you've already answered this, could his teeth be coming in?

[*Jo*]

Hes too young to have his teeth coming through isnt he? He does have red cheeks, drooling alot and putting hand in mouth but i couldnt see or feel anything in his mouth.

Once again hes only had around 400-500mls. hnearly polished off his bottle at his DF though, Im so exhausted and all ive done is cry. I know hes OT but we cant seem to beat it, hes tired but wont sleep and then hes OT and then hes more OT cos he wont sleep when hes already OT. If i do patting then i get maybe 20-30mins out of him of sleep and thats if i am lucky. All day he only had about 3 hours sleep. Im gonna post in the sleep section about OT.

Im taking him to the hospital today, ive decided enough is enough, whatever the issue is we have to rule out sore tummy at least (his ears are fine, had them checked twice)

[*Liz*]

((Hugs)) so sorry to hear that things have been going so badly.

I think its great idea to get a paediatrician involved. This sounds so familiar to me - poor eating and an OT cycle caused by poorly controlled reflux. I remember one day when ds slept for 3 hrs in 24 hrs. That was when I finally got him onto some treatment. I think you really need to exclude this, and get specialist advice regarding what type of formula to use as all this changing isn't going to help his little tummy.

Can you just AP? Long walk in the buggy? Rock? Cuddle? Anything?

Please let us know how your get one.
 

[TDR'smom]

Let us know what the pediatrician says.   

[*Jo*]

OH MY GOSH! i am over the moon! i went to the hospital this morning and they were fantastic. They diagnosed him with cows milk protein intolerance and i got some new formula. I gave him his first feed of it when we got home half an hour ago and he drank the whole thing! without crying, fussing, screaming. even after i burped him twice he still went back for more whereas before i was always afraid to burp him cos he never wanted more afterwards and it was a struggle to get him to eat the first time round. Ive just done a wind down time with him and for the first time in weeks he didnt wriggle and cry and fuss in my arms. I put him down to bed and no crying, no fussing, he actually smiled at me as i lay him in his cot, and i couldnt resist, i smiled back and gave him a big smoochie kiss!!!

I knew something wasnt right with him, i just knew it! I want to cry with happiness, they said i may not see any improvement for a few days but ive seen an improvement within minutes!!!!!!!

[*Liz*]

I thought this might be the issue!

I'm so pleased for you! Hope it continues like this - I am going through the same thing with J at the moment - but still getting good and bad days really. But it is so wonderful when someone actually listens to you.

Let us know how the rest of the day goes.

Actually your positive post has inspired me to go hassle my health professionals about a few things that are worrying me - so thanks!!

[TDR'smom]

I knew something wasnt right with him, i just knew it! I want to cry with happiness, they said i may not see any improvement for a few days but ive seen an improvement within minutes!!!!!!!

Keep us posted on how it goes.  So glad they were able to help him!!!