Sleep and Acid Reflux

[thbriggs]

I had been posting in the pick up/put down section but feel that this area may be a better place for this post.  My husband and I have been working on my 9 month old daughter's sleep issues.  She is accustomed to a bottle and rocking before going to bed and experiences a significant number of night wakings.  We had her sleeping well using the pat shush method from 4-6 months but over the summer things fell apart.

In an effort to retrain my daughter we attempted pu/pd but were not successful as she's been throwing up using the method.  We suspect she suffers from acid reflux and will see the pediatrician next week.  I have discussed this with him on a couple of other occassions but have not been taken seriously, so we will try the pediatrician's partner and see if we make more headway there.  IN the meantime, anyone else have some sleep suggestions for older infants with acid reflux?

We are raising her bed.  Giving her a bottle with rice cereal an hour before bed.  Cutting out acidic foods.  Since we are also dealing with separation anxiety issues at this age I am putting her to bed awake and placing a chair next to the crib to sit with her until she falls asleep.  The plan is to move the chair towards the door over a 2 week period.  Anyone else have some suggestions?

Tiffany

[Mum to Ella Rose]

Sounds to me like you have a good plan in place!

Our dd has reflux and the only time we used pu/pd we actually only did p/d and that was when she learned to stand in her crib. We'd just lay her down gently and pat. We still use modified pat/sh too. We incorporated certain things into her bedtime routine. Like once she's in her crib I shake out her favorite blanket (her lovie) and I kind of wave it back and forth over her before laying it down. She giggles when I do this and has come to look forward to it. I then say the same words I say every sleep time and I have an aromatherapy (mild, safe for bubs) spray I mist over her bed. This also makes her very excited now. I stroke her head a few times, if she rolls onto her tummy right away I stroke her back, then I say night-night and leave. The reason I'm giving you all this info is when I have to keep going back in to try and get her to sleep, I just repeat most of the things she has come to associate with sleep time. ie: I readjust her blanket, maybe give her a little spritz again, say the same words, then leave the room. I just keep doing her sleepy things over and over until she gets the idea. It's the only time we do these things so she now KNOWS they mean sleep time. Does this make any sense? Sorry for the long winded post... :lol: 

Let me know how you get on.

Sharon