Am i doing this right?

[*Becky*]

ok - I have been getting help on the EASY forum but this question really relates to naps for my 18 week old DS. I think I have worked out finally that he has been OT as we have had wakings after 2 hours at night - last night he was screaming and nothing would calm him and he also did this at 3.30am? Anyone had experience of this. Often at night he can be soothed back but this was awful screaming and I ended up feeding him at 3.30am to rule out hunger.
Anyway - naps. This morning he started showing signs earlier than usual and so I put him down after 1.25 of A time which is less than usual. He chatted for about 10 mins and fell asleep happily. He woke after 1.15 of sleep very cross (I think he had wind) but once he burped was very awake and smiley so I got him up and we has A time. I then watched him carefully and took him up to his room after 1.5 A time and we had a short wind down and I put him in bed after 1.35 A time. He did fuss a bit and it was more than a mantra cry so I went in, put my hand on him and stayed with him until he was quiet. I then left but went back half an hour later to help him through the jolts. This did not work and he woke up. To cut a long story short I tried to get him back to sleep and he did close his eyes but then woke again so I did the same and he closed his eyes. I have now left the room and he was quiet for a bit but then woke up and is now fussing. Basically he has not had more than 40 mins sleep in total and I really don't know what to do. Am I supposed to keep going in and ssh patting? For how long?
This is SO hard - please tell me it improves. I think he is OT but maybe he is just not tired enough.
Any help very gratefully received!
Becky

[*Becky*]

should just say - he has woken happy so does that mean UT? How on earth do I know what to do if I can't work out the actual problem???

[becky1969]

The every 2 hours at night and screaming makes me suspect reflux.  My son had silent reflux, and he woke every 2 hours up until he was a year old -- fortunately, after we started meds he only woke briefly and put himself back to sleep.

Does your son show any other signs of reflux? Here's a thread that might help you figure that out

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=654.0


Let me know the answer to that, and then we'll work the nap problem!

[*Becky*]

Thank you!!! Yes he does have some of the symptoms of reflux and he was colicky on and off until 3 weeks ago. I am going to ask my health visitor if there is a test that can be done to check. Usually when he wakes after going to bed he cries but is soothable (well sometimes!) but last night was just awful. He is eating around 40 ounces of milk in a 24 hour period which seems such a lot but I think some of it is the comfort of the suck rather than the actual hunger as some nights he does not wake and during the day he hardly ever cries for food. It is so weird. I have just been for a 2 hour drive as am so so down about it all and just can't bear to have another nap go wrong and him to get OT etc etc. Thanks for helping me!!!

[*Becky*]

Hi Becky,
Just to say - my hv said that there are no tests she can do unless it is really bad but she said to give him infant gaviscon. If it is reflux she said we should see an improvement and if not it is something I can cross off the list. I think I do need to make sure sure that he does not have it if I am going to try and tackle some of these sleep issues. How long did it take for your LO to improve after you started meds? x

[*Liz*]

My lo has reflux too - I would say give it a week and see if it is helping or not. Thing is lots of babies need more than just Gaviscon to get things under control.

My lo failed gaviscon and is on Zantac. The gaviscon did help a little though - but as my lo was ebf at the time I just couldn't get enough into him to really make a difference.

Let us know how you get on. 

[becky1969]

Your LO sounds so much like my son.  My son gulped down so much formula! At 3 days old he was sucking down 4 oz at a go.    I thought that was weird (b/c I'd read BW) but my ped said "babies know how much they need to eat." Um, yeah not that much.  needless to say a week later he was in awful pain from not being able to digest all that food and the reflux was just excrutiating.  Just like you say, they are sucking to soothe the burning, not because they are hungry necessarily.

My son hardly ever cried from hunger either! He'd eat when I fed him, but he wasn't one of those kids that would wake crying to eat.  I'm in the U.S., so our medical system has a different way of approaching reflux.  If it's silent reflux it is very hard to tell.  There definitely are tests -- upper GI test, scoping -- but some docs just elect to medicate first and see what happens.

Have no experience with Gaviscon.  If it's silent reflux, there's a chance that it won't be enough medicine to help.  But hopefully you will see a difference.  We used Prevacid, which was a lifesaver for us. Prevacid takes 2 weeks to start working, and that's about how long it took for us to notice. 

Anyway, definitely follow up with the reflux before doing a ton of sleep training.  The reflux board has a lot of great ideas on how to reduce symptoms -- e.g. keep LO upright for at least 20 minutes after eating, elevate head of their crib, etc.  Go on over there and do some of those things as well adn see if they don't help.


Good luck!

[*Becky*]

Thank you both so much. Well I started him on it last night so we shall see. It is silly but I feel really guilty giving him this drug when it may simply be that he is always hungry (don't think so) or just a fussy baby and in that case I will just have to learn to live with it. Can I just ask - were either of your babies fussy? I find that on a really good morning he can spend 5-10 mins max under his playgym but the rest of the day he fusses after doing anything for more than 3-5 mins. I don't know whether this is common with reflux babies? He is a touchy baby so maybe it is simply that. I find if I go out he will need constant attention i.e. carrying, rocking etc or he will fuss/cry. If it is not reflux I really will put it down to being OT and we will have to work much harder at extending naps.

[*Liz*]

Fussing is difficult to be sure of - it can be personality, it can certainly be very poor sleep, it can be pain (hence why you are investigating reflux), there can be an element of frustration creeping in at this age too.

Is he happier to sit in his chair and play? - if its reflux he could very well be more comfortable that way.

And yes, my lo can be very fussy if he is having a bad reflux day! Because it means sickness, hunger cos he can't eat, and tiredness cos he can't sleep. Other times he is an absolute delight  .

Please don't feel guilty about trying gaviscon - it is such a safe drug  . If anything its so mild you might need to try something different to be sure it still isn't reflux. Treatment in the UK is quite different from the US. In the US they use other drugs so much more readily.

[*Becky*]

Thanks! I think I feel a bit of guilt as it may just be him but unless I try the Gaviscon I will not know. Thanks for the suppport.
Becky

[becky1969]

Let me put it this way: reflux causes intense pain for the child.  Their esophagus is so inflamed that it turns bright red and swollen.  They are miserable and have no way to tell us *why* they are miserable! So, which is worse? Giving him a harmless drug or letting him be in pain?  My DH felt much the same way you did about medication but once our son's throat was scoped and we SAW the nasty redness and inflammation he really changed his mind!    The meds won't hurt him, but reflux will.  It can even cause problems with fine and gross motor skills, speech, and eating disorders.  You may save yourselv lots of therapy time in the future by using this med now!   

[*Becky*]

Thanks. Please don't think I am bad for not rushing onto the gaviscon. It is just me to be a little sceptical of these drugs and to always want to try the natural options first and I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing. Obviously some of the babies I have been reading about have much more severe cases of reflux than us and of course drugs are needed and are a life saver in lots of cases! Anyway we did try the gaviscon for about 24 hours and whether it was coincidence who knows but we had a good day and a very good night! I did not realise how much we would go through though as was only given a small box (!) and we ran out over the weekend. He was also getting v constipated. Anyway the night after he did not have it was awful and so we were pretty convinced that bthe meds had worked for him but then last night he slept through great without it so v confusing...I am going to go to the doctors to get a repeat prescription so when we start again we don't run out...thanks for all the advice - will let you know how we get on. x

[mokey_cat]

Hi, dont worry about using Gaviscon.  We suspected our LO had reflux and were prescribed it too (I dont think her reflux was as bad as other babies though).  Our doc told us that it was not absorbed by the body so was really safe for babies as I really didnt want to give her medication if we didnt really really need it.  He said it just passes through then and helps calm the acid.  As for the constipation, I think thats really common - we have been using Gaviscon now for almost 3 months and it really seems to help. 

Oh and you do use loads of it, so make sure you order a repeat prescription in plenty of time 

Laura
X

[becky1969]

No judging, girl! Just trying to give you some perspective.  Totally understand wanting to go the natural route.  I see a naturopath and accupuncturist, so go that way myself most of the time! 

Hope you have continued relief with gaviscon! if you still need sleep help, let us know!