EXHAUSTED AND NEED A PLAN ASAP!!!! IM ALL EARS

[kitty30]

Hi everyone,

Im not sure where to start on this post but am desperate for some advice and guidance.

Lo is 7.5months and has never slept through the night.  We have a couple of nights where we are close then its back to long NW again.
Lo is on Losec for reflux which I think in essence is under control.  She is a small babe (14.5lbs) and we have had big feeding issues.  However we seem to have turned a corner in the last 2 weeks and she has been eating and drinking better than ever. (hoping it stays this way)
She is now bottle fed and consumes 20oz a day which is a lot for her.  She also has 3 solid meals of about 2oz per serving excluding any finger foods offered at same time.

Her naps vary but are generally decent but I do suspect her to be on the low sleep needs average.  Anyway no matter whether she naps well or poor our nights are generally the same.

For a couple of weeks she was often asleep for 7:30/8:00 and was making it to 4/5.  I fed her at this point she would fall asleep quickly and sleep for another 1hr-1.5hr  waking around 6.

However of late she is waking between 2:30-3:30am and this is how the nighst pans out as last night did

Woke 3:30  generally mooching (I leave her to see if she will re-settle)
         4:00  starts talking/shouting no crying.  Give up and feed as worried she will wake DD2 in adjoining room)
  Before I feed she brings up huge burp.  Feed takes 3 oz (5-6oz is max lo will ever take at any feed).  WInd her (achieve lovely burp).  Place in crib and she settles quickly.  (asleep 4:30)
         5:00  wakes fussing.  i leave her she self settles by 5:15.
         6:00 wakes..... I start the day. 

Im exhausted.

So our big problem is WIND.  She is unbelievable.  Has wind constantly.  All top wind/burps.  No matter how much you wind her there is always another one.  Starting solids has made no difference.

So I am begining to think should I wean the night feed to reduce the chance of wind, and if so how do I get her back to sleep.  She never cries!!!  she would just roll around bed for hours......so what do I do?

She certainly is not UT if anything OT.  I also do not know if she is just used to being fed (in past I always fed just to add the oz in) and she seemed to do ok.

Anyway I am completely rambling as I am really at a loss what action plan to take.  I do not mind a feeding if I could trust she would sleep a decent length after.

Right now I just need sleep.  I am exhausted as do the nights with two lo alone.  I am in bed every night by 9 and feel I have no life as my evening is so short. DD1 is very good and STTN generally 10.5-11hrs but she is teething her last molars and is a little unsettled two.  She is also woken easily by DD2 and vica versa. 

She is most likely teething.  However as our nights seem to have been like this forever I cant really blame it all on that.  Anyone have any similar experience or knowledge of wiind in babies well over the 6 month mark.

What do you ladies think I should do?

Wishing you all a Happy Easter break.
x

[kitty30]

Hey thanks for response.  I will post how yesterday went.

A=6:00
S=9:30 (delayed by DD1 trying to get her down)
A= 10:00
S:1:00
A=3:20
S=7:40

Brief NW at 11:00 easily re-settled.  Followed by NW at 3:30.  Took until 4:45 to resettle.  Dis not feed as does not seem to make a difference)

Then awake for morning 6:20.

Normally we have a 1.5hr am nap followed by 1 hr pm nap, or 1hr 15 am and same pm.  SO I think her day sleep is in and around ok. The thing is when she wakes she just mooches to eventually talking etc this could go on for hours.  Should I just leave her till she gets annoyed and watch the night slip by.  If she cried at least I could start the re-settle process.  She has no props and goes to sleep easily.

Then I wonder as soon as she starts mooching do I feed her rather than again waiting until she gets annoyed rather than waiting making the whole process drawn out.  The reason I have not been is I was worried about giving her a bad habit.  On saying that I do not think she is overly hungry as she never certainly was not overly bothered by her first morning bottle.

Im stumped.  I dont mind a feeding......its just the length of time she is awake.  Surely she cannot be getting enough rest.  She is a very happy but firey tempered girl.

Again many thanks
x

[m.a.m.]

I am no expert but I have had similar problems with DD2 in that she had just so much wind and general digestive discomfort after we thought we had the reflux under control. (Also a poor eater - at 8.5 months she takes about 23oz a day). Took us a while to get to the bottom of things but we think she has a milk intolerance (not strong enough to be an allergy but enough to cause a lot of problems). We found that old-fashioned Gripe Water helped a lot but it had to be given regularly and took a day or two to notice a difference. In the end, however, we have moved over to Comfort milk and that really has made a difference. Wasn't aware of how big a difference until we ran out and used the normal milk for a few days and then had to pay with a nightmare week of unsettled nights etc. Its worth trying.

The other thing I wondered was whether you were doing a dream feed. If you topped her up between 10 and 11 you might get through the night.

Hope this helps. Remember that sleep deprivation is a form of torture and doing 2 lo's alone is worthy of a medal for survival and endurance!

Good luck

Amanda

[kitty30]

Thanks M A M,

Im certainly thinking dairy might be an issue here too.  We have trialled Aptimal Pepti and have not noticed a huge difference until we upped some dairy from other sources mainly yoghurt.  Big change last 2 days have been horrid with her struggling to bring up her wind and therefore refusing her bottles and food.  So will be trying goats milk yoghurts instead.  Her only symptom is burps but she certainly struggles with it so I am thinking an intolerence over allergy.  Have you reduced dairy in your solids?  Any difference?

We never stuck to a dream feed.   I could never wake up!!  Anyway the last week we have weaned the last remaining night feed and so far she has STTN 3 days in a row.  Here is hoping.  Slept between 10.5-11hrs I almost feel human again.  Im hoping it is here to stay.

[deb]

As soon as you said about the constant wind, dairy was my first thought as well.

Since she might very well be teething at this age, have you tried giving her some pain meds along with that night feed? It might be that once she wakes she can't settle easily if her teeth are hurting her, hence not fully settling back down after the NW.