15 mo, never sttn *update-she did it!!*

[C&B&E]

 

We are still struggling.  15 months on and we are still having awful, awful sleep.  I just haven't bothered to post for months because I've just not known what anyone would be able to suggest as I 'know' most of the normal answers/things to try and they just haven't worked  .

History - dd has severe reflux, medicated on max dose of ppi and ranitidine, and up until 10 mo was up 5-15 times every night in pain.  It almost killed us.  Things gradually improved with meds, but if we forget doses then things go downhill quickly.  She is also MSPI and I am still BF.  She is a late teether - just got her first tooth a few weeks ago. 

She is/was an independant sleeper in that we finally got to the stage where we could put her in her bed and walk out of the room and she would go to sleep - it took 12 months to get to this point though!  She normally takes a full bf in the night - for a while it was at 5am then she would go back til 8.  I left it because 15 minutes up in the night was a breeze compared to what we've been through, and it helped her get a late morning. 

But the last few weeks have been horrible.  I can't pinpoint when it started.  But basically she will scream and go mad at bedtimes, will not settle, smashing her head against the bars of her cot  .  Yesterday it took me 1.5 hours to get her down for her nap, today an hour.  And it can be even worse at bedtime.  Goes crazy in her bed, but continues going wild if I'm holding her - arching her back, screaming, and lurching so hard I almost drop her if I try to pick her up.  She is up so much in the night, and just going wild.  Will settle if I feed her, but then wakes when I put her in bed and it's like she's some crazed animal.  I just can't work it out.  I took her to the doctors and he has given some drops as she has some hard wax in one ear which he said can cause some pain, but even with calpol she is going mad. 

What confuses me is that sometimes I will take her out of the cot and then she will see something on the sideboard that interests her and she will start giggling - it's like a different child.  And then I will say 'it's time for sleep' and she goes crazy again  . 

It doesn't seem to be routine related - as she does it on long or short A's.  She is mostly on one nap now, but it is all over the place now because of how long it takes to settle her  , and she never wakes at consistent times. 

Ugh, I know I haven't probably given clear info - my head is so muddled this has been such a mess for so long - but has anyone got any thoughts 

Thank you x

[Truly Blessed]

Hi Sweetheart, I'm so sorry you're having such a hard time. I remember DS going through this at the same age and I was so shocked, it was just awful. I wish I could remember more details about what I did (how quickly we forget) but I do know I just APOP'd until it got better and that it did just pass as so many things do. I am going to ask for more eyes on this for you Honey as there is a lot going on/gone on and you could certainly do with a shoulder or 2 to lean on.

(HUGS)

x.

[babybarr]

((((hugs))))) Claire, have you ever tried no nap and early bed?  Just out of curiousity.  O would only kick and scream if he wasn't tired enough.

[C&B&E]

Thanks ladies  . 

The thing is Laura she does it for nearly every sleep time and there seems to rhyme or reason for it  - after she's short napped, does it in the middle of the night, and does it when she is beyond exhausted and has been signing 'sleep'!!  She's definitely not low sleep needs either and is taking OT naps and looks permanently rough! 

She was up in the night for an hour screaming with DH, I finally fed her, but even then she carried on screaming and head banging for a few minutes before she finally settled again. Then up for the day at 5.50am, clearly exhausted but would not re-settle again.  Yuk.  I just wonder if there is something else going on, but I don't know what. 

Could this be just a prop issue because I was feeding her to sleep when she was teething?  It just seems pretty extreme to me. 

[*jazzberry*]

Have you tried anything other than paracetemol - ibuprofen for example? Just sounds to me like it could be pain related (especially with the ear thing)

[C&B&E]

Yes, I have tried ibroprofen, but not consistently - I'm always put off a bit because of her stomach issues  .  But that's good idea - I might give it a go for the next couple of days and then it will help me rule out pain as a factor. 

[Truly Blessed]

Goes crazy in her bed, but continues going wild if I'm holding her - arching her back, screaming, and lurching so hard I almost drop her if I try to pick her up.  She is up so much in the night, and just going wild. 

Honey, you know reading this again, I agree that it does sound like a pain issue. Sam behaved like this when he had ear infections. You could try propping her up to sleep, by putting a pillow or 2 underneath the cot mattress. I believe that teething and ear pain are worse when lying flat. Worth a try. Ibuprofen definitely works better for Sam than paracetamol, but you are right in that it can upset little tummies in some cases. You could try staggering both meds so that there is no peaks and troughs of pain. Even if you do this in the short term it may answer the question as to whether it is pain related YK 

x.

[creations]

My DS was the same at a similar age.  I agree with pps that it sounds like pain.  All that thrashing, just like my DS and he has never ever had a feed to sleep prop so I don't think it is that at all.  Plus usually if a LO has been an independent sleeper they tend ot return to it pretty easily once the pain/teething/illness/whatever has passed.
When DS was like that it looked like reflux pain and I started thinking maybe he needed a meds increase but it did settle again, could have been teeth/ear infection.  It did pass.
hugs xx

[*jazzberry*]

I hardly ever give my kids iboprofen either as it upsets my own tummy but if I ever do take it I make sure I've had something to eat first, seems to make a difference, hth

[becj86]

Hugs from one mummy up at night with a toddler to another xx

DS had some pretty nasty teething pain around this age and it came with some pretty severe SA - sometimes for Daddy, sometimes for me - he would just sit up in bed screaming and cry out DADDY or MUMMY and would be inconsolable if the other went in.

There's an enormous mental leap around this age too - http://www.thewonderweeks.com/index.php/about-the-wonder-weeks/your-babys-10-leaps/mental-leap-9

Also, the head-banging: DS was head-banging at 5 months old when teething and all that I read said it was to distract from pain.

[*Becky*]

hugs claire - have a sick girlie so not on much atm but will be back xxx

[*Becky*]

ok, had a read through. Def sounds like pain to me although M does act a bit like this although not quite as extreme when she is OT.
Hugs - I know how much you have struggled with E and her reflux.
Is it worth talking to the Dr again about her meds??

We are also going through hysterical crying at nap time - not fun

[louis-mummy]

(Hugs)

[C&B&E]

UGH, so she's been up there with DH for almost an hour now SCREAMING  .  I just do not understand it.  She is so OT now, which won't be helping, but we can't even APOP her as she is going so wild  !  But what I don;t understand is that she is fine during the day - happy, not pulling on ears etc, and then as soon as I finish feeding her or reading her book at bedtime she just goes crazy - it's not even when I actually put her in her cot  . 

[babybarr]

Maybe she is associating pain with laying down?  I would give ibu and para an hr before bed and see if that helps