8 week old NW's

[jcsmom]

The spit up is mucusy. It only happens once or twice a day though but from overfeeding in the AM hours for sure. I think now she is so OT we are in a vicious cycle. Too OT to nap well and OT from the super long wakings. I am wearing her right now because she was a hot mess. She have never slept in the sling. She wakes after 20 mins, 30 mins and 1 hour with a gurgle. Her spit up doesn't smell nor does her breath. So if she has 40 min nap, nap her again after 45 mins? Poor thing will never be awake! So give 5-6 naps too? Up until this week we could give her her paci when she woke from a too early nap, now, she won't take it. I heard the long stretch at the beginning of the night is due to OT babies crashing. But then she's literally up. How do we get out of this cycle? What if it's not reflux and now just major OT and even the swing won't work? Her first nap is always the worst because her night is so fitful from 4-5pm onward. So by the time she is ready to nap she has barely slept and always does a 30-40 min nap. Then her second used to be super long probably to make up for lost nightsleep and her first nap. I will take her to the drs but I am not optimistic. Does she really have reflux symptoms or is now just chronically OT. 

[jcsmom]

I do wind after every feed and she has a lot of burps. Usually a huge wet one or two. But at end of night we are lying down sometimes she is on the nursing pillow with me in rocker. If I wind her she wakes and we have to start all over again.

[becj86]

Honey, I had a chronically OT baby at this age - he slept a lot better than your DD. He hardly napped and when he did, it was APOP'd but he slept at night - his sleep total for 24hr was much higher than your DD's. With super OT, LO is often difficult to get to sleep and sleeps fitfully but you *can* APOP your way out of it. In your case, even your APOP (swing) which was working before is not working - that tells me that there's something else other than just OT at play here.

Wet burps are another symptom of reflux.

[jcsmom]

I really hope you are right. The swing always worked. Even the car or stroller doesn't work. I got a nice nap in the sling but very fitful waking all the time. She's clocking maybe 10 hrs in 24. Crazy eh? Poor little thing. I really hope there's something else going on. We don't even leave the house because she won't sleep elsewhere. But now even the swing isn't working. I could cry. In fact I cry all the time. My whole family is falling apart. I haven't had more than about 2 hrs sleep in weeks. My 5 year old is rejecting me, I am not looking forward to Christmas because where will she sleep when we go out? Thanks for listening and attempting to help.

[becj86]

When you see the doc, make sure to talk about the wet burps, the spitting up with mucous (have you looked into a milk/soy protein intolerance?), the constant seeking for the breast and all those behaviours as well as the sleep thing. Take a list - they tend to take you more seriously then. I'd say that even if you walk away with a trial of reflux meds for 2-3 weeks, if it helps then you know and if there's no improvement, you know its something else, yk?

[ZacsMumme]

I'd say that even if you walk away with a trial of reflux meds for 2-3 weeks, if it helps then you know and if there's no improvement, you know its something else, yk?

this...
The mucus does sound intolerant like to me too...if your BF maybe try dairy/milk free for a few weeks and see if you see improvement?

In fact I cry all the time. My whole family is falling apart. I haven't had more than about 2 hrs sleep in weeks.

Sweetheart an unsettled baby is just the worst. It is so hard. But as Bec says, worst case you try these things and nothing improves, at least you know you have tried and ruled them out. You could well see great progress too and then everything 9including sleep) will fall into place
Are you worried about you at all hun? - Its so easy to forget about your needs, please post on PPD or talk to your Dr if your worried you are feeling too sad or anxious

[Erin M]

Hi sweetie, I'm just coming to post some ((((hugs)))) and to echo what the other ladies are telling you.
We're really trying to help -- but I'll tell you what we're seeing in the hopes that it makes some sense to you -- Sara, Bec, and I aren't baby experts or anything, but we've been around this forum for awhile and we've all had LOs of our own and helped lots of others with their LOs.  I've had 2 babies that were pretty awful nappers, Bec had one with tummy issues from overactive let down/oversupply/foremilk overload who was chronically overtired at that age, Sara has had 2 refluxers now (she deserves a medal, I think...) -- and the reason that I tell you this, is that my babies that didn't nap well crashed hard at night (actually ds was a terrible night sleeper, but crashed hard during the day) -- Bec mentioned the same thing, and Sara mentioned her experience with her little guy -- given the right setting, they do crash because their bodies need sleep.  I have a nephew who was/is a horrendous sleeper -- but he would crash and do a good 4-5 hours too.

My point is, I don't think I've ever seen a baby who wakes constantly day and night without there being some sort of discomfort.

We're not there with you, I know.  We're not seeing what you're seeing and dealing with what you're dealing with (I think we all wish we were so we could give you a break, we all know how crazy hard it is to be so sleep deprived and not know how to fix things). 

So, based on what we're reading, here's what we're saying:
1) She might have reflux.  She has wet burps, she won't sleep flat, she's very unsettled.  (I know we've linked this before, but just to put it all in one place: Reflux 101 - General reflux information )

2) She might have a food allergy/intolerance -- again, she's unsettled, she sometimes spits up mucous -- keep in mind that food intolerances get worse as they get older and have continued exposure to foods that bother them.  Here's some info on that: Does my LO have food intolerances?

3) She could be getting too much foremilk -- http://kellymom.com/bf/got-milk/supply-worries/fast-letdown/

I think it's good that you're going to the doctor for her -- like the other ladies said, if nothing else, you will come away having ruled some things out.  I would honestly do whatever you can to get some sleep into her, no matter what it is.  Don't worry about what you "should" be doing right now in terms of routine, etc.  I think Bec said -- bring very specific notes to you appointment on her eating, sleeping, etc habits -- point out how often she's waking, what she's doing when she's waking, wet burps, mucous in spit up, etc. 

And most of all, biggest of ((((hugs))))).  If you're up for it, I'd post on the PPD forum if you need some support.

[jcsmom]

We're headed to the doctor tomorrow but I am not optimistic at all. I have tried everything today and nothing is working to make her sleep. Last night she crashed again from 7-1 then 2 til 3:30 then up. She fitfully slept from 5:20-6:20 and had 40 mins this Am and another 40 mins an hour and a half later. It takes her an hour and a half of A to fall asleep now. I really hope that you guys are right and it's something other than a chronically OT baby because I can't go on like this.
I am getting support from my mom. She comes everyday and can't believe how little she sleeps. Everyone is shocked. Noone can believe how wide awake she is all day and night long. I am on meds for ppd but still feel like this will never end. I thank you for following this journey with me.

[jcsmom]

So today has been a strange day. She slept for 40 mins this AM, then after an hour would not go back down so I brought her to bed with me. She never nurses to sleep in the day and she fell asleep off and on for 2 hrs. Not solid sleep. Then another hour later she slept for 2.5 hrs and now it's 5:25 and she's been asleep a little under an hour. Am I doomed to let her sleep so much? Do they make up for lost sleep at night in the day? Or will her sleeping so much today make tonight worse? Do I wake her or let her sleep as much as she needs to to get caught up? I swear she has no rhythm.

[ZacsMumme]

let her sleep sweetie....Z would take rubbish 20min naps every day then crash some days for 3hrs and I would worry he was dead! But he needed those catch up naps YK? Prob did all his growing then
Hang in there, when is the drs apptmt?

[jcsmom]

We have an appt today with GP but I am sure it will be for a referral to a paed. Last night was so bad. She went down at 6:45 and woke every 20 mins until after 8. Then she was up at 12:30. We could not get her back to sleep. I even got my dh to try. She slept in her swing finally for 40 mins until 3:20. Then from then on she slept every hour for get this....20 mins. Have you ever heard of a baby sleeping so little. It's just ridiculous.

[Erin M]

(((((hugs)))))) sweetie, I think there has to be something going on, I've never heard of a baby sleeping so badly without something else going on. 

[becj86]

I think there has to be something going on, I've never heard of a baby sleeping so badly without something else going on. 

Absolutely agree. I've not seen a baby sleep so little without something else at play.

Huge hugs xx

[jcsmom]

So GP prescribed ranitadine but was reluctant. She seems to think I just have a very OT baby on my hands. I also wonder if she is allergic to the meds I am taking. I am on Lexapro but my dr said very very little is passed to baby. I dunno. Have you ever heard of such a poor sleeper in your life? 

[becj86]

Have you ever heard of such a poor sleeper in your life? 

Yes, but not when there wasn't something going on medically and most often, it was reflux.

Do you have a friendly pharmacist around who may be able to tell you a bit more about any studies that have been done about Lexapro wrt BFing have shown?

FWIW, most GP's seem reluctant to prescribe meds for reflux at first. What's the dosage she's prescribed and what does LO weigh? Within a week or two of starting the ranitidine (and provided you have an effective dose), you should see an improvement if it is reflux.

The mucousy poos/spit ups - did she say anything about that? That's what makes me think of intolerance to milk and/or soy protein...