Author Topic: HELP! 4 mo waking every hour...mommy very tired  (Read 1032 times)

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Offline Kirsten~

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HELP! 4 mo waking every hour...mommy very tired
« on: December 22, 2014, 17:48:15 pm »
Sorry! this is long!!!
My DS is a little over 4 months old. He was diagnosed with reflux around 6 weeks, but it has been under control with omeprazole for the last couple of months. He is mostly breast fed. I worked FT, so he gets 3 bottles 5 days a week, and sometimes I have to supplement with a little formula if I don't pump enough. For the last month or so, he's been sleeping in his car seat. It started when he had a cold to help him breathe better, and he started (finally) sleeping better, so we kept going with it. Before he started sleeping better in the car seat, he would wake every 2.5-3 hours, almost like clockwork. When he started sleeping in the car seat, he was going from BT till 2, then 3, and then many nights where he didn't wake until 4am! It was wonderful. I would feed him at that NW and we were back off to sleep.
About 10 days ago, he started waking up more and more.  I could settle him back to sleep very quickly with a paci except when I fed him around 2 or 3. His sleep for those last 10 days has been really unsettled. He's squirming a lot and kicking a lot. He's passing some gas, and then he poops first thing every morning. He cries very little at night.
A couple of nights ago, he squirmed and wiggled his way right out of the car seat and on to the floor - so that's no longer a good idea.
Last night, we put him in the bassinett so he can safely squirm around, and he was up every.single.hour, and worse, he was crying every hour. That much crying is not like him. We gave him Tylenol before bed, and then Ibuprofen at 10:30 when he woke. He's been knawing on his hands since about 3 months, and he was drooling a lot yesterday. We thought he might be uncomfortable from teething (although no sign yet of teeth), but it clearly didn't help.

We've also had some feeding issues lately. He is on and off the breast A LOT. Like he'll nurse for literally seconds, move his head, repeat. It gets a little better in a quiet room, and he nurses fine when he is sleepy (MOTN or first thing in the morning). Because of this, I tried giving him a bottle a couple of times this past week, including one with formula before bed - it made no difference in his sleep or gas. Moved him to eating every 3.5-4 hrs yesterday, which helped the feeding, but obviously not the NWs.

So now I don't know what to do. He seems to hate sleeping in the bassinet. I think he liked the closeness of the car seat. I had him swaddled with both arms out last night (he was not swaddled in his car seat), and then, in the MOTN, I swaddled one arm. He likes chewing on his hand, so I wanted to let him do that, and he's also working on trying to roll over, so I'm nervous about him doing that with both arms swaddled.

I feel like I've tried everything I can think of, and his sleep his still terrible. I'm so exhausted I can barely function.
Here's a sample of his days this weekend (I don't have a great idea for his EASY since I'm not with him 5 days a week):
E: 7:30 (after he poops around 6:30)
S: 9:30-10:30
E: 11
S: 1-3
E: 3
S: 6-6:30
E: 6:30
E: 7:30/8
BT: 8

Any ideas???


Offline michaeljacknnugg

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Re: HELP! 4 mo waking every hour...mommy very tired
« Reply #1 on: December 22, 2014, 18:05:47 pm »
Can you get your hands on a baby hammock? We had a nature's nest by amby, and it did what you describe from the car seat - kept him snuggled and upright.
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Offline weaver

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Re: HELP! 4 mo waking every hour...mommy very tired
« Reply #2 on: December 22, 2014, 19:49:34 pm »
Hi Kristen,
these all sound like reflux symptoms to me - waking so frequently is usually a sign of discomfort, frequent feeding (soothes the throat), as is sleeping best upright.  Have you had his meds reviewed?  There may well be a case for increasing them as weight increases.

Personally, I would have safety concerns about him sleeping in his car seat.  I recall safety info from when LO1 was a baby that they shouldn't be allowed to sleep too long in car seats, as the seats are not designed for it and their internal organs get a bit squished (not a technical term).  It would be best if you could get him into the cot and raise the mattress.  Lying flat often makes refluxers uncomfortable, poor little things.
*Anne*, loving mama to a honeybee (2010) and a sweetpea (2012).  BF for 4 proud years.


Offline Kirsten~

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Re: HELP! 4 mo waking every hour...mommy very tired
« Reply #3 on: December 22, 2014, 20:04:52 pm »
The reason I haven't thought it was reflux is bc during the day, he is as happy and calm a baby you could ask for! He still spits up a lot, but it doesn't bug him like it used to. I was just at the ped too, but figured the sleep was something else. We have had his cot elevated since he started showing signs of reflux, but no matter what I do, he wiggles down to the flat part. I've tried all different angles too.

Yeah  the car seat is definitely out since he wiggled out of it to the floor. I'd like to start getting him to sleep in an actual crib, but at this point, I'll take anything 

MJ&N, I never heard of a baby hammock, but it will try anything right now! I'll start looking online. Thanks for the tip!


Offline Kirsten~

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Re: HELP! 4 mo waking every hour...mommy very tired
« Reply #4 on: January 02, 2015, 19:27:56 pm »
SO we have figured out there seems to be two things causing the NWs: teeth and movement. However, even with pain meds, he is still waking up every 1-2 hours. He is working on rolling over and sitting up, and I think he is waking himself up by moving around in his crib.

Any tips for this helping him not wake himself up like that? Most of the NWs are a quick resettle with a paci and a head rub (less than a couple of minutes), but it is still really tough getting interrupted sleep like that. He is able to self soothe. He falls asleep getting his bottle most nights, but about 1/4 of the time I put him down awake, and he falls asleep on his own.