LO has to scream himself to sleep

[Atomic1010]

Hi my DS2 is just over 4 months old. From birth he had terrible colic and reflux and would cry pretty much all day. The only way we could soothe him at home was to rock him by the tumble drier. The colic has improved a great deal over the last three or so weeks and the reflux is being treated with omeprazole.  Consequently, we have seen him settle into a rough pattern of sleeps etc. during the day and he naps very well when asleep however when he gets tired it's like a switch is flicked and he goes from being happy and smiley to screaming his head off and the only way we can settle him to sleep is rocking him by the tumble drier, which has now become a prop.  I have noticed he needs a sleep every two hours in the day so have tried to anticipate this by doing a wind down routine in advance. However, we always end up by the trusty drier! When he wakes for a feed at night he goes back in the cot fine albeit he falls asleep after the feed. How can we get away from the use of the drier and rocking to sleep in the day, and stop,him crying himself to sleep? Should I do PU/PD? Any advice would be great as I'm not sure how best to go about breaking this habit. Thanks in advance.

[Kellyjs]

I wouldn't recommend pu/pd for a reflux bubba hun as it tends to aggravate it. It may be that you're missing his window for sleep? Would you consider a wind down routine in his room 15mins before hand? Wdyt? Xx

[Atomic1010]

Thanks for the advice. I have been trying to do a wind down in advance of when he is due for a nap but he just starts crying. It's like he needs to cry himself to sleep. Perhaps I should wait a couple of months to do sleep training when maybe the reflex is better as that's a good point you have made. Although the the crying himself to sleep isn't helping the reflux anyway at the moment 

[*Liz*]

A lot of us use white noise in the kids rooms...... I have an app on my phone and turn it on as the end of wind down. It isn't something you need to wean, just change it so it can be in his room. I used white noise with my second and never had any issue getting rid at the end - I do again with my third else my other kids would wake him all the time.

[Martini~]

Totally agree about white noise. Drier is dangerous to leave him with:), but white noise app on the phone or just white noise machine could work for you. I also don't believe it can be a prop. I think it's just the way of shushing and spirited-touchy LOs need some method of wind down and as they usually go quickly from being fine to being OT.

We used up to 6mo I think with no weaning as ds self-weaned.

[Atomic1010]

Thanks all. The drier is only on to rock him to sleep  I use white noise very quietly on my phone in the background once he is asleep as the house is very noisy with a two year old running about. 

He gets so upset when he is tired and that is the only thing that soothes. I guess the question I was wanting advice on is how can I stop it so he doesn't cry swhen he gets tired. It seems he has/wants to cry himself to sleep and I want to find a better way for him to settle.

[-Maya-]

Just a quick question: do you think that this crying could be some kind of very loud mantra cry?

[Atomic1010]

Good question and I'm not sure. He genuinely seems very upset and arches his back and straightens his legs. Although it is like he is saying 'I'm really tired but I don't know how to go to sleep'.

[Buttonbobs]

Am I right in reading that you are using the dryer not just to provide noise, but also to rock him in some way? I can see that this would potentially become a prop but agree with the others that pupf would probably make his reflux worse.

[Atomic1010]

It's not the use of the drier I'm too worried about as I can gradually wean him from that. It's more the crying that's the issue for us. I am wondering whether I'm missing his sleep window or he is just a baby that has to do it like Maya suggested.

[jessmum46]

Can you post your routine?  We may be able to spot something x

[Atomic1010]

Hi
Sure here is Sunday's,
5am awake
7.25-7.55 nap
10-10.30 nap
12.50-3.50 nap
6 50-7.20pm nap
8.55 bed after 35 mins of crying.

This is a fairly typical pattern as he tends to go for a 2-3 hr nap early lunchtime.  Bed time does vary but is generally between 8-9 pm. He sleeps for 30 minute cycles but wakes naturally and appears happy each time as I understand that's it's generally expected a baby's sleep cycle should be around the 40 min mark.
Thanks

[jessmum46]

I think overtiredness is probably a factor, the A times are rather long. Typical would be about 2h eyes open to eyes shut at this age. I think what's probably happening is first A is too long, you get a short OT nap followed by another short OT nap. He then crashes through exhaustion for a long nap. The A after that is too long again so another OT nap and a very long day. With a 5am start really bed for the night should be around 5.30/6pm latest to keep on top of OT.  Is there no way you can resettle at 5am to get a better start time to the day?

[Atomic1010]

Thanks for your reply. I have tried to resettle at 5.30am with a feed but as soon as I sit him up to burp him he wakes and I can't settle him again. The first nap is usually dictated by when I have to drive my older son to nursery and so not ideal. However, I have been trying in the last couple of days to start a wind down routine after 1.5hours of A time and at lunchtime today managed to put him to bed using ssh pat and no tumble drier. He did cry but only for 10 mins which I thought was a good start!

However what is thwarting my efforts is his intestinal wind. This has got really bad in last 3 weeks and he is waking up every 1 or 2 hours at night crying in pain, and also the long daytime naps at lunchtime are now broken up with crying and me rocking him to sleep by the tumble drier.  The GP and paediatricians say there is nothing they can do beyond the reflux medicine he is on although they have advised I give up dairy for two wks in case it's a CMPA which I am doing. This gas isn't helping the reflux and consequently I think all I can do for now is try and settle him to sleep after 1.5hours of awake time and at least get him into some sort of wind down routine at nap and bedtime. And just accept the tumble drier might have to be used to soothe the crying in the middle of naps as that's the only thing that seems to help. Really frustrated by all of this!

[jessmum46]

I'm sure it's been checked but what dose of omeprazole is he on and what's his weight?  A lot of reflux meds are very weight-dependent and need adjusting frequently.  There are also other medications that can help some LOs, omeprazole doesn't do it on its own for every baby.  Have you checked out our reflux board?  CMPA can go along with reflux, so that is a sensible suggestion.  I would think you would need to eliminate all dairy including hidden dairy for 2 weeks minimum though, it will take that long to start seeing any sort of difference.  (((Hugs)))