7 month old doesn't sleep at night

[Islandmama]

Hello all! I came here for guidance when my second was 5 months old (he is now 4) and got some amazing advice! I now have a 7 month old that I am afraid I have created some very bad habits with and I would like some help to get him on the right track. My little guy seems to be a textbook baby but will only nap/sleep in his bouncy chair or next to me in bed. He is breastfed and hates pacifiers. We have started solids but he's not a huge fan and is only recently starting to eat with any enthusiasm. We had no routine at all (third kid, I was exhausted ) until a few weeks ago when I started implementing EASY. He responded well and his naps are more regular but he cannot fall asleep unless my husband rocks him up and down the hall for 15 minutes or unless I nurse him to sleep. Sometimes he needs both!! At night he will go down for a couple of hours but then refuses to go back to sleep until 4am! Nothing will put him back to sleep. I am thinking he is overtired because I wake him at 8am and wake him from his naps after 2 hours and he is not getting that sleep back at night because he wants to stay up and party with us? We have spent 4 hours walking, rocking, nursing and he just won't do it. He even gets cranky because he's tired but he won't go to sleep until he is completely wiped and pretty much passes out in bed next to me. I want to transition him to the crib and I want him to sleep at night! But not sure how to go about it without upsetting him or doing CIO which would devastate me.

Here is his routine:

8am - Wake up, nurse
8:30 to 10 - play, eat breakfast (maybe)
10am - nap in his chair (he goes down very easily for this nap - just a few minutes of nursing or rocking)
12/12:30pm - wake up, nurse
12:30 to 2:30/3pm - have lunch, play
3pm to 5/5:30pm - nap (harder to get him down for this one)
5:30 - wake up, nurse
7pm - dinner, bedtime routine
I nurse him after his routine and he seems to nurse and snooze for up to half an hour then my husband has to rock him for another half an hour before he goes to sleep in his chair
Two hours later he is up again and will sometimes go back down for an hour but usually won't go to bed until 4am.

We have two older children - 4 and 9 and would love to have a better schedule so we can spend time with them and each other and have this little guy sleep at night so we can do something other than rocking/shushing/walking a cranky baby around the house. We tried moving him to the crib and he was pretty annoyes and became hyper vigilant - his eyes would snap open as soon as we began to put him down. The past couple of weeks I have been putting him in it to play so he associates it with a happy place. But not sure where to go from here. Should we shush/pat? PU/PD? Modified CIO?

HELP!

[becj86]

Hi, welcome back

I'm sure you know we won't advise any form of CIO or CC here, as it breaks the bond of trust with your child.

I think the main thing here is that your baby is getting too much day sleep and much too short A times. Really, at 7 months, a child with reasonably high sleep needs might have an A time of 3hr and you've a baby who's taking a 2hr nap 2hr after waking in the morning. Of course part of this is that he's having such a disrupted night but the way to fix that is to extend that morning A time, take him outside so he knows its day time and his body can start to regulate better.

My suggestion would be to do something like this for a week, record what happens and then search for patterns to make changes that may be required:
8 - WU
11 - nap
12:30/1 - WU
3:30/4 - nap (3hr A time here)
5:30 - WU
8:30 - asleep in bed.

If 8:30 is too late a BT, I would suggest doing this routine but shifting it back by 15min/day by waking him earlier each morning until you get to a preferred WU/BT.

He is probably horrendously OT from having such terrible nights (as I'm sure, are you). I think whilst you're doing this daytime routine, you will likely have to APOP the naps to get his body into the rhythm of napping at these times but I think once he's awake more than a 3-4 month old, he will probably sleep better at night.

Are the nights any worse since introducing solids at dinner time? if so, you can probably stop those for now - the feeling of having solids going through the digestive tract is new at first and can cause sleep disruption. Its not essential that he has 3 solids meals/day at this age.

I don't think with a routine such as what you're currently doing that its fair to try to do shush/pat or PUPD with him. You'd be expecting him to sleep when he's not tired which is probably why you're having to rock/feed to sleep. Stick with your getting to sleep methods for now and spend a week with 3hr A times, then we can tweak the routine and start any remaining sleep training that may be required. Generally once the routine is suitable for the child, the sleep training is much easier if not unnecessary.

FX we can get LO sleeping so you can sleep xx

[Islandmama]

Thanks so much for your reply. Yes as I was reading over my post I realized napping 2 hours after waking up is crazy but he is always so tired after only getting a few hours sleep the night before, I didn't even realize his A time was way too short 

I have never done CIO and the thought of it made me sick so I am glad to have some guidance for other ways to get him to sleep! I am terrified actually of having to put something in place other than rocking/nursing as I feel as nothing will work and he will end up super upset. I should mention this is my second marriage and he is my first baby with my husband. My previous husband was very absent and I had to do everything alone so my first two babies were a little more independent by necessity. My current husband works from home and is always around to help out and in the first few months he pretty much never put him down so my LO is used to being held and rocked and cuddled all the time. Never thought that would be a bad thing but here we are!

I have a question about night time: when he wakes up at night and refuses to go back to sleep, we lay in bed with him and watch tv or bring him into the living room to get away from the small space of our bedroom. Is that okay, or are we making things worse? I always wonder if we should sit with him in the dark for the four hours it takes to get him back to sleep (ack!)

Our living situation makes things a little difficult - baby is in our room until we move to a bigger place and my sister is crashing on our couch while she finishes school so I am worried it will be hard to implement things but fingers crossed! I will follow the routine you suggested, starting tomorrow

[becj86]

Ok, so it is best if he wakes in the night to keep him somewhere dark so he learns that night is a thing - If you have him up for 4hr with TV on (which emits blue light and reduces melatonin - sleep hormone), you're shooting yourself in the foot, really. Much as its boring for you, keeping him in the dark and not interacting beyond singing or saying a sleepy phrase and providing comfort is best. It *should* also reduce the time it takes for him to go back to sleep. Do you think he's got discomfort at that time of night? Is he sleeping in a different position at night compared with during the day?

I often find that babies who have a routine that works for them take very little if any training. Having never fallen asleep on his own, it probably will be required if that's your end goal, however if your main aim is to get him sleeping at night and napping reasonably in the day and you're ok with feeding to sleep, you may find that you get to a stage that you're happy with.

Am I right that you want to prioritise getting sleep at night? That seems like the most pressing concern from your posts.

[Islandmama]

Yes that is our main goal! We will cut out tv/activity at night time, thanks so much. This morning we slept in and coslept/nursed for probably the last time, and my plan is to implement his new schedule on Monday. Will check back in after a couple of days 

[becj86]

Fingers crossed for you, keep us posted

[Islandmama]

Just wanted to give an update (and vent a little). We have been doing the schedule you suggested pretty successfully. After 2.5 hours of A time, he gets VERY cranky and we have to do all kinds of tricks to keep him awake and happy, which is understandable, I'm sure he's still adjusting. Night times are better in that he doesn't stay up all night anymore. During NW we can usually convince him to go back to sleep. However he is now NW every 30 to 45 minutes and it is exhausting. Sometimes my husband can get him back down, other times he won't calm down unless I go in and nurse him. Once I go to bed he happily sleeps next to my boob all night 

Do we just continue and hope things improve?

[becj86]

Can you post what your day looks like now, in EAS format?

How long is he napping?

Are those frequent NW in the early evening? If so, that sounds like OT (I can get a better idea of why when I see the EASY for a day or two). OT isn't in itself a bad thing - it suggests he is tired from the day you're now doing and he's still in the process of re-equilibrating when he takes his sleep.

It sounds like you might have a BF to sleep prop - is he an independent sleeper? Is that something you're wanting to achieve?

[Islandmama]

Just wanted to post a quick reply before I go to bed - he is up and waiting for me. I will post his schedule for the past few days tomorrow. He naps for 1.5 to 2 hours most times - 2 naps a day. Tonight wasn't so bad - he was up every two hours. We definitely have an issue with sleep props - he won't go to sleep unless my husband is rocking him or I am nursing him (or in the stroller/car seat). He still sleeps in his chair or in bed with us. I would LOVE to get him sleeping in the crib and falling asleep independently. I am guessing the frequent NW at every 1 to 2 hours are because he can't put himself back to sleep after a sleep cycle?

Will let you know more of what is happening tomorrow (almost 2am here)

[becj86]

Alright, I shall leave you some links to read so you've some sleep training methods to consider:
What does a good wind down consist of (Includes 4S ritual)
10 reasons (other than hunger) a baby can wake at night
Shush-pat - How to
Pick Up/Put Down (PU/PD) - Everything you ever needed to know!

These are not no-cry solutions but they are ways for you to teach him how to sleep. Its a skill, consider teaching a child to read - it takes time and they learn a bit at a time, not overnight. At this age, he will likely need the sleep environment to stay the same throughout the sleep - essentially, LO will stir, assess that they are in the same safe secure circumstances they were when they fell asleep and go back to sleep or wake up and scream - self preservation.

[Islandmama]

Hi there! Here is his routine this week:

8am - WU, nurse
10am - breakfast
11am - Nap
1pm - WU
2pm - lunch
4pm - Nap
5:30/5:45 - WU
Bedtime - 8:30
(No dinners)

In between naps and meals we have been trying to keep him active on his mat and in his bouncer. We take him for a walk too although we're in Canada and sometimes it's too cold.

In terms of the methods you posted, I am nervous to try shush pat, as too much shushing has always seemed to annoy him. He responds well to some singing and humming, but usually when his dad rocks him, he does it in total silence, which baby seems to respond well to. When I rock him, he needs a few words and murmurs of reassurance. But I also worry that PU/PD will overstimulate and confuse him. Not sure what route to go. Either way, when do you recommend we try it? By Monday he would have been on the schedule I posted for a week - is that long enough for him to get used to things before we try to sleep train? I should mention that today he was happier and only a little cranky for naptimes.

Thanks for all your help

[becj86]

You can modify Shush/pat to singing/humming/low voice of reassuring 'sleep phrase' instead of the shushing.

You should not try PUPD until you've tried something else consistently for at least 2 weeks and seen no improvement.

How have his nights been on that new routine? Is he napping 2hr and waking himself or you're waking him?

[Islandmama]

Since the new routine, he is waking up on his own at night every 1 to 2 hours. There has been improvement, because before he was waking up and refusing to go back to sleep for hours. Now he will go back to sleep if I nurse him or his dad rocks him (he usually will not go to sleep if I rock him for some reason). But still night wakings every 1 to 2 hours, sometimes even after 45 minutes.

After naps, and in the morning at 8am, I always have to wake him up. I guess he is still adjusting? Is Monday too early to try to get him into the crib? And when we do start, should we do it for naps or for nighttime?

[becj86]

I think he is still adjusting - you need to have a plan and be ready to stick to it for 2 weeks at least and do the sleep training for naps and night. I would suggest when you do nights, you pick an interval at which you're prepared to feed and any wakings between those, dad takes, at least for the first week or so til we see how LO goes with the new expectations. So, if you decide to feed only after 4hr and BT feed is 8pm, dad would do any wakings before midnight, the waking after midnight is yours - you feed and put back to bed, then for the 4 hours after that, dad does those. What you're aiming for here is to have him wake only when hungry. You don't want to be trying to get him back to sleep while he's hungry but equally you don't want to get him in the habit of eating every 1-2hr in the crib when you're doing all the hard work to get him to sleep there.

Since its a new environment for him, it might help if he spends some wind-down time there before naps so he starts to associate it with sleep.

This is a big change for your little fellow. He will likely cry as he will be frustrated and confused as to why the rules have suddenly changed on him - it is his means of communicating, you are not hurting him provided you are there and helping him through the process.

[Islandmama]

Ok great! We have a couple of events happening in the next two weeks including his brother's birthday party so we have decided to continue keeping on the EAS schedule you suggested, and then sleep train starting two weeks from now, when things are less busy. I will post an update on how it goes. Thank you for all your help and guidance. Tracy's book is wonderful but sometimes all the info is overwhelming, I appreciate being able to get advice specific to my little guy.

[becj86]

It may well be worth increasing those A times by 15-30min in the second of those 2 weeks and see what happens to the naps. I think if you were to get an OT nap (30min), then we'd know we've maybe gone a bit far and at least know where we should stop for a bit. Its so hard to know when his nights are still so broken :-/ It would not be at all unusual for a LO of his age to have A time of 3.5hr, so might be worth another jump just to see if that helps him get a stretch in somewhere in the night.

[Islandmama]

Okay, when we do that, should we wake him up earlier in the morning to accommodate the increased A time?

Today was a complete bust. He was totally OT for his first nap because of increased NW last night. He only slept for an hour and wouldn't go back down. If he woke up at 12 instead of 1, do we still put him down at 4 for his next nap or do we put him down an hour earlier? He was very clingy today and wanted to nurse more than usual. I wish I could say teething (he has no teeth yet) but his gums aren't swollen at all. Tonight for two NW so far he refuses to be rocked to sleep by his dad and screamed until I fed him. Perhaps a growth spurt? He will be 8 months in two weeks.

[becj86]

An hour nap is generally undertired. I'd say that is a good sign that he's recovering some of the sleep debt and you could increase the A time now. Could be GS, could be the feed to sleep association, could be ill or teeth moving around. If he woke at 12, it would be PD for next nap 3hr from when he woke, so 3pm. You're working on how long he is awake, not set nap times.

You can wake him earlier or just put him down for his nap later. What are your ideal wake/bed times?

[Islandmama]

I would love to have him on an 8am/8pm wakeup/bedtime or 7:30am/7:30pm, which would give me some time with my older boys before they go to bed.

[becj86]

A 12hr night might be a bit pie in the sky once he's sleeping better...

[Islandmama]

Oh I was just answering your question about ideal wake/sleep times, I thought that's what you were asking Technically he goes to bed at 8:30pm and wakes up at 8am, it's just the frequent NW that are difficult. I dont expect him to aleep 12 hours straight, but decreasing to just one or two NW would be a dream come true for me haha.

[becj86]

Right, so something earlier, with BT around 7/7:30 would be better? I didn't mean straight sleep there, I meant night length - from BT to waking for the day.

How has he been going with the increased A time?

[Islandmama]

So we should try for an 8am WU/7pm BT, correct? Tonight was an improvement - he has been going 2.5 hours at a time, although we are on the second NW now and he is taking 30 minutes so far to go back to sleep. I do wonder if it is teething as he keeps jerking awake after falling asleep. He also has some eczema and gets very itchy at night which probably doesn't help.

[becj86]

No, 8pm BT, 7am WU - an 11hr night length is a more reasonable expectation at this age.

Are you treating the eczema? Being itchy definitely won't help and I'd say it's probably not worth sleep training until that's at least under control. It may never be completely gone but if he's uncomfortable like that, he will wake - perfectly reasonable.

[Islandmama]

The eczema is not severe but before we knew that's what was causing the itching, it was untreated and I think caused some of his early sleep issues - even while cosleeping he had several NW and was fairly restless. Since we have been treating it (about two months now), he seems much better and only scratches when irritable or sometimes at night when the air gets dry. NW during cosleeping stopped entirely so I definitely think it was bothering him a lot more before.

[becj86]

Ok, if under control, its fine to ST, just not really fair if they are uncomfortable or ill, yk?

[Islandmama]

Yes that makes sense for sure! Just an update that NW are now every 2.5 sometimes even 3 hours instead of every 45 mins to an hour. And he is much happier during the day and less OT at naptime. No more rocking for half an hour either - he goes to sleep after only a minute or so of rocking. Definite improvement!

[becj86]

That's great progress already. FX for a steady improvement

[Islandmama]

Just an update! We are just now attempting shush pat in the crib after weeks of multiple illnesses in our house - a stomach bug that hit every one of us and the flu twice! Everyone is finally better but now my little guy is having extended NW from 3am to 6 or 7am. I work freelance at home during the nights so this means I have gotten zero sleep some nights and it is killing me. So tonight is night 1 of shush pat. The patting is difficult because he grabs my hands and tries to play with them and thrashes around. He is extremely tired right now and screaming whether he is patted, shushed or picked up. Any suggestions or do we just keep shushing/patting and picking up to get him to calm down?

[Lindsay27]

So you mind posting your current EAS hun just to see where you are now routine wise?  When you are doing shh/pay where are you patting him? Just thinking if you roll him on his side and pat his back he may not be able to play with your hands as much?   If he gets hysterical I would pick him up and calm him before putting him back down and patting, you can pay him while you have him picked up and then continue when you put him down. 

[becj86]

Also, can you please say how old he is now?

[Islandmama]

I tried turning him on his side but he just throws himself back onto his back and yells at me He is almost 9 months old and is not crawling yet but has recently started falling backwards from a sitting position and pulling himself back up (like a little sit up). He has been doing this a lot during the extended NW, even while half asleep, I guess this is a developmental thing he is practising?

I almost don't know where to start with posting our EAS, it has been all over the place now because of how bad the nights are, I sometimes end up back in bed with him until 10 or 11am - so bad I know!

Usually our days are like this:

8/9am - wake up, nurse
9:30 - breakfast
11/12am to 1pm/2 pm - nap
1/2pm - lunch
5pm to 6pm - nap
8:30/9 - bed

On the really bad days when he is up from 3am to 7am, we sleep until 10, and then he ends up taking one long 2.5 to 3 hour nap, and I put him to bed earlier - 7/7:30. he wakes up every 2 to 3 hours and my husband is able to shush him back to sleep usually and I end up feeding maybe once or twice during the night. Then at 3 or 4am he wakes up and refuses to go back to sleep.

I know we are all over the place and this week I have vowed to maintain an 8am wake up. Our finances are in a bind at the moment and we cannot survive without the work I do online into the wee hours of the night, and then by the time I go to bed, he is up and ready to play for hours while nursing on and off. I try to work during the day but that's more difficult with two other children and household stuff that needs to be done. His crib is in our room and we try to stay out of the room until it's time to go to bed.

He has still been sleeping either in his chair or in bed with me. In bed with me he will sleep for hours. However I am ready to get him into his crib. We shush patted on and off tonight until he finally fell asleep at 10:20 and is now up again at 11:40 - my husband is shushing him now.

He is very upset at this new change and my heart is breaking for him. I know there is an 8/9 month sleep regression, and he is teething too (he has no teeth yet) and I know I have ruined his sleep with the schedule being all over the place I am ready to try to get things organized for both our sakes but not sure if I'm trying to do too much at once.

[Islandmama]

He will be 9 months old on the 25th of March.

[becj86]

Ok, it looks like you're shooting for 3hr A time still - that was good at 6-7 months, now its probably not really enough and he's probably fighting naps because he's not tired.
What are A times and how do they fit into the EASY plan?
Sample EASY Routines from 0 - 13mths+

The long NWs in the middle of the night are usually that he's getting too much day sleep overall or he's getting that first nap too early in the day. This routine starting at 8/9am and BT at 8/9pm may not fit well with his body clock, babies often have a clock that is more 7-7 than 8-8/9-9. I can imagine getting up at 7 could be your idea of a nightmare given you work in the night! What's your ideal routine? What are your other children doing sleep-wise?

[~*Nicole*~]

Just wanting to offer some hugs and support. My DD#2 is about the same age, just turned 9 months on March 24th. She also wakes up several times at night to nurse and is still in our bedroom so I know how that feels. I also co-sleep a lot when she's ill or teething or wakes too early or...... you get the idea.

We haven't really extended our A times from around 7 months old very much either, but I am starting to think that we need to for similar reasons. She is taking shorter naps on 3 hours and I am sure I'll have to keep her awake and occupied for longer in order to get better naps and that might reduce our NWs also.

Looking at your schedule, it seems like the timing might be off a bit as bec was saying. If the nap is too early and then he can't make it to a good "bedtime", he'll need another nap to get through, but then that last nap is pretty late and also long enough to make bedtime get pushed later OR for him to think 5pm IS bedtime and that the 6pm wake up is his first night wake...So I'm thinking his body is tired and perhaps a bit confused about how much sleep it needs and at what time. I might consider capping that late nap to preserve a good bedtime or pushing out that first awake time and first nap so that after the second nap he can stay awake for a longer awake time again to meet his age needs. It might push your bedtime a bit later but that might work for you based on your job?

[Islandmama]

Thanks for the responses! Yes I am wondering if we should be aiming for 3.5 A times but he still seems tired at that 3 hour mark, should I still try to push to 3.5? Early wake ups are brutal for me, but if it would help to decrease the amount of NW, I am all for it. I spend a good chunk of my night reassuring/nursing/shushing back to sleep and lose a lot of time that could be spent working. I could get to bed much sooner if I had a few uninterrupted hours to work after he goes to bed.

My older boys are 9 and 4, they go to bed at 8:30 during the week. They have been great sleepers since being sleep trained as infants and were both sleeping through the night by 9 months. I don't know why I dropped the ball this time. I keep talking to my husband about implementing shush pat and not picking him up whenever he wakes, but the truth is I am avoiding it because I hate to see him upset, I am a complete wuss this time around and the thought of patting away while he yells at me to cuddle him isn't enticing at all I have tried it a couple of times and he. was. not. having. it. I feel like shush patting turns into PU/PD because he gets so upset that I am shushing instead of picking him up that I have to hold him to calm him down. Then as soon as his back touches the crib he gets angry again. Is this all normal?

For now I have been nursing or rocking to sleep and placing him in the crib for most of the night then bringing him into bed when he gets too restless. He is up every 2 to 3 hours although sometimes it extends to 4 (progress??). Also he has no teeth at all and I always wonder if he is teething and therefore suffering somehow without me knowing. Aggghhh. I will work on a 7am to 7pm routine. In terms of actual sleep training I may need some words of encouragement.

[becj86]

So, he will be tired for that first nap at 3hr, because he's been up half the night. Increasing that first A time may give you some OT naps initially (be ready to resettle at 30min) but should help with the NWs. I think given you're reasonably close to a decent A time, increasing in 15min chunks every 4-5 days (longer when LO is older, they take longer to adjust) may help - that reduces the likelihood of the OT wakings from nap.

How have you gone with the 8am starts?

I wonder if reflux is at play here? Is he sleeping flat when he's in with you? The reason I ask is that screaming the moment he's flat is sometimes a symptom of that. Sometimes its just that baby isn't keen on the crib. Reflux 101 - General reflux information

[~*Nicole*~]

I feel like shush patting turns into PU/PD because he gets so upset that I am shushing instead of picking him up that I have to hold him to calm him down. Then as soon as his back touches the crib he gets angry again. Is this all normal?

For now I have been nursing or rocking to sleep and placing him in the crib for most of the night then bringing him into bed when he gets too restless. He is up every 2 to 3 hours although sometimes it extends to 4 (progress??).

TBH both my reflux babies and non-reflux babies tended toward wanting to be picked up to be soothed rather than shhh/patted. I know reflux did contribute to not sleeping longer stretches for my two refluxy bubs, but all three would scream upon touching the crib mattress if they had fallen asleep or been rocked prior which I think honestly had more to do with moving from a snuggly, warm place to a flat, cooler place in that moment of relaxed, sleepiness. If I was able to lie them down with a blanket that was warm from being against our bodies and apply some pressure with my arms/hands before backing away, I could get them to lie down either sleepy or already asleep without screaming but it took ninja skill and was not really teaching them to sleep independently.

[Islandmama]

I don't think he has reflux as he will contentedly sprawl on his back next to me for hours asleep in bed. Last night he was up so often I didn't get to finish my work until 5AM and then he was up until 7AM. I went back to bed with him until 10, so today was a complete bust. I do want him to learn to sleep independently. But as I said he gets so upset during shush patting, I end up inadvertently doing PU/PD because I have to pick him up to calm him and then he starts crying again as soon as I put him down. What should I do in that situation?

He had a doctor's appt yesterday and the doctor mentioned he may have two to four teeth coming in. They are taking FOREVER in my opinion.

This is hard

[becj86]

Is there something you can do like patting or singing or something that you can continue as you put him into bed? Can you give him a blanket or a lovey so he's got something with him that he can use as a comfort item?

Teething can play havoc with sleep too, it just is painful

If you're not consistent, this will take a long time. Babies thrive on predictability so if you change the way he goes to sleep and the times he sleeps so much from day to day, sleep training isn't going to work. Given he's spent his entire life sleeping with you, its going to take some time, even if you are consistent.

[Islandmama]

Yes, you're right. Will try my hardest for the next week to keep him on a schedule and check back in on how it's going, thanks so much!

[Islandmama]

We're doing well with his daily schedule so far, but I am just realizing our biggest enemy here is his eczema. I thought it was fairly mild but we've had some flare ups lately and the itching has gotten worse for him. He always scratches a lot at night or when he's upset or tired but lately it's been worse. I realize we can't sleep train while he's going through this so I may need to accept that he will not sleep through the night until he outgrows some of these symptoms. I'm considering switching from breastmilk to formula in case something in my diet is affecting it. Is there any support forum here for eczema babies? In the meantime I guess all we can do is keep him on a schedule and try to make him as comfortable as possible. I feel so bad for him.

[becj86]

Lots of bubs with eczema also have reflux/food intolerances, etc. so the colic reflux and crying board is good for that: Colic, Reflux, & Crying You could also try the Medical board but I think you'll get more experiences eyes on the CRC board.

Elimination diets, etc. are all things the CRC mummas know a lot about, as well as the pros, cons and hows of switching to formula.