Sleep & wind/tummy pain

[Realhousewife]

Hi All,

This is my first time using this forum and I'm hoping for some advice from anyone who has gone through this.

My DS is 7 weeks old and has had issues with constipation and wind since about 2 weeks due to Being FF.

He has always hated sleeping in his cot (would wake when out in there) but we could get him to sleep there for night time and one afternoon nap. He has always been a big eater (drains the bottle every feed) and used to be consistent with EASY but isn't anymore.

As he is getting older he is waking up more which may be causing his fussiness and sleeplessness but still experiencing the dietary issues. His paediatrician has us trialling Nan Comfort & prune juice for two weeks but I'm not sure what to do about his sleep in the mean time.

He is generally a great sleeper when he does get to sleep and is in a deep sleep and has even put himself to sleep before without crying or me being there (I was beyond exhausted and needed a short break - he kicked around for a bit then slept for a couple of hours.

Due to his tummy issues he hadn't been able to develop a decent EASY routine as sometimes he would comfort eat to get things moving. Before and after the six week period he would go anywhere from 4 - 5 hrs between feeds, last night going 6 twice (his formula amt is adjusted to make sure he is getting enough cals).

My question is - should I worry about sleep training using shh pat now or wait until his tummy issues are sorted out? I badly need him to sleep in his crib as other options (co sleeping, swing) are not an option for us for me to sleep. Sometimes I will use the swing just so I can get some things done but can't nap while he is in there for safety reasons. He will go to sleep there at night so I'm getting some sleep but it's not enough to sustain long term.

I try to do a settle routine when he displays tired cues then shh pat in the crib and is can take hours at which point he gets overtired and often fully wakes up. Because he does sleep well at times and has self soothed multiple times in the past my gut instinct is telling me that some of his sleeping issues is due to wind and tummy pain.  Eg his morning he wouldn't even sleep in my arms. Woke up after 10 mins crying. He has gone back to sleep but seems to just cat nap even though he is comfortable. I just am struggling as I don't want to waste hours trying to get him to settle when he wakes up every time I try.

[Vally]

I may not be too helpful but just to share that my DS was very windy at 7 weeks. He is now 12 weeks and things have improved a lot. I personally think 7 weeks is still too young for sleep training and I found o just had to do what ever settled him to get some sleep. My DS also didn't like his Moses basket and spent some time in our bed. He now goes to bed at 630pm wakes for one feed at 1230am and then wakes around 5am so I bring Jimmie into bed and then he goes back to sleep until 630/7am. You may already be doing these things but some of the things I did to help with wind was to give infacol consistently, raise the end of the Moses and to keep him upright in my chest for 20 mins before lying him down. He still gets windy but so much better. There tummys are still so small at 7 weeks so it does improve as their digestive system matures.  I am sure you'd LO will get there and I hope you get some sleep x

[Buntybear]

Hello and welcome to the forums 

My question is - should I worry about sleep training using shh pat now or wait until his tummy issues are sorted out?

My instinct would be to say no to sleep training - you can't sleep train when your LO is in discomfort and really your LO is so young it is more about learning about his cues and getting him into a bit of a routine. You can of course use shh/pat to start getting him used to it and it may well help now. Also try not to feed to sleep although once you are around 3 months this is a habit you can start to break with sleep training - if his other issues have settled.

Hope this helps x

[KBolton]

We had issues with constipation and wind. Changing formula sorted out the constipation but she is still really windy. For the wind we burp her a lot and use infacol. I also bought a clevermama sleep positioner, it keeps her at a slight incline and seems to help her sleep easier. I am hoping once her digestive system matures and the wind disapates we can get her to sleep without excessive winding and the sleep positioner.

I hope this helps. Good luck.