Once reflux diagnosed now onto sleeping

[DGiessen]

Hi All,

This is my first posting on this site, I have been reading it for some time to find out more about reflux as my baby boy of 4 months has been diagnosed with this.  He is now on Zantac 2 mls twice a day and has had his formula changed to S26 AR.  So far so good, NOW...  My problem is that I have gone from a baby that sleeps 4 - 6 hours at a time to a baby that wakes every 1.5 hours although he does go to sleep almost immediately I am burning out as i work full time.

His day is typically

0600 - 0700 activity wake up
0700 - 0800 bath and feed ( will drink 6 oz)
0800 - 0900 nap
0900 - 1000 Play time and feed (will drink 3-4 oz)
1000 - 1100 nap again
1100 - 1300 feed and activity(will drink balance of milk)
1300 - 1430 nap
1430 - 1600 activity and feed (will drink 6oz)
1600 - 1630 bath
1630 - 1730 nap
1730 - 1900 feed (6oz)
2300 - 2315 dream feed (5-6 oz)
0130           Wake and have paci straight down
0230           wake and feed (3-4oz)
0430           wake and finish bottle
0500/0530   wake and want cuddle
0600 no longer wants to sleep.

As you can see he is fab until 0130, how can I get him to sleep longer?  I have tried wake to sleep but he still wakes up.  He will not accept my husband during the night even though he is more than willing to get up so I am doing this all alone.  Any advice?

Thanks so much in advance, this board has kept me sane...

[carmkaylasmom]

i can totally sympathise, my lol is 5 months and has had reflux too, and our night schedule is pretty much the same!

one tip that we had was to raise the mattress a bit (though i can't report any miracles yet).

I am also looking forward to starting solids as babies with reflux are supposed to do really well on them...

[DGiessen]

Thanks so much for the "understanding", I just wish that things would go back to normal .  I do love my baby so much but there are times when I just feel like packing running away.  I am sure that there will be light at the end of the tunnel but I think it has been temporarily disconected due to lack of energy??

[Colin Macs Mom]

Hi DG, my ds has reflux and gets Zantac as well, and the 4 month age was very tough with sleeping.    Who knows why but he had a terrible flare up around then. Not long after we got a wedge for him to sleep on, and that made a huge difference. I would definitely suggest trying that or elevating one end of the mattress. It might not help, but if it does it's a beautiful thing.  Solids did help further too, although you do have to be more careful with acidic foods like tomatoes, pears, etc. You might want to talk with your doc about starting him a little earlier than 6 mo. I wouldn't do it without a consult though.

I know what you mean about the running away and light at the end of the tunnel. Don't feel badly for thinking that way, it's really hard to have a reflux lo. Mine is spirited as well so let me tell you that's a deadly combo. Do what you need to do to get him sleeping better, then you can sleep better and be more present KWIM?