Help!!

[keirasmama]

I have just joined this website and I think its great. I just hope somebody can help me with my dilemma. (sorry in advance-this is a bit long winded)

On page 235 of The Baby Whisperer book, it says 'How to adapt P.u/Pd. If your baby is burrowing her head into the mattress, turning her head from one side to the other......This is what my 6 month old has been doing for 5 months now throughtout the night. Does anybody else baby do this?

We discovered she has got reflux so has been on medication for a few months (rantidine, domperidone, and gaviscon) and even that was on my recognition and not the doctors..they thought she had colic.  I thought she kept rubbing her face in my chest, mattress because of the reflux or teething pain, but still am not sure. The reflux is a bit better in the day time as I have changed her formula milk to Enfamil AR which is fantastic, as she does not spit up as much. But I the night time is still really really bad. She wakes up around 1 am every night then the rest of the night she is rubbing her face as if she has some kind of pain in that area...we are just sick of having no sleep. Keira is not getting any quality sleep' and now I have to move her into her own room out of the moses basket into a cot, and I am worried that she will not sleep at all then as I am not there straight away to comfort her.

Please can anyone point me into the right direction...who to see?. We have been to an cranial osteopath but did not help.  I do not know what to do...the Paed seems to not see this as an urgent case cause she isn't losing loads of weight.

Thank you.

[linfran]

Doctors - you could just clatter them sometimes, couldn't you (or at least invite them to babysit of an evening and see how they like it).

My lo is nearly 5 months and suffered really badly from both colic and reflux, but medication really helped, as did a thickener for his feeds to make them a bit more gloopy and therefore more likely to stay down.  My ds has turned his head so much from side to side at might he's got a bald spot on the back of his head - however, in his case it is teeth causing the pain.  Is your lo teething yet?

For reflux, I found it really helped at night to elevate the head end of his mattress by putting a blanket underneath so it propped him up a little bit.  I don't know if you've tried that but if not it could be worth a go.  You may have to go back to your dr and be pretty firm if you think the meds are no longer working - this can happen (it did with my son and gaviscon).

Could you perhaps post your routine and let us know how much your lo is eating to see if there's anything can be suggested?  There's also a message board about reflux and it has loads of helpful stuff on it

Big Hugs

[keirasmama]

thanks for your reply. I have elavated her crib but only helps a little. Her routine is everywhere at the moment cause she only cat naps but here goes -

8am - wakes up

9am - 4/5 oz of Enfamil AR then sleeps for 1 - 1 1/2 hours

10.30am - 1/4 farleys rusk

12:30 - 4/5 oz of formula then sleeps for 30 mins-1 1/2 hours

1:30 - plays

2pm - lunch - pear or jar - water

3:30pm - 5 oz of formula then sleeps for 30 mins/1 hour

4:30pm - plays

6pm - 4/5 oz of milk then sleeps for 45 mins

8:30 - bath/massage

9pm - 5/6 oz of formula then sleeps for 30 mins!!!

9:30pm - breastfeed abit then sometimes goes to sleep or I just tap her whilst in the cot

10 -11pm - falls asleep finally

12:30/1am - does not wake up fully but rubs her face into mattress and makes noises as if in pain so I pick her up, and breastfeed. Sleeps on my chest for an hour or so then all night till morning she moves face/head from side to side whilst on my chest, cot or bed.

4:30am - wakes up from pain screaming/crying

5am - falls asleep next to me on pillow

6am - moving head till finally wakes up at 8am

HELP!!!

[linfran]

Could it be the naps causing the problem?  She seems to start off great during the morning with a good 1-1.5 hours but the afternoon's a different story.  Could it be that she's so fidgety at night as she's overtired on top of the reflux?  This can happen with my ds, who isn't the world's greatest napper - on days when he hasn't slept much during the day, he's pretty restless at night.  I don't know if trying pu/pd with her afternoon nap might encourage her to sleep longer and allow you to then start bringing her bedtime forward a bit earlier (Just a suggestion, I'm no expert, believe me!!!).

How long does she feed for at 9.30pm and 1am - is it long enough to be a proper feed or do you think it's a habit/comfort thing?

(By the way, I was feeding my lo at 1am too this morning - only surpassed by the aroma of the nappy which woke me at 5am - the joys of motherhood!)

 

[keirasmama]

I never thought of that....I will try and sort her times out and put her on a proper routine when I move her to her own room next week. Her feeds are more of a comfort thing I think, although as you can see she is not a great eater....but then she is very petite. Sometimes she has a proper feed. I am just wondering whether its the breast milk thats making her feel uncomfortable as it is very thin and may make her reflux flare up...but then why does she wake up at 1am...habit I guess...I should really try and give her a bottle tonight at 1 rather than breastfeed...FINGERS CROSSED EVERYONE.

[linfran]

If you think it's a comfort thing you could perhaps try her with a paci in her cot to see if se settles wth that instead of having to feed her.

It was because my lo was such a bad refluxer I had to stop breastfeeding as the milk was too thin and it was easier to put his meds and thickener into a bottle of formula than faff about trying to mix paste to give to him before bf (I reckoned life was complicated enough as it was).

Good luck for tonight!!!!