Printable View
Haven't finished reading replies because I had to post and say that I am totally freaked out.
You are describing DS. I have never read anything so frightening. This is Ds!!!!
I am barely functioning.... hugs, hun. Off to read this thread properly now
The more I read your thread, the more I think it could be teeth (?) If she hasn't b/f today and she screams at night in pain - that sounds like what DS2 did, for every tooth. Lying down seems to make it so much worse and with DD the pain also radiated up to her ears. I thought it was an ear infection but GP said that teeth can cause the ear pain. Panadol and Nurofen didn't cut the screaming and it took us hours to get DS2 down for sleeps and he would wake often, then once the tooth cut, he would be fine until the next tooth came along.
I can't remember, but has she cut any teeth yet? As in, has she done this pattern before now when she cut her first tooth?
she has 2 teeth and no, i didnt even notice them until after they were through!
i keep feeling her gums to see if any are close but cant feel anything.
another sign of teething is a change in poos. sometimes, they get kinda acidic poos.
it's not til after an unsettled period that i can sometimes work out what was the issue, and like 3littlemonkeys sometimes i never get an answer, but things get better again.
hope you have a better night.
My DD who is now 15mo would bite when she's teething. Sometimes the teeth don't come through Til weeks later. She got some of her bigger/back teeth quite early & those were horrendous times for my nipples. So I totally understand what u mean. I use the Bauer teething relief. That seems to settle her. With the biting. I find the key for me is working out when she is abt to & I pull her close to me. Or I break the suction & we have a stern 'chat'. Did this mainly during the day. I dunno how much she got it but everytime she starts teething I pull her close & it's like she remembers and stops.
The other thing I was wondering is if anything is bothering her tummy? The only reason why I ask is because you mentioned abt how she would settle on ur shoulder, so that's quite 'upright'. Just reminds me when DD was a lot younger & had some reflux.
:hug:
Have you tried talking to the cafhs nurse? I know mine was fantastic and helped me settle dd back when she was 2 mo. Now I feel armed with ideas for settling her? Might be worth a shot, and they're free unlike the doctor :)
I still wrap dd and that keeps her settled, she just gets her arms out once she is asleep. I also find infants friend works wonders when she is unsettled at night. Have you tried that?
thanks girls.
litttle o ~ i havent used infants friend for mths. not since she was really little.
she did some nasty poos a week ago. but has had a normal ome since
will update soon
Maybe give that a shot? It helps with the tummy (with all the new food) and it also helps with teething.
A friend of mine even takes it herself of shes feeling bloated or restless at night lol
Xx
thankyou to everyone who suggested holding her tight and close to avoid bitting. that has really helped!
:hug: Can you DH take her overnight sometimes to give you a longer stretch of sleep?
Sometimes they just do this. You survive. That is all. And then it gets better. Mine both settled into regular longer stretches after 18 months.
we went to the doctor. ears and throat all clear. so they think it is just teething. she did give her some ab though for a nappy rash. she does have a few broken spots on her bum from her insane poos last week. i thought i was keepibg ontop of it but she said it looked like it was getting infected.
madb ~ on weekends he helps but doesnt during the wewk because he drives all day her cant really afford to loose much sleep.
last night was better, as in no hrs of screaming. she still woke 1-2 hrs tho but settled easy. i did give her regular panadol tho over night (before she showed signs of being in pain)
That is so frustrating that the dr could only put it down to teething. We've had G checked and nothing is wrong plus the plunket nurse had no suggestions, just saying let us know how you get on. Gee thanks for that.
Wishing for sleepy, sleepy babies tonight.
yea it was a 'its just teething' no interest in how much the lack if sleep is affecting us... but i am happy she is ok, if something was actually wrong i would feel so guilty for just watching and waiting for so long...
damn those plunket nurses
I took Gemma to a cranio sacral therapist today. She couldn't find anything physically or behaviourally wrong but did pick up that Gem is a very busy little thing and thinks the big problem is that she is unable to find her little "off" switch so can't wind down enough to get decent sleep. Which actually makes a LOT of sense.
G was really tired but she was asleep by the end of the street which is unheard of. Coincidence? Who knows but we have made another appointment next week. Watch this space.
alot of stuff i have read said at 8ish months they can be too busy to turn off. maybe my girl is just getting it done sooner.
it is a good thing Gemma is all good, even if it doesnt give you any answers
Interestingly, G has been super super clingy and feeding/sucking for AGES. Before her morning nap, I started to give her a top up (at about 9.45), she fed for almost an hour, i put her in bed and she is still asleep now at 2.10!!!!
My c-s therapist said this might happen over the next day or two but to just go with it and not worry about the effect on tonight's sleep. I guess she is so sleep deprived that she really really needs it.
she has gotten better. i dont know what happened those few weeks. ww? teeth? heat? i dont know but we are back to 3-4hr stretches and it is heaven!!!!
ohhh enjoy the 3-4 hour stretches! Don't think you will ever know what the cause was! Did you end up moving her into her room?
Glad you've had improvement! :cheer:
ok...so not better. she is still doingvthe every 2 hours. .. but the hard bit is at least one of those wake up us screaming in pain (we think) back arching etc, after lots of love and cuddles she will do a burb but still wont lay down. so im sleeping a couple of hours a night atleast sitting up right on the couch with her =(
now yesterday we headed to see MIL pretty late (in a town an hr away) cause she had had a fall and was in hospital. so we didn't get hone until late so we put Spock to bed as soon as we got in. she still woke regularly but not screaming in pain! the thing different is no tea (evening meal)
how long beyween tea and bed do yiur kids have for it to settle? Spock would have about 1 1/2 - 2 hrs. but Im going to avoid soluds after a certain time now..which means we will have to change when we have tea I think but if it helps her we have to.
I haven't re read the whole thread and I can't remember, but has she got reflux? Even silent reflux? The back arching and screaming was a big sign with DD1. She slept so much better when on losec for it.
nothing diagnosed. but she has only been doing the arching in the last month or so, its a new thing. I did think refulx, but thought we would have known about it already
I think some people have it diagnosed quite late. Might be worth looking into. DD1 was like a new child when we had it under control.
My DS didnt show reflux signs until 10 months old (I had never suspected it before then at all) so its entirely possible to have bubs that show it later. We went through absolute hell, he was wkaing nearly every sleep cycle for a good 6 months. Countless dr visits as I strongly suspected reflux (his symptoms matched EVERYTHING on the reflux website), but drs wouldnt listen as he was still gaining weight. Extraordinary amounts of weight. Because he comfort fed ALL night long. It was awful, it made me doubt myself so much. We finally saw a paed after 6 months of waiting, when DS was 18 months old. He confirmed that it was likely reflux but since things had started to improve he didnt think it was necessary to look into it further. Still though to hear him agree with me was such a relief. So if you suspect reflux, push for getting it looked into. I should have pushed for a referral for a private paed so we could get seen sooner, but I never imagined it would have taken so long to see the public one.
And teething also made him sleep awful. We basically had to just ride it out, he got a 6 month break of teething after his eye teeth came through at 18 months and his reflux improved out of sight as well. And his sleep just become amazing. And then a few months ago his 2yo molars started coming through lol, we're back to multiple wake ups over night. He will only settle for a breastfeed as well, its become his comfort tool. Its a hard slog with a child who wakes so often, I really feel for you and am sorry I dont have any answers that can help :hug:
Shan - you were actually who I was referring to about it being picked up later. Glad you saw this :)
My kids have about 1 hour to 1.5 hour between dinner and bed. Does she eat dairy? It might be worth doing a mini elimination diet.
In my experience the 8-10 month period was very unsettled for both my kds and now ds is doing the almost-2 unsettled period I remember with dd (awake for hours in the night and up for the day at 4:50am!!)
I can say though dd is 4 and needs zero comfort in the night these days. It's a long haul!
the only dairy she has is yougurt, which is only a few times a week, and I haven't noticed any correlation between that and her being more unsettled. would I have to eliminate too?
she has also started doing the back arching thing if she is sitting/standing cause she knows I will pick her up, because she throws herself back and sometimes falls and smacks her head...
Maybe she just slept better because she was tired after a big day?
maybe, except she still woke up as often, just she woke up and settle easily with a little cuddle or a bf. rather than waking up screaming and being hard to resettle an taking hours to get back to sleep... I would have thought if it was a big day it would make it worse? I don't know...
we tried no solids late last night, same thing, she still woke, but wasn't screaming. did want more bf, but that is understandable if she was hungry.but i woul rather than than have her screaming in pain
As I have had a quick read of your thread I was thinking of my ds. He is only four and. Half weeks but showing the same patterns. He has reflux. The chemist suggested infant gaviscon but I have to wait for him to get to the minimum weight. I really feel for you because it is truly exhausting. It's also not fun seeing them in pain. With my ds I also feel that he tries to sleep but is being stopped. I have found too much wheat and any chocolate have correlated with a bad night. Big hugs Hun.
Yeah with that extra information, reflux seems a likely cause. Some babies don't seem to get reflux until they are a bit older and starting solids. The different foods affect the acidity levels in the stomach. You have to remember that their digestive systems are very immature and they just need time to develop. In the meantime, it may be worth talking to your GP about trying an antacid like gavascon or something. It might work. And if not, then no harm done.
thanks girls. the mach nurse is comibg on Thurs so ill talk to her about it (not that I feel she will be much help). is there anything I can get her without having to go to the doctor? like just from the pharmacy? id like to try stuff before hand so I can say we tried everthibg and have medication as a last resort
There are lots of things you can do before (or in addition to ) meds for reflux. Positioning - wedge under the mattress, change table etc. Wear baby after her meal or hold her up right for an hour or so to help the food stay in the tummy. When breastfeeding, also hold bub more upright - bum lower than head and tummy. For solids, maybe less acidic foods would help?
I don't know that it is reflux, but its worth trying things to see if you get some relief.
If you want to go meds route, my mchn said try mylanta 1ml (bub was younger than yours though, would have to look up dose for older bub) to see if it made a difference.
Talk to the pharmacist. But mylanta is a gentle one that's generally recommended for babies.
We've used osteopathy with great success for dd2s reflux and colic.
Both my DS's were dreadful sleepers - DS1 had reflux and I thought DS2 did also but turned out to be a dairy allergy, the symptoms can be very similar. I eliminated ALL dairy from my diet and saw a HUGE difference in his sleeps, ie, going from waking every 45 mins to sleeping in 2-4 hour blocks. It took about three weeks for the dairy to co pletely leave my system but if I even eat the tiniest bit all the old symptoms are back straight away.
Is DD snuffly and congested all the time? Does she have a weepy/teary eye? Vomit much? Those were some of DS2 symptoms, as well as screaming if I ate too much dairy.
Hope you find some answers soon, sleep deprivation is the worst form of torture xx
Double post sorry
hi Lise, She use to be congested... when she was really little, my brothers nickname for her is 'snuffle pig', and she use to have a very gunky yucky eye/tear duct, but that cleared up on its own over xmas.
what type of things did you elliminate?
Ive read a bit about reflux and the more I read about it the less I think thats what it is... because you can't hear the acid, she doesn't chuck up... and she is really happy and funny and laughing and all that all the other times of the day.
EVERYTHING with milk/milk products in it. DS2 is also such a happy boy which is why I was convinced there was something wrong, I just couldn't work out how he could be so happy yet such a terrible sleeper (as in wake up clearly uncomfortable, only sleeping upright etc). So I don't eat:
Milk (I now drink rice milk)
Cheese
Yogurt
Ice cream
Particular condiments with milk solids (some mayonnaises, Caesar dressing etc)
Biscuits
Chips
Butter/margarine (I use Nuttelex)
Basically I read the ingredients list of anything I eat, you'd be surprised what dairy is hiding in. Even the breadcrumbs I went to use had milk solids!
If you're willing to give it a go then might be worth a shot. I do take a calcium supplement just to ensure I'm getting enough calcium :)
i dont think i could give up my cheese...