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I need sleep!

My Son is 1 in a wk's time and I can count on two hand's the number of times that he has slept through!  I am now pregnant again and I am dreading the new arrival coming if he still isn't sleeping....I wonder if anyone has any hints... I will give you some background info as it's not so straight forward.

He was 7 wks early and has suffered with Acid Reflux pretty much since birth, he is also Cows Milk Protein Intolerant and is being tested for Milk, Soya, Fish and Wheat Allergies. So I never know if the reason that he is waking is due to Tummy Ache!

He goes to bed quite happily between 7.30 - 8pm, no fuss no fighting, just drinks his milk and goes to bed awake (with his dummy).  He can wake anything from 9pm to 4/5am and he will scream until I go in and give him his dummy, once he has that he goes back to sleep - no more crying...until the next time which can be 30 mins later or maybe 2-3hrs, again screams until I put in his dummy and he's off!!  For example, he woke at least every hour last night from 12am until I gave in at 6am.  I don't really want to start putting him into bed with us as I feel this will make things worse when No 2 arrives in Aug.  He has slept through before without waking or waking briefly and just talking and then going back to sleep.

I have been advised to try control crying but this doesn't work as when I give him his dummy he's asleep so he doesn't care and he isn't learning anything!!!

PLZ PLZ PLZ, I hope that someone can help, I have 4-6mths to get this resolved and I am willing to try anything.

Many thanks,

Very tired mummy!!!

Replies

  • My Alice came 10 weeks early and is a year old in march!

    He could be suffering with PTSD. Alice wakes crying her little heart out. or will cry out in her sleep. She was also a c section delivery so im looking into getting some crainial sacral theraphy for her!

    he also, seems to be very very reliant on his dummy. his dummy is her signal to sleep. kinda like "I cannot sleep without it. ever". so you need to help him to learn he can sleep without it!

    I have read the no cry sleep soloution and would suggest you picked up a copy (cheap on amazon.co.uk) and look at their stop sucking to sleep routine among other things! it involves just shutting the mouth...orwhatever but I never had to read that fully as she doesnt lose it and if she does she will put it on OR we do the same and pop it back in. but this is once, if at all.

    Alice also can go one full 12 hours maybe 13 without a single wake up (well maybe a cry out) but most nights its hysterics at 1:30ish. but im sure this will be resolved when I get her the help she needs if she is having night terrors!

    Alice also had reflux. she has always slept on her tummy. maybe this will help him? if he has belly ache etc.

    Hope ive been some help. would certainly suggest you order the book and havea good read! lots of good, gentle ideas in there x

  • Hiya, thank you so much for your reply!!!  Yes he is defo reliant on his dummy and that is something that I had considered (removing it from him)  I will have to look at that to see....he also sleeps on his tummy.  I just get the feeling that theres something more than just waking for his dummy!!! he has slept through before and I am sure that it's his tummy waking him!!!

    I have actually just found out that pea's are part of a family which can cause problems with soya allergies ( which he is being investigated for) and he had peas with his tea for the 1st time last night!  Unfortunatley I had also given him some tonight but only a few so that may explain my nightmare night last night but also mean that I will have another tonight!  I have discussed with hubby and if he wakes a cpl of times within a short period I will sleep on sofa or put him in bed with us, I cannot have another night like last night!

     Let me know if you take Alice to have some Crainial work done, I do know someone who used that for colic/reflux when baby was younger than Alice and they said that it worked fantastic!!  Gonna look at ideas for removing dummy cos hubby is off next wk so would be better to do it together!!

    Thanks again xx

  • The book talks about how to get them off sucking to sleep and needing it to sleep. wonderful book!
    If Alice ever kept waking for the dummy I would use the method in the book to remove it from her!!!

     Im gonna use the crainial theraphy for her bad dreams, but ive heard it helps many other things. Alice doesnt suffer with the reflux anymore. well if she does a huge burp then yes, but not like before. before was a fountain of milk pouring out of her. it was awful. but when she hit about 6lbs it started to stop!

    Have you considered looking into baby massage. at our NICU they do monthly baby massage classes which shows mums the tummy massage, it helps to get thing moving but to also relieve any tummy pain.
    Also, is he on any medication for his reflux and painful tummy. domperidone would be a suggestion and also renitidine (spelling!) for the acid reflux, so intead of having gaviscon in his feeds (if you are doing that as thickens the feed, stops it coming back up so easily and calms stomach acid) you can give that which helps it not be so burny when it comes up again, thus stopping it being uncomfortable.

    but I would give a good thumbs up for domperidone! speak to your doc about getting a bottle for him. basically domperidone helps milk/food to get digested quickly and out of the stomach faster to stop reflux happening.

    My friends baby, he was 27 weeks is lactose intolerant and is on some soya based milk (but I know you said he has a soya allergy). I know she puts thick and easy in his milk feeds! She did use gaviscon for a long time but due to the milk he is on it wouldnt thicken the feed! so "think and easy" does the trick!
    So that could also be another option for you image

    Also if all methods have been tried and tested and no joy. take him to the doctor and tell him that you want him to be tested. maybe to have a tummy scan to make sure everything is working and moving ok. intenstines and bowel. just to tick everything off the list!

  • All of my girls have been like this at between 11-13mths.  The only solution for me was to gradually reduce the reliance on their dummies.  I stopped letting them have it at all when not in the cot and gradually left them in the cot to settle for 15-20mins before giving the dummy at bedtime and naptimes, after a few weeks they haven't cried for it every day and I would gradually not give it, if they asked for it I didn't deny them it but I also gradually stopped going straight in to give it them back over night.

    My middle daughter gave up her dummy almost straight away, my youngest has started to put it back in herself now and doesn't really cry for it too much anymore but hasn't given it up yet, she's almost 17mths old.

    My eldest daughter was 5 weeks early and had quite bad reflux until 7-8mths old she had 3 different medications, I found the best thing to help her sleep was massaging her tummy before bedtime, not feeding her  milk within an hour of bedtime and having her mattress raised to 30 degrees (pillow under the cot mattress worked for us)  she had grown out of most of the symptoms once she was 15 mths and her sister was born but at 4 1/2 yrs she still can't drink milk straight before bed without getting stomach ache.

    Like Corrinne said, check with your paeditrician or GP, maybe different medications could help or they can arrange for some tests to try to find the cause.

    Hope it settles down soon and you manage to plenty of rest for you and the new baby.

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