Overcoming shitty NB napping

BPer

So Hannah was was a horrible napper, like 30 minutes on the dot, 3x a day until she was 7 months shitty.

DS is currently at 25 minutes, 2x a day, and I am losing my mind, because unlike DD, he's also a bad nighttime sleeper.

I don't think I finally got through it with Hannah until she was on a super strict schedule, which has been impossible so far because of the inconsistent nighttime sleep.

I have tried swaddled and unswaddled in the following things: swing, rnp, pnp, crib, and when I'm desperate, in my arms. He fights it and fights it, and ends up just miserable.

He takes a bottle every 3 hours, and by the time I am able to get him down, and then try to get him back down after a 20 minute nap, he's starving again. Rinse and repeat all damn day.

He doesn't even sleep in the car. Also, white noise, and paci...he rarely takes a paci.

Help.

MRoxy0628

The one thing that popped into my head is the Magic Sleep Suit. I've never tried it, but I know others have had success. Not sure if there is a certain age they need to be. How about wearing him in a wrap? Or a vibrating bouncer?

BeebopandBuddy

The only way Maya would sleep was in my arms, on her side, belly to belly with me. It helped with her gas issues. Have you tried that at all?

Holly_1007

Colby only slept in the swing with it on high and white noise super loud.

BPer

MRoxy0628 said:

The one thing that popped into my head is the Magic Sleep Suit. I've never tried it, but I know others have had success. Not sure if there is a certain age they need to be. How about wearing him in a wrap? Or a vibrating bouncer?

The rnp vibrates, so we've got that covered, but I didn't even think of the magic sleep suit. We We had bought one for Hannah to wean her off the swaddle, but by the time it got here, she had stopped waking 20x a night so we returned it. I think I'll order another. I will try anything at this point.

BPer

Holly_1007 said:

Colby only slept in the swing with it on high and white noise super loud.

Yeah, we tried that. He will occasionally take a decent nap in there, but we can't get anything consistent unfortunately.

AKB090609

I'm sorry your going thru this again, it sucks!

Unfortunately both of mine only slept/sleep for more than 30 minutes at a time if they are in a carrier, and I have to be walking around, no sitting. I do remember it getting better around 6 months, not that that helps now.

Holly_1007

Ugh I'm sorry. That seriously sucks.

BPer

BeebopandBuddy said:

The only way Maya would sleep was in my arms, on her side, belly to belly with me. It helped with her gas issues. Have you tried that at all?

I've tried on his side, and he sometimes likes sleeping on his tummy. I got hopeful that we had found something that worked and MIL even went out and bought an angelcare monitor. But like everything else, it sometimes works. Like 1 out of 10 times.

He definitely has gas issues. He's on sensitive formula, a probiotic, and we use gas drops and gripe water as needed.

BPer

AKB090609 said:

I'm sorry your going thru this again, it sucks!

Unfortunately both of mine only slept/sleep for more than 30 minutes at a time if they are in a carrier, and I have to be walking around, no sitting. I do remember it getting better around 6 months, not that that helps now.

I mean, in 3 weeks, his shitty daytime sleeping will be DC's problem 5 days a week, but we'll still have weekends, and H works Saturdays.

BPer

Oh and guys, ILs, my mom, and H all asked "Can't you just let him cry at this point?"

No, CIO tends to be frowned upon at 6 weeks. Sigh.

BPer

harti09 said:

You talked about reflux stuff the other day, right?

How long has he been on his current dosage? Maybe it's not enough for him.

I'd say almost 3 weeks now. I'm going to call his pedi on Monday and get him in to make sure there's nothing I'm overlooking healthwise, like an allergy or something. He always seems agitated and irritable.

watercolor5

What about wearing him?  We used to get Julia to sleep by wearing her in our ergo until she had passed out, then transferred her to the pnp or crib after that.  That's all I can think of that others haven't mentioned- hope you (both) get some more rest soon!

BPer

watercolor5 said:

What about wearing him?  We used to get Julia to sleep by wearing her in our ergo until she had passed out, then transferred her to the pnp or crib after that.  That's all I can think of that others haven't mentioned- hope you (both) get some more rest soon!

I busted out the ergo yesterday, but I've also been thinking "There's no way I'm going to get daycare to wear my kid around until he passes out."

BPer

harti09 said:

If he has a lot of digestive issues, I'd consider looking at a milk/soy protein intolerance. Sometimes it's just hard for little stomachs to process the stuff. 

My two did. They grew out of it around 6/7 months. DS still has issues drinking straight milk, but that's it. It made a world of difference when we figured that out.

What were their symptoms?

tyrannasaurusjess

Have you considered getting the mamaroo?? We were 28 seconds away from buying one as a last resort when none of our other 18 billion baby apparatuses did the trick. They're pricy, but if it works... I'm willing to bet it's worth every penny. I'm sorry... fx he gets with it soon

4Moms Mamaroo

BPer

jessk86 said:

Have you considered getting the mamaroo?? We were 28 seconds away from buying one as a last resort when none of our other 18 billion baby apparatuses did the trick. They're pricy, but if it works... I'm willing to bet it's worth every penny. I'm sorry... fx he gets with it soon

4Moms Mamaroo

Lol. That's our swing.

BPer

He's currently loosely swaddled in his rnp in our bedroom with the fan on. I turned the vibrate on and rocked him until he fell asleep. Hannah is also napping. I am afraid to move for fear of throwing off whatever balance in nature is allowing this to happen simultaneously. So I'm shopping on my ipad.

I earned $225 in gap cash. Shitty nappers are expensive.

Holly_1007

Bring one of his dirty diapers to the pedi and have them test for blood in the stool. They will put it under a microscope, takes a few minutes. If there is blood then it's probably some sort of allergy.

watercolor5

harti09 said:

BPer said:

If he has a lot of digestive issues, I'd consider looking at a milk/soy protein intolerance. Sometimes it's just hard for little stomachs to process the stuff. 

My two did. They grew out of it around 6/7 months. DS still has issues drinking straight milk, but that's it. It made a world of difference when we figured that out.

What were their symptoms?

Irritable babies in general. They both had reflux issues, and DS had to be held upright (worn in a carrier) to feel comfortable. Lots of gas. They had mucous in their dirty diapers.

Around the 2 month mark I was at my wits end trying to figure out how to make my babies happy. My SIL dealt with MSPI with my nephew, so it was on my radar. They didn't figure it out with him until he was 4 months old and was having bloody stools and dropping weight. 

I decided to go dairy/soy free (BFing). Once it left their system, it was night and day.

With my nephew, he was so upset all the time. He just wasn't happy at all. He had really bad gas issues. SIL had to bicycle pump his legs and do little tricks to make him comfortable alongside gas drops. He was a reflux baby also. She switched him to Alimentum when things got bad around 4 months. That fixed it.

DD1 was also a MSPI baby.  She didn't have reflux/bad spit up, but she was bloated and gassy and so uncomfortable all the time until I took milk protein out of my diet.  You could hear her guts rumbling as the gas moved around . She was also better by 7 months, because that's when I introduced a normal milk-based formula.  Might be worth it to try a different formula if he seems miserable all the time. 

And I say if the ergo works for you, use it.  Daycare can figure out what works for them- and I don't think it's too much to ask them to hold him until he falls asleep when he's fussy- that's their job when they watch babies.  I bet he'll be feeling better within a few months at the latest as his digestive system matures anyway, so if you and daycare have to be on survival mode until then, that's ok. 

lbrown9807

BPer said:

You talked about reflux stuff the other day, right?

How long has he been on his current dosage? Maybe it's not enough for him.

I'd say almost 3 weeks now. I'm going to call his pedi on Monday and get him in to make sure there's nothing I'm overlooking healthwise, like an allergy or something. He always seems agitated and irritable.

Has anyone said anything about colic? This sounds like DS2 to a tee, and it went away at 3 months (which is when they say colicky babies tend to get better)

BPer

Thanks for all the responses ladies. After extensive Google searching, I think we may be dealing with MSPI. After another 3am scream fest, I drove down to Walmart and picked up a container of soy and alimentum because we won't be able to see the pedi until tuesday. Hopefully we can figure this out.

Holly_1007

BPer said:

Thanks for all the responses ladies. After extensive Google searching, I think we may be dealing with MSPI. After another 3am scream fest, I drove down to Walmart and picked up a container of soy and alimentum because we won't be able to see the pedi until tuesday. Hopefully we can figure this out.

hope that helps! Good luck! Mspi sucks!