help with sleep for 1 month olds

roxyde

finally something to post on...wish i didn't, but need help!

my girls are about 4weeks now (born shy of 36wks).  the first 2 wks of their life they were great at sleeping 3hrs, waking to feed, then going back to sleep.  since then, they wake to eat, then toss and turn and grunt and scream while trying to sleep.  this happens until they are ready to breastfeed again, now at 2hr intervals.  the only thing that makes them sleep better is to be held...should i just give in and hold them all the time?  i find that hard to do and also get some sleep myself without co-sleeping, which kinda scares me to do.

is this sleep behavior normal for this phase of their life?  do i need to just tough it out, or try swings and such (they seem too little for them)?

on top of this, they tend to spit after laying down for a bit- every time. makes me wonder if their tummies hurt, keeping them up? 

 thanks for any advice! 

caden

I could have written this post, except that mine still eat at 3hrs. (I pump & supplement). I think mine have gas from the formula, but maybe it's just normal since our kids are acting the same. My pedi said they need to mature a little more to figure out that relaxing is better for releasing gas than tightening. They're making it harder on themselves with all that grunting. Mine spit up less or not at all if they burp well. The problem is sometimes it's just impossible to get a good burp out of them. I don't have a solution for this. I tried gas drops and those worked for 2 days then quit.

Pen0409

Same with one of mine!  Norah was diagnosed with reflux at her first pedi appt. and was given Axid.  She has only been on it for 2 days...not sure if it is helping yet.  But she eats FAST then spews and I have to hold her upright forever and comfort her....she is constantly grunting and turning red and totaly wide eyed...by the time she settles down...it is an hour until her next feed!  I fell like she is isn't getting any rest! 

carolina1178

sounds like reflux....are they arching back while eating? might want to talk to pedi about it. try holding them up for 15-20 minutes after eatin.

all 3 of my boys had/have reflux:-(

roxyde

yeah, I was wondering if it could be reflux and will talk to the doc about it.  but no, they don't arch their backs or hate feedings, they actually want to all the time, I think as a comfort thing, which I heard could be because of reflux too.  the burping seems to help a little - they do have tons gas sometimes.

they're approaching their due date now, which I read is when they start to become a little more awake.  maybe that's part of their problem - they're not sure if they should sleep or be up?