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Maryland Babies
Sleep issues- please please help
The last two weeks have been terrible. Anderson had been sleeping about 5 hours each night but has recently started sleeping about 2-3 hours for the entire night and I don't know what to do. He cluster feeds 6-9pm and the last feed DH gives him a bottle so I know he's nice and full. He's usually asleep by 9:45 and awake by midnight. When he wakes up I BF him but he'll only eat for 5-10 then fall asleep for no more 10 minutes before he's screaming again. This goes on until 5am or so before he decides it's time for a stretch of sleep. The problem then is that he needs to eat at 7am so he can take his medicine at 8am. I don't think he has his days and nights confused because he's awake a good portion of the day.
I don't know what to do except cry. Any advice would be so helpful. TIA!
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Re: Sleep issues- please please help
I'm so sorry
We went through a rough patch of sleep last week and it was horrible.
When he wakes up at midnight, are you sure he's hungry? Maybe just try rocking him back to sleep and not feeding him (unless you don't think you can skip a feeding). Does he eat for 10 mins, fall asleep for 10 mins, then wake up and feed again? How long has this been going on? Hopefully it's a short-lived growth spurt.
What finally worked for us was the swing. We dragged it into his room and put him in there when he drifts off and that seems to be keeping him asleep. (We tried everything else first - paci, no paci, swaddle, no swaddle, going down half asleep, going down all the way asleep, etc etc)
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This been going on for 2 weeks. He'll eat for 10 minutes then sleep for 10. We've haven't tried the swing but it's worth a shot. Thanks!
That doesn't sound like a growth spurt. We actually used a vibrating bassinet, but a swing would work, too. Is he crying? Does he seem like he has gas pain?Our DD was allergic to milk and soy that were appearing in my breastmilk. Once I cut out dairy and soy, she began sleeping longer. Are you burping after every feeding?
Good luck.
He is crying when he wakes which led me to think he's hungry. After I feed him and he falls back to sleep I put him in the bassinet and then he starts crying again.
He does have a milk allergy so I stop all milk product a month ago.
Have you replaced a lot of the dairy products with soy? The dairy-free moms in the online bf'ing support group I am in frequently mention that you have to be careful to not go overboard on the soy (in lieu of dairy) because you can then end up w/ soy sensitivity in the baby. They have a document with tips on what to eat/drink, recipes, etc.
Would it be possible for your DH to put him down when you are done bf'ing him at night? Sometimes having daddy put them down can do the trick.
Have you tried a white noise machine or the famous Fisher Price seahorse? These aren't cures by any means, but they can definitely help. Does he use a pacifier?
I assume you're not drinking any caffeine, right?
I hope this wakeful period is short and that he's back to sleeping longer stretches ASAP!
Someone's getting a little brother!
can you change when you are giving him his meds - maybe that's the issue.
Also - I'd try letting him sleep in the bouncer or swing if he'll do it there - I did that a decent amount when DD was very young - and I slept on the floor next to her. It wasn't ideal, but way better than no sleep. Also - will he take a binky? Or maybe he's got gas? I think that's much less common in BF babies, but if he's getting his last feeding from DH w/a bottle, its possible its giving him gas. Can you try putting some gas drops in the bottle and see if that helps.
It seems like a strange time to be developing food issues, it might be colic, I thought that kicked in around 1 month. Have you called the doctor to ask them?
I had the SAME problem with my LO. I used to cry and say that I was never going to nurse again because that is ALL she wanted to do at night. And, if I didn't she would cry. I ended up listening to my pediatrician and used some tough love. I would let her cry longer than I had been and find other ways to soothe her besides nursing. Especially, when I KNEW she wasn't hungry. That, and make my DH get up and take care of her, so that she didn't expect to nurse. I never fully enforced the cry-it-out method because I just couldn't handle it. But, gradually increasing her cry time and decreasing nurse/mommy time worked for me.
Good luck!