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My ds is and has always been a horrible sleeper but I can no longer take it anymore. He takes 2-3 naps during the day and goes down awake and sleeps for a total of about 3-4 total hours so those are great. He also eats a ton of food during the day (5 jars of stage 2 food, 2/3 cups of infant cereal and gets around 27 ounces of formula). He goes to bed at around 7:15 after his bottle and goes to sleep without any trouble until around 11pm. At this point he wakes up and usually wants something else to eat so that puts us up to 34 ounces of formula. From midnight to 4am he is up almost constantly. He is crying but my gut instinct is that it isn’t his reflux but that he doesn’t want to be in his crib. I did an experiment one night and slept with him next to me and he slept all night without a peep. When my husband goes to him he screams even louder and starts pounding his feet on the mattress. Do you think that last bottle at 11 could be making him too full and I should try some water? He usually seems satisfied after his meals. My dd did the same thing around this age but I hate to let him cry as I don’t think that helps his reflux but I can’t survive any longer with this little sleep. Any thoughts, please???
Mommyof2 2006-4-13 12:41:1 Cory,
The first thing I’d wonder about is whether he’s getting a high enough dose of Prevacid. My boy gets 10mg 3x’s per day and that has really made a difference in how he feels. Does Ryan seem to be in pain with his reflux, or are you quite sure his reflux is under control?
I hate to give sleep advice because I am definitely not an expert, but I feel bad for you and I would like to help if I can.
If you are sure he is not waking from reflux pain, then I’d say it’s probably a habit he has developed. The fact that he goes to bed awake and takes several good naps per day is very good! You will probably only have to tweak his routine a little to get him sleeping better at night.
The fact that he slept perfectly when you laid beside him is a good indication that he is not in pain, but just wants mommy nearby.
Babies (and adults) go through several alternating stages of light and deep sleep during the night. (Babies have more light sleep than adults). When an adult comes to a light stage of sleep, they usually will turn over, or perhaps get up to go the bathroom and then go right back to sleep. Babies need to learn to go back to sleep when they come to this light stage of sleep. Often they become too wakeful and have trouble falling back to sleep, especially if they are used to having a prop to go to sleep in the first place (a bottle, rocking, etc.). That’s why I say it is great that he goes to bed awake. He is ahead of the game in that area!!
Ryan probably has gotten into the habit of crying for you and wanting his bottle when he reaches his first stage of light sleep after going to bed for the night. He may have trouble going back to sleep after that because his night time sleep cycle is interrupted and he becomes too wakeful. The first thing I’d try is to keep him up just a little bit later; perhaps until 8pm so he gets his last bottle a little later. Perhaps you could put some cereal in his night time bottle if you think he needs it to help him sleep all night. (By six months babies should really be able to sleep all night without being fed if they are healthy and well fed during the day).
What I always did with my first two babies and still do with my son who is the same age as Ryan, is comfort them without picking them up at night when they wake up, so they learn pretty early on that I will not be picking them up in the middle of the night. When my son wakes in the night I wait a few minutes to see if he will settle himself. If not, I go in, pat his back, say “night, night” and leave. If he cries, I wait a few minutes and try again. If he’s really upset I’ll stay by his crib and pat him a little until he calms down, then leave again. Some experts suggest sitting on a chair where they can see you, and gradually moving the chair further and further away each night. The important thing is to keep the interaction to a minimum. Say nothing more than, “mommy’s here” or “night, night.”
With all of my children I’ve had to do this (go in and comfort them in bed without picking them up) from time to time, but they eventually learned to settle themselves when they wake up at night. With my son and I rarely have to go in anymore at night, but he still has trouble with his early morning light sleep stage which occurrs usually between 4:30 and 5:30am. I’m working on that by just leaving him and letting him cry a little and lately most mornings he goes back to sleep without me having to go in.
This routine can be exhausting for a while, but in the long run you’ll probably have a baby who sleeps well at night and can settle himself when he wakes up at night.
Thanks so much for replying. I am about 99.9% sure that it isn’t his reflux because he actually sounds mad when he is crying and not in any pain. He also is so happy during the day but turns into the spawn of satan at night. During the day he does burp quite a bit but doesn’t seem to be in any pain at all with it and greedily eats his food. I was thinking he was in a habit also as it is always around the same time each night like clockwork. I definitely think he is eating enough during the day as he often eats more then my toddler
I will definitely try it tonight. I am so desperate that I will try almost anything.Good luck! The first few nights will be the most difficult. He’ll probably be madder than ever because he expects to be picked up and won’t understand why his calls aren’t being answered in the usual way. It will take a few nights or even a week or two for him to learn to put himself to sleep when he wakes up in the middle of the night.
I hope you are sleeping through the night soon
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