When should I start sleep training

[Anonymous]

So my daughter is getting better medically…with the Zegerid, her reflux has improved dramatically in the last two weeks- down to basically rare episodes.

I ended up weaning her because I was coming back to work and being up all night + work + breastfeeding was too much to even consider. We landed on soy because anything milk based (even Nestle) through her into fits. She’s now 12 weeks and over 12 lbs.

Our sleep problems are strange (but don’t seem to be unusual here). She has always had night issues due to poop avoidance and discomfort which basically cause her to wake around 2 a.m. (it keeps getting earlier- it used to be between 3-4). Her doctor gave us Levison for this and we use Miralax in the morning to make sure she’s pooped every day. The Levison has helped with night gas, which she seems to pass fairly easily now (could also be due to age), but it doesn’t make her sleep.

She falls asleep around 7:30, and sleeps until 2 or so (I know this is a good stretch for an infant) but then wakes every hour. It doesn’t seem to matter if we feed her or not- she doesn’t eat much, maybe 2 oz. if offered, but wakes up an hour later regardless. If we go to her and put in the pacifier or pick her up, she falls asleep for another hour.

This is making me feel the waking is more behavioral or discomfort than hunger, but I was wondering if you’d agree. Everything I read says don’t try sleep training until they are healthy…well, she still grunts and moves around and I think it is still discomfort in her digestive tract so I don’t know if she qualifies as healthy…we are dying, though. It’s just so exhausting.

Is it too early to try sleep training? I talked to her GI’s nurse and there is nothing else we can do medically. She is sleeping on a wedge on her back.

Has anyone else with this problem been successful with sleep training?

[Anonymous]

I’d be really reluctant to try sleep training when she’s only 3 months old. I’m certainly no expert though.

[Anonymous]

I’ve done a fair amount of reading on sleep training, and generally 3 months is a bit young to do any kind of CIO. You may want to read either Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child or Ferber’s book. They’re both basically the same thing, and both don’t recommend doing any kind of training until at least 5-6 months. BUT, they may give you some ideas on how to deal with it now… Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Well I am def not an expert at this as I still rock my 14 month old to sleep but I am of the school that I do whatever works to make him sleep. His sleep didn’t really get under control until he was 7-8 months old. His pain was under control well before then, but he is a light sleeper. He still doesn’t sleep through the night… I have tried sleep training with him and at 4 months I could put him down and rub his forehead and he would go to sleep, but then he started cutting teeth and that didn’t work anymore. But I do agree that 3 months is very young. They need to be able to self soothe well before you even attempt it and if you have any thought that she might still be in pain then I def would not do anything other than be there for her in the middle of the night.

[Anonymous]

Sorry- I may have used the wrong terminology. I don’t think I could ever do CIO- I was thinking more along the lines of taking the pacifier away and making her soothe herself to sleep with me standing there. Or following some of the “no cry” suggestions from Pantly. Currently, I have been rocking her or she’s been falling asleep eating. I swear I am desperate enough to let her suck on her hands even though I know it will be an issue later. emilys_mom2008-04-16 21:19:42

[Anonymous]

I know this isn’t really answering your question, but the fact that she is still so uncomfortable is worrisome. Also, her constipation is an issue too. Is it possible that the soy formula is bothering her too. Many babies who can’t handle milk also can’t do soy. Have you tried Alimentum or Nutrimagen yet? They are milk based, but the proteins are different, so they somehow fool the body into accepting them.. Might be worth a shot to try to figure out what is causing her gas and constipation first,, and then try the sleep training.

[Anonymous]

I wondered about the soy, but her GI doesn’t want me to switch before we go back in on the 6th. She still thinks we are dealing more with poop avoidance due to untreated reflux for so long, and not official constipation because consistency is fairly normal. Catherine used to reflux so bad when she pooped that she basically just quit going (like a 2 year old).

Now she is definitely more comfortable with doing it on her own, but she only seems to go every other day without help. Her GI wants her to go every day for now to try and train her, so she is making us do the Miralax. I think all this is just until we go back on the 6th. At that point, I’m going to push to let nature take it’s course because it feels a little weird to me. I think then I will know more whether soy would constipate her without the Miralax.

I really took note last night when she woke and realized she’s really not wriggling around (or wasn’t last night, I should say- tonight may be different) as much as I thought and definitely not like she used to.

The other really interesting thing was that she refused to eat, but if I popped her pacifier in, she fell right to sleep. So, I took it out as soon as she nodded off. She would sleep two hours (instead of 1) that way. She would not, however, have anything to do with going to sleep without it. We did this at 12, 2 and 4:30.

Tonight I put her down drowsy, but not yet asleep and no pacifier, and she went to sleep on her own in 10 minutes. But it’s definitely easier then because she’s so sleepy at 7:30. Middle of the night is a totally different story.

[hellbennt]

I am of no help bcse I dont believe in any kind of sleep anything w/ a baby this young…sorry– I’m one who let their baby keep his pacifier until he was in to his 3rd year…

[Anonymous]

I know what you mean. We were able to teach our 1st one how to pick it up and pop it back in. Way too early for that here!

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