NEED SUPPORT - Oct.24th baby waking every 45 to 60 minutes during the night and has never slept through a night. I think it may be gas and digestion issues.

Hayley - posted on 03/17/2009

i put my il girl on soilds cuz her poop was like your lil 1s nits much better and see sleeps better thoutht the night she goes bed at between 6 -8 pm and wakes between 6-7 30 

Monica - posted on 03/17/2009

Hi Everyone,
Here's a quick update. I've put Maya on a 4 hour schedule for every time she eats. And she usually naps every 2 hours for 45 minutes, Unless we go out of one of our walks. I've been putting her down around 8pm every night. She sleeps until 11 or midnight - which I give her last bottle. I've had a couple of nights where she goes down until 5 or 5:30 and some nights until 2 to 3am, but then after that she's up every 45 minutes, but the good news is that I don't have to feed her every time. It could be as simple as giving her pacifier and my finger to hold for a minute. I also gave her some gas medicine before she goes to bed (I'm in France right now for 5 months so I haven't been able to get Mylicon yet) - but it really hasn't helped. So my last thing that I noticed is that she likes to hold my finger and have her pacifier to settle her down - even if it's just for a minute - so I think it's that she can't self soothe herself. My inlaws - otherwise I would have tried this sooner - are leaving for Germany for 5 days, so I'm going to let her cry it out a couple of times to see if she can get into the habit of settling herself. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks again everyone!

Whitney - posted on 03/12/2009

Mylicon! my daughter has alot of tummy issues as well and this stuff works really well!

Sarah - posted on 03/12/2009

I had a very similar situation including the arching of the back during feedings. I found out that my son had ear infections. Have you had her ears checked recently. He would only sleep if I held him in a chair and slept upright. He would scream every time I put him down. When he would finally fall asleep he would only stay asleep for a short time. When we treated his ears things got better. He does have cronic ear problems and it is something we are aware of. I would ask your doctor to check her ears.

Monica - posted on 03/12/2009

THANKS everyone for your support. It really means alot. I'll send an update as soon as I have a good one :)

Sabrina - posted on 03/12/2009

Mine also likes to sleep on his tummy...I blame the fact that he was colicky...and the fact that he was a preemie. So, in the NICU they put him on his tummy. Then he got used to sleeping that way. But, anyway, yes, you might want to try that way of sleeping. Only if you are comfortable with it, I know that they recommend not to, and say that babies should only sleep on their backs. So only do it if you are comfortable doing it.

Dom - posted on 03/11/2009

hey my bub was born 21st october and up until about 3 months he was the screamiest baby at night time.... we all blamed colic bcoz all the books say it usually happens in the afternoon for hours etc. so neways one day i was playing with him in the middle of the day, (he learnt to roll on his tummy awhile ago) so rolled n started screaming, i just decided to pat his bum 2 say it was ok, n all of a sudden he just fell asleep! my bub needs 2 sleep on his tummy from now on coz he absolutely hates his bak 2 sleep on n just rolls over...he used to wake up heaps in the night n now its only 2 or 3 times. i know tummy sleeping has the risk of sids n all, but my Child health nurse said sum babies prefer it, especially if they have had trouble with colic or tummy upsets bcoz sleeping on their tummy puts abit of pressure on it n it helps.... n my bub started pooing green as soon as he started formula but the past couple of weeks he's had a few runny ones. he used to only poo once a day n now its up to 3 or 4 and includes yellowy seedy poo aswell... n he's teething, so that mite be happenin with ur lil one, as our bubs r only a few days apart =)

Sabrina - posted on 03/11/2009

I feel for you! Some kids are not able to put themselves back to sleep after their first awake cycle in their sleep. I went through this with my daughter. I became so exhausted, as it carried on for about a month! When she was 8 months old I finally had to let her cry it out...to save my own sanity! And, let me tell you it wasn't easy. I sat outside her door and cried too, and I called my sister and told her that she had to talk to me otherwise I was going to go into her room. It only took her one time of crying it out to 'reset' her clock. After that she went back to sleeping about 4 hours at a time.



However...the green runny poop could be a food allergy, as someone else mentioned. Have you thought of breastfeeding throughout the day? Breastmilk has it's own anti-allergens in it. That doesn't mean that they can't be allergic to what you are eating though...just less likely.



Hope you have some luck soon.

Sara - posted on 03/11/2009

That sounds really tough, you must be at your wits end.. Just wondering if you have had her checked out by teh Dr, maybe she is lactose intolerant? I have a girlfriend whos son had similar issues and he eventually was diagnosed to be lactose intolerant at 9 months. A good book that I can reccomend "Save Our Sleep" talks about catnapping (45min naps or less) and ways to deal with it - I know in this book, she mentions that a baby will first start catnapping during the day (only sleeping through 1 sleep cycle) and then will start waking during the night once they reach a certain age, if the problem isn't fixed. Just a thought. This book helped us alot in getting our son to sleep through the night, it may be worth a look.

Andrea - posted on 03/11/2009

My son went through that at about 6 weeks, we changed the type of formula and it didn't sit well. Try Ovol Drops (buy pretty much anywhere) in the night time, and finally we put him on his stomach to sleep it really helped with the gas. Now he sleeps 10 -11 hours before getting up to eat.

Alyson - posted on 03/11/2009

Milicon!!!

Danielle - posted on 03/10/2009

hi. it is rough i know ive been there also, my daughter was born oct 1st. She had all the same symptoms. after trying formula after formula we were put on nutramagin it helps alot ( she does still cry but not as bad) we found out she had food and soy allergy and acid reflux which she is now on zantac for. our doctor told us with our son to put cereal in his bottle because it make it heavier  and it stays down (beachnut food is soy free gerber is not) after we found all this info out and switched formulas she is finally sleeping 7:30 pm to 7:00 am she however woont sleep at all during the day, we also tried a sleep incline for her because of the reflux she does move off it but that also helped  bit. good luck like i said we were there with her and my son he never slept all night until he was 1 1/2 old. he had ear problems. good luck

Danielle - posted on 03/10/2009

hi. it is rough i know ive been there also, my daughter was born oct 1st. She had all the same symptoms. after trying formula after formula we were put on nutramagin it helps alot ( she does still cry but not as bad) we found out she had food and soy allergy and acid reflux which she is now on zantac for. our doctor told us with our son to put cereal in his bottle because it make it heavier  and it stays down (beachnut food is soy free gerber is not) after we found all this info out and switched formulas she is finally sleeping 7:30 pm to 7:00 am she however woont sleep at all during the day, we also tried a sleep incline for her because of the reflux she does move off it but that also helped  bit. good luck like i said we were there with her and my son he never slept all night until he was 1 1/2 old. he had ear problems. good luck

Monica - posted on 03/09/2009

Thanks to everyone with the advice...great suggestions. All of them are good things to try.

Katie - posted on 03/08/2009

My guess is that she's probably going through a growth spurt and her body is using up all of her energy and she's getting overly tired.

My first suggestion would be to try some Gripe water, which you can get at Walgreens in the baby section. It will settle her stomach if she's gassy and it's just herbal extracts (ginger, fennel, etc) instead of a prescription.

She could be feeling her teeth even if you can't. Maybe give her some tylenol an hour before putting her to bed to see if it helps.

Try putting her to bed at 7pm (or around when the sun goes down, to try to get her natural sleep cycle engaged. Maybe even co sleep overnight while she is so fussy so you can get some sleep.

My son hates sleeping flat on his back (so do I, so I can relate), so sometimes I put a small pillow under his legs to elevate them. This seems to help with gas, too. He also likes his side, which I prop him against the side of the crib or my bed rail, depending where he is, to keep him that way.

I second The No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley suggestion. The techniques in this book have done wonders for us and it is the only reason why I get any sleep at all, I think.

Make sure she is getting her naps no matter what, and maybe even a small one an hour before bed. Keep a bedtime routine and do some leg exercises in the bath tub before bedtime to work out any gas she has.

Melanie - posted on 03/08/2009

I have a 4 mo old also. She was on formula & breasmilk for about a week b/c my milk was slow coming in and I supplemented w/ formula b/c she was so hungry (she was 10 lbs at birth and ate frequently). Her poop was yellow when I breastfed and green when I formula fed her. I have been breastfeeding exclusively since then so it is always yellow now. The green is a response to the formula, which probably contains cows milk. Could be normal, could also be a reaction to the formula. Only way to know would be to exclusively give her breastmilk, even in a bottle. Have you asked her dr yet?

The book "The Happiest Baby on the Block" by Dr. Harvey Karp helped me a lot w/ my first child. It may help you as well. A normal sleep cycle for a baby is 40 min. That's why she is waking so frequently. Then she's having a hard time settling herself, so she cries. Eventually this is a developmental milestone that she will have to reach - soothing herself. Right now she is dependant on you through holding, nursing, or using paci. You can decide how you want to proceed, if you want to try a "cry it out" method or use some of the suggestions in Dr. Karp's book. Elizabeth Pantley's "The No Cry Sleep Solution" is also a good book with great suggestions.

It could be she is teething; although my daughter sucks on her hands constantly and leaves a trail of drool; this is normal for this age. Also my daughter has gas that I can hear and smell however she does not cry - gas does not always hurt. It is hard to know what is going on at this stage. Your daughter cries loudly b/c that's what babies do - cry to get someone to come to them. It's up to you to train her to get back to sleep on her own, she can't do it yet. That's where the books come in to give you tools and ideas.

 Best of luck to you.

Robin - posted on 03/07/2009

Hang in there!  I feel for you in your sleepless night.  Some thoughts as I read your post...

Green, runny poop can be a sign of food allergy.  Have you changes/started formula recently?  Have you had any change in your diet?  Sometimes an elimination diet can weed out offending foods.

I had similar problems with my son early on.  (He's about the same age as your little one.)  It turns out he probably had an overgrowth of yeast in his intestines.  He had frequent, green, slimy stools, gas, reflux, a diaper rash that would never go away completely, and thrush.  He would cry ALOT and didn't sleep comfortably.  A few days on an antibiotic for the yeast and he was a different baby!

Does she grunt and arch her back when she's lying down?  That can be a sign of reflux which can be uncomfortable for some babies.  Her doctor can prescribe an antiacid if this is the case.  Not all babies with reflux necessarily spit-up alot.

At this age they start to become more aware and can form bad habits.  She might be getting aware that when she cries you'll come and feed her.  Make sure you give her a little time to settle on her own.  Don't be too fast to pick her up.  I've read excerpts from the Ferber Method along these lines which might help.

It's soooo hard, especially when you're sleep deprived, to figure out what to do in the middle of the night when the baby is crying.  Good luck.  Take deep breaths.  And try to rest as much as you can.

Monica - posted on 03/07/2009

I forgot to mention - Maya usually only eats 2 to 3 oz of formula and sometimes 4 oz. For the first time today, she did eat 6 oz for one of her feedings.