I have a 5 1/2 month old son with severe acid reflux. He still wakes up every 2-3 hours at night to feed (and eats about 5-6 ounces each time). We do not believe in the Ferber method but have tried Dr. Sears, Babywise, and Baby Whisperer techniques consistently to no avail. We have tried subbing water for formula at night. He sleeps in a Tucker Sling at a 30 degree incline in his crib due to his severe reflux. We are wondering if there is hope for him to sleep through the night or at least for 4-5 hour stretches. Or, do we need to wait until the reflux resolves itself? He has been on Prilosec for 3 months and is now on Prevacid. The meds have helped with the vomitting considerably. Any sleep advice would be helpful...we feel like we are out of ideas and know the poor guy wants to sleep. (When he wakes up, he just dream feeds then goes right back to sleep.) Thanks!
Hi the only advice I can give you is that. When my daughter was young I would give her a bottle and put her right back to bed and during the day I would wake her up every 3-4 hours during the day if she was napping and now she is almost 7 months old and sleeps through the night 10 hours or so. Hope this may help.
My daughter had reflux and I used to feed 1.5 ounces of food, burp in sit position with y position on head and circular back motions and then feed 2-3 ounces and burp again after this I would put her in a bouncy for 30 minutes to play after feeding and even before bed on vibrate to sooth and keep the food down. This was all ways to avoid the throw up, feeding slowly instead of letting her chug it down like she wanted to do helped tremdously. burping in between as well as the incline right after feedings was key. At night had incline on bed as well and mylocon drops here and there. I used paci's for sleeping until 18months and this was a soother for the oral fix instead of feeding as they weren't able to self soothe and weren't hungry just wanting to suck at night to go back to sleep. Paci's are so controversial for some reason, they insured my babies and I got our sleep and now without pacis are healthy still good sleepers. Sleep patterns are key at even the earliest stages to good sleepers for long term. I had maybe 4 pacis around their heads at 5months so they could find one at night and a lovey(a felt, no hard eyed stuffed animal) in their crib for a transitional object. My daughter preferred a teether pal and still has it at almost 3yrs. and son a felt Tigger.Sometimes they're hungry sometimes they are crying from gas build up from too much air bubbles. Crying is hard to figure, I would not feed in the middle of the night as past 3-4 months they should be sleeping 6-8 hour stretches for you, they respond to what they expect, if they think you are going to give them food at 2-3am then they'll eat it, if you burp them for excess gas, shhhh them with them still lying down (not picking them up), give them a lovey or paci instead they can accept that too and change pattern of their expectations in the middle of the night. Much quicker to reaassure them in the middle of the night with a shhh, soother (paci or lovey) and a quick check of burps and go back to sleep as a mother than do another feeding in the middle of the night.
As they grow they will cry for different reasons (when they are sick, night terror, growth spurt and such, my consistency of reassuring I am here for them in the middle of the night for a brief moment shhhhing them, rubbing their back, giving a dose of medicine or whatever still now is quick fix and back to sleep for both of us to this day with my kiddos. They don't expect long soothing/rocking in the middle of the night so we both get more rest and they get reassurance or need met but rest the most important thing we both need.
Best Wishes its such a cute baby age 5months to 10months Enjoy them they grow so fast.(:
Mom of twins
My son had reflux and woke every few hours to eat for a while. Granted sometime during the 19mos he was doing this the reflux did subside. Only we didn't know it was gone.
Problem is crying can make reflux worse. I would suggest getting the book "The No Cry Sleep Solution" she has some great methods that may take time but could result in an easier transition for him and you.
I am glad the medicine is working for your little guy. I hope things work out.
J.
Have you tried cereal in his bottle. 2 of my boys had the same reflux issue, and cereal in there bottles did wonders...I don't know if this is something you have tried but we did and it helped alot. And kept them full through the night. My pedi..did say it was ok..wish you luck,
S.
My motto is: Hungry children will not sleep. Around 5-6 months, the baby's metabolism changes and there's a little growth spurt... Sounds like he is hungry. Oh, how I remember those many wee hours of the night when I had my daughter in one arm and nursing/formula bottle in the other. For us, we didn't see 5 hour sleep stretches until around 7 months.
Did your pediatrician advise you to give him water??? Giving water (including diluted formula) to an infant is dangerous and is not recommended for infants 12 months and younger due to the risk of water intoxication. Their kidneys aren't mature enough to process water. Only Formula or breast milk...
"too much water dilutes a baby's normal sodium levels and can lead to seizures, coma, brain damage and death." http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=2007123013...
