I have a 6 month old little boy that wakes up 2-3 times a night. We put him to bed between 9-9:30pm and he first wakes up around 12am. He nurses and goes back to sleep. Then he sleeps a couple more hours. Around 2 he tends to wake up screaming, with what seems to be gas, after he passes gas he goes back down for about an hour. Repeat the last step until 7 am. The gas issue seems to have gotten worse since introducing solid foods about 2 months ago. He really enjoys eating fruits and veggies and doesn't have any other adverse reactions to them. The doctor had us start him on solids at 4 mo. because he is a big boy(9lbs at birth, 22 lbs at 6mo). He sleeps in his crib and takes pretty good naps during the day. The doctor said every baby has gas, you just have to deal with it. I understand that, but we needs some sleep. I appreciate any advice on getting him to sleep more comfortably. Thanks.
My daughter also had a lot of trouble with gas when she was younger. We used the Mylicon drops, too - They work so well! She likes them, too, so it's not hard to get her to take them. She's 8 months old now, and goes to bed at 8. I would recommend the later bed time with a full belly and some drops. Of course, check with your pediatrician before you use them!
I was going to recommend Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child as well. There are some good tips in it. As far as the gas goes, you could always try some gas drops. I think a lot of people think they don't really work very well, but it's worth a shot. How much is he sleeping during the day? He could be getting too much daytime sleep, although that doesn't fix the gas.
PS I have an Oliver (4 months) too! :-)
I also had a 10 pound boy who did not sleep well at night. In fact, he did not sleep through the night until 13 months. He's 3 now. The best thing to do, in my opinion is to sleep with your baby in the bed with you. All studies (and there are a lot of them!) show that this is the best place for the baby anyway, and you can nurse him lying on your side and pretty much sleep through it! It is really an amazing thing because you both (all) sleep better and you are close to your little one like you should be. Don't listen to the naysayers who say he'll never leave your bed. Children learn independence and he will sleep in his own bed again in time. Try reading "The Baby Book" by Drs. Sears. It is helpful in making this all seem much more mainstream and not so "wrong". It is not wrong at all- in fact we're the only country whose parents don't sleep with their babies. Babies sleep totally differently than we do. We geneerally feel the need to force them into indenpendence before they've learned how to cope or soothe themselves. We feel this need to force them to sleep through the night before they are ready. Anyway, that's my advice. I was wary at first, but it was a HUGE relief once we figured this out. My husband loved it too after initial questioning. Now we have an 11 month old daughter and she's slept with us from the beginning. it's amazing and great for all. Good luck!
Have you heard of the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child"? This book has helped me tremendously with getting my little one to sleep better. It suggests putting them to sleep earlier at night, which helped us a ton! The more the baby sleeps, the sounder they sleep! Try it. Maybe your bedtime is too late.
Good luck,
M.
My daughter used to get a rock hard little tummy from gas, and Mylicon(target brand has the same stuff in it) gas drops were a life saver. They work really well, but they do take abotu 35-40 minutes to kick in. We got in the habit of giving them to her before she ate or went to bed, and then she never got gas, rather than having to wait through it. They are really gentle too,so you can use them up to about ten times a day, so I didn't worry about giving them to her unnecessarily. I too, thought that a nine thirty bedtime seemed late for a six month old. Of course, you know what works for your babies schedule, but I think that it is easy to get in the habit of thinking that a later bedtime means a more tired baby,therefore a better sleep(I did the same thing), and it is actually the opposite. Too tired means too keyed up to sleep well, so maybe try an earlier bedtime mixed with the drops and maybe a soothing bath(target also makes a much cheaper knockoff of Johnsons bedtime bath, it makes my whole house smell like lavender!). Hopefully, that will eliminate at least one or two of the wake up sessions!
Bicycling his legs while he lays on his back as part of his bed time routine might help with some of the gas issues. It massages the intestines.
I would also suggest the earlier bedtime. I put my 7-month old daughter down at 7:30a. She still gets up 1-2 times a night to nurse. I'm challenged with the same issue to break her of the night time nursing habbit.
Good luck!!
Not sure about the sleep stuff as my guy is only 3 months but I can tell you the gas drops work for us really well! They taste good and they get things moving fast :) I usually keep him upright after using them and he is able to relax pretty fast.
