Me again! I have loved this connection with everyone! So, I have a 2 month old. He has had a number of feeding problems since he was born but for the most part-we have been working them out. He is currently on reflux meds and still fights a bottle here and there. What do you think about this? EVERY morning around 4 or 5 am, usually about 45 mins after his last "night-time" feeding, he wakes up and is fussy until I will finally get up and try to feed him-usually 3 hours later. When I go to feed him, he will not eat. Most of the time, he will go back to sleep after about an ounce and basically skip that feeding. Any thoughts?
Also, he was very sick last week and didn't eat much. Now I think he has his days and nights mixed up with his eating schedule. We were going 4-5 hours at night (formula) and 3-4 hours during the day (formula). Now it is backwards! Any help would be greatly appreciated!
THANK YOU ALL!
Have him receive some craniosacral therapy.
Y. Lange, Craniosacral Therapist, and Certified Brain Integration Practioner. ###-###-####
If your breastfeeding start on your right for 5 min then switch as the little ones stomach goes up on left side. It helps keep whats in there, there to stay. This may sound new, although I found it worked really well for me.
It could be a side effect of the reflux medication. I would try propping your baby up in his crib. I prop my baby up in a Boppy. I just lay her in a boppy and put it in her crib. Stick to your schedule.
Try elevating his bed. If he's in the crib, stick a rolled up blanket or blocks, or something under one side of the crib mattress and lay him down so his head is elevated while he's sleeping. That helps keep the acid down in his stomach when he's on his back and he should be more comfortable. At two months, he probably doesn't really have a good eating schedule yet, even though it may seem like he did. If you want to try to switch back the schedule, try extending the time between feedings during the day in 15-30 minute increments until he has a longer stretch between nighttime feedings and feed him just before he's acting hungry in the daytime so his feedings get shorter. That might help the nighttime ones last a little longer. Hopefully that helps a little. Good luck.
A few little ideas ... 1. reflux babies sometimes feel better with smaller meals more often, so less in the bottle but more feedings. 2. Some babies sleep more soundly near their mom. 3. Maybe if you get to him really quickly in the morning you can help him learn to sleep longer, rather than letting him lay and fuss, so his body is learning to be awake. Good luck.
My little girl (6 Months) has Reflux as well. Because of it she was feeding every two hours. She would fight the bottles and still does on occasion. We have to give her medication twice a day to help her. Is your son on medication for reflux? My doctor told me to hold her off from short feedings. So now I have to make sure it has been 3-4 hours before she feeds. It is very hard at first with all the fussiness but eventually he will get back on schedule. He is also still probably recovering from being sick last week. He could still not feel a 100%.
Try getting soy milk formula. My son had very similar
condition when he was a baby and that was what I found
worked best for him.
TT
My daughter had the same thing. She had reflux really bad. She was so fussy and it seemed we were up with her every hour. It really helped to have her in a sitting up position. One night she fell asleep in her car seat and we left her in the car seat in our room and to our surprise she slept the full 12 hours. I talked to my doctor and he said this was fine. She wasn't able to sleep laying down because of the reflux. During the day she would take naps in her swing. She did this until about 5-6 months of age. Then we moved her to the crib and didn't have any problems. She out grew the reflux. I don't think he is crying becuase he is hungry but because he might be uncomfortable. At least that was the case with my baby. Hope this helps and good luck!
J.-
His schedule doesn't sound that bad to me, babies will change their schedules alot during that first year, and it can be frustrating just when you think you have it figured out they go and change it. He'll most likely hit a growth spurt soon and change it again I always find it is easier to follow their lead then to try to make them fit into my "schedule". So my 2 cents are to relax and just enjoy him, let him lead the way and once he is a little older you can try to adjust his days and nights.
Dear L M,
I am not sure, but I take reflux meds and they seem to make me feel extremely hungry! My stomach feels totally empty and almost gurgles. Then when I go to eat something I find that I am not that hungry. I have found just a yogurt or a banana does the trick now. Maybe it's a side effect of the meds for reflux? Or you could try propping his crib up a bit at the head of it. I did this for my daughter when she was a baby because she had bronchitis, but it also works for acid reflux. I do it for myself by propping myself up on pillows, which isn't safe for a baby. Try putting a book or two under the legs of the head of his crib. Maybe he is having some minor reflux at this time of day. Good luck to you and your beautiful boys!
I am a working mom of 5, ages 28 to 12, with the 12 year old being the only child at home now. I also have 5 grandchildren.
My daughter had reflux issues similar to what you described until she was about 7 months old. Until she was about 4 months old she ate 2 ounces every 2 hours, even at night. It was a nightmare for me, but thankfully my mom could help at night so I could rest some. If she ate more than 2 ounces in mone sitting, she would throw half of it up within 15 minutes of eating. So just forget what the "standard" feeding schedules suggest your baby should be following and consider smaller amounts more often for a while. Something else worth serious consideration is your son's sleeping position. My daughter's "bed" was her swing for the first 4 months of her life -- no kidding! We just draped a nice cozy blanket over the seat and set her in there. Reflux babies sleep much better in a more upright positon rather than prone -- helps keep the acid from coming up quite so much. When we transitioned her to a crib, we elevated one end of the mattress with pillows underneath; it helps to create a "bum bump" to prevent the baby from sliding down: roll up a blanket and create a "horseshoe" shaped support; underneath the sheet, position the horseshoe where you want your son's bum to rest (sheet should hold it in place). There are a number of support websites that have more great info -- try this one for starters: http://www.refluxsupport.com/
Good luck and hang in there. About the time he starts sitting up well on his own the reflux problems are likely to decrease dramatically.
I don't have any huge advice for you right now. I do want you to now that you are not alone. My daughter does that too. Fuss, fuss, fuss and only drink an ounce an go back to sleep.
I don't know what to do, but her the ounce and go back to sleep.
If you do get soem good advice on that could you pass it back to me.
I kind of had the same thing happen with my little one. I took her to see Dr. Yazdi who was great! They put her on Nutramigan. I think that's how you spell it. She had a milk protien intolerance that she greqw out of but soy has the same protien this formula is milk based but the protiens are "chopped up" if you will into little pertions that the babies body doesn't recognize as protien so they can digest it. Made a world of difference. It's pricy but if the Dr. orders it you can possibly get some assistance paying ofr it through WIC. They also have nutritionists for babies there. Pretty good resource!
Growing? Growing kids have weird sleep/eat patterns.
Teething? He may just want to chew.
Gassy? Does he burp before or after you feed him that ounce? Sometimes when babies fall asleep during/after a feeding they haven't burped enough, or their digestion adds gas to their belly.
