If anyone can help, I would be so grateful. I am sleep deprived and confused, so it is hard for me to figure this out. I put my four month old lo down at 645 or 700pm every night. He falls right to sleep.
He starts waking up somewhere between 830-930. In general, he screams until I nurse him. So I thought he was hungry, but sometimes he wakes and won't nurse (who can blame him--he's nursing every two hours at night at this rate!). Anyway, then he wakes every 1-2 hours (or more frequently!) all night long. The loss of sleep is really wearing on us. I get up at night to nurse him and barely remember. He cries for a while before I wake up to hear him because I am so exhausted.
I've given him tylenol before bed for the last two nights because I thought maybe he was teething. He still wakes at about 900, but he goes back to sleep without intervention. He still wakes a ton all night long, though.
A few details: he has pretty bad eczema, but it is really clear right now with no flare ups. He is breast fed only. He has several food sensitivities, so I can't eat dairy, soy, or wheat. He has a regular routine: I nurse him every four hours during the day. We do let him cry, but he goes to sleep for every nap (3 a day) and bedtime with no crying. We check on him every few minutes when he does cry. He is a tummy sleeper. He has to wear socks on his hands at night because he scratches his head bloody, even with his nails trimmed super short and filed. I'm covered with scratches, too! Any advice?
Thanks for all of the advice! He suddenly slept well last night without tylenol or benadryl or anything--only woke at 11 and 3 to eat, went right back to sleep. He may have been teething or having a growth spurt, and I think he might also have been hungry, itchy, hot, and not tired enough. Whew! I'm limiting his third little catnap, feeding him about every 3.5 hours during the day, and cluster feeding in the evening. I'm also giving him tylenol if he wakes in the evening, but I don't want to do that too often if not necessary. I have to dress him in a sleeper with socks sewn on the hands since he scratches with his finger and toenails, but we turned the air on to keep him cool. Hard to believe this is my second one; I thought I'd know more by now!
It might be that he's still hungry. I think my kids nursed every 2-3 hours (during the day and night) for a long time! My 7 month old does still! Every 4 hours during the day may be causing him to be still hungry at night.
i know he already has food sensitivites and eczema but if he ate breast milk out of a bottle right before bed with rice in it that might help. my son would nurse for 45 minutes on each side and then wake up an hour later to repeat the performance. i was dying. finally had to do formula bc of his food sensitivites (same ones but add spices meat and anything dairy, even yogurt, so he wasn't getting enough fat bc i wasn't either) and the rice helped both with the breast milk and the formula. talk to your ped and see if maybe you could feed him a veggie or something at bedtime. it sounds like he's using you for a pacifier. get his ears checked...makes them want to nurse a ton when their ears hurt, it relieves the pressure. he also may be growing...then they are attached 24/7. :)
and i'm no help at all, am i? lol. good luck!
I feel for you! You can see why sleep deprivation is used as a form of torture, yes? My 2 daughters, now 5 and 7, also were exclusively nursed--all the time.
I found much relief by going to La Leche League meetings (even just calling your local group leader could help.) You can also go to their website (lalecheleague.org) and to kellymom.com. Both may give some good advice on the frequent night nursing and the eczema. I did find that if I nursed more frequently during the day, the nights were a little better. If that's possible, I'd definitely try that. Also, sleeping with my kids gave me more rest--still interrupted, but less so. And they seemed to settle quicker. It's not for everyone, but I'd definitely do that again if I had a 3rd.
As for the eczema, since he has so many sensitivities, could he also be reacting to whatever you wash your sheets/clothes in? I'd wake up a lot, too, if I were that itchy. Hang in there! It won't be forever, although it might feel like it right now.
Perhaps you could try reducing his naps to only 2 each day and put him down for the night a little later, say 7:30-8:00?
I feel your pain...my youngest was not a good sleeper as a baby. He never napped consistently for me and he'd be up seemingly all night long wanting to nurse. We finally just brought him into bed with us for the duration of time he nursed. Once I weaned him from the breast, we had to wean him from our bed, which was not a pleasant experience. Try every other strategy you can think of before resorting to this one! But, if worse comes to worst, you have to sleep to be a good day-time mommy, so co-sleeping may be the option to try for a while. Good luck!
My now 9 month old did the same thing at around 4 1/2 months. After some research I found that it is common around this age to start having sleep issues. What we did was after some research, I decided to read a book called "The No Cry Sleep Solution" by Elizabeth Pantley. I do not believe in "crying out" so this was perfect for us. She has a lot of ideas and has you study your little ones sleep by keeping a sleep log for a day, and then after looking at it, putting together a plan that you do for 10 days, re-evaluate, and do again. The ideas are things like establishing a set bedtime routine, allowing to nurse for shorter and shorter amounts of time, putting down progressively more awake, etc. I worked on this for a couple of weeks and decided that I would try again later, and resorted to co-sleeping. I have found this to work really well for our family. It took some adjustment, but we both sleep better now (we've now been co-sleeping all night for about 2 1/2 months) and he usually only wakes to either roll over to me or nurse 3-4 times a night vs. 8-10 times! I never thought I would co-sleep, but it really has made things easier and I really enjoy the closeness we have. Try the book to see if you can find something that works. We still do the bedtime routine & putting him to bed earlier. She also talks about naps & how they are linked to nighttime sleep. Good luck!
You need to try various noises in his room and various lighting schemes. He may need no light, low light, colored light, classical music, a cd that sounds like the ocean or a cd that sounds like the rain. Try a combination of these things. It's been awhile since I had a baby. Can you find a mobile that is turned on by his movement in the bed that has music and ligths? I know there are toys like that.
It really doesn't sound like he needs to eat every few hours. It sounds like he's using you as a pacifier. He may be needing some sort of stimulation to go back to sleep. No matter what the issue, it's going to happen at various times again and again. I see so many parents just jump on the band wagon that says there must be something wrong. I just think people of all ages go through times they wake up frequently. He needs to learn to self soothe. Letting him cry is not the meanest thing on earth. But it shouldn't be done without trying various ways to help him help himself.
Suzi
ok so i'm a little late...i was going to suggest cutting down to 2 naps a day. sounds like you're getting it worked out though, congrats! and i know the feeling of being so tired you sleep through your baby's cries. so guilty about that one! but it happens, and he's fine obviously so don't beat yourself up over it. hope things continue to improve!!
He could be teathing or have an ear infection. The "sucking" when he nurses would help relieve the fluid on his ear drums. Have you tried a pacifier? He could be itching inside from something else you are eating. I am sure that sounds weird but when my son turned 1 we tried him on peanut butter and he started doing the same thing. Waking up and screaming for no apparent reason. I took him to an allergist and found out he was allergic to peanuts and eggs. He also has eczema which they gave medications for including a liquid called Peri-Actin to help with flare ups and itching in general.
Also - have you tried him on any cereals yet? Maybe he needs more in his tummy at night than milk? I would definantly talk to his doc.
How long do you expect him to sleep at a time? It is a major milestone when you can get a baby to sleep for eight hours. Eight hours from 7PM is 3AM. My first suggestion is try putting him down a little later. Tire him out a little more, no one sleeps around the clock, including babies. It really sounds like you are just putting him down too early.
A.,
For him being fussy. I would try Mylicon it is very safe you can get it over the counter it's for infants that are having trouble with getting to much air or gas from formula or you nursing...I have 5 kids and I have used it for all of them..Works VERY well you can give it to him after every feeding. For the teething, they have some 100 % natural teething tables, which you can get at CVS or any drug store...they are AWESOME...Hope this works out...My youngest is now 7 months and I feel like by now I have a handle on things...
My first thought was that he is going through a growth spurt. If that's the case you could try feeding him more frequently during the day to help him meet his needs then rather than at night. In a week or two it should even out and he'll go back to his normal routine.
My second thought is that it could be that he is developing another food sensitivity or that you haven't completely eliminated a food that he is sensitive to. My daughter has milk and egg allergies and I have to look for hidden milk and eggs in everything she and I eat. When she gets exposed to milk or eggs she can't sleep for more than 45 minutes at a time and wants to nurse constantly, but gets upset if she already full and tries to nurse. Make sure that you read every ingredient in every food every time you eat it. Check possible cross contamination, too. Most labels list if the food is processed on common equipment with allergens. You might also check what people who handle your son are eating. I have a very strict rule that everyone who has eaten something not approved by me (meaning I've read the label and all ingredients) must wash hands and face before handling my daughter. She has had many reactions from someone eating something that wasn't safe and then giving her a kiss. I hope this helps. A resource that has helped me a lot with my daughter's allergies is www.kidswithfoodallergies.org. You can get lists of ingredients that indicate allergens, join forums for breastfeeding moms with allergic babies, and they have a great recipe section to help you find yummy things to eat.
Good luck with everything. I hope you have some restful nights headed your way soon.
sounds like a growth spurt, would be about the time for one. This too shall pass, probably in a week. I would also try putting him down an hour later if you can. Make sure your night routine is constant.
I would nurse him more frequently in the day (eveery 2-3 hours) and be sure he is getting at least 2 if not 3 decent naps a day....a good book is Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child....lots of good advice there!! Breast fed babies still tend to need 6-8 feedings a day at 4 months of age....If he doesn't get them in the day he will want them at night! And good daytime sleep breeds good night time sleep.
Hang in there. Your letter brings back memories of the difficult time I had with my oldest. It turns out, my son was allergic to milk and had to have predigested formula. It was expensive, but worth every penny. My son also had his days and nights mixed up, and that took a long time to change him around. Maybe you should lay him down late at night, like 10pm, so keep him awake in the evening. I wonder if he is scratching because he is in pain with the milk. I would definately talk to my pediatrician about the possibility. Good luck.
Nurse him more often during the day. He has his day and nights mixed up. A 4 mo old should be nursing a lot more often than 4 hours during the day. If you nurse him a lot in the evening before 10pm, he should sleep more at night. Just keep trying to get him to nurse more often in the evening, but 6:45 is a little early to call "bedtime" even for little babies. He needs more feedings during the day so that he CAN go longer at night. Breastfed 7 children, so I know what you are going through, but it really is a daytime nursing issue, I think.
