Hi! I have twins. My daughter will nurse and go down easily. My son will nurse and will not go down easily. He'll kick, kick, kick (he is the kicking machine) and spit-up and continue to cry unless we give him a bottle (he won't keep a pacifier in his mouth). Any suggestions on additional techniques we can use to help calm him down? I really don't want to give him a bottle since I am nursing, plus he just ends up spitting up half of it anyway. Thanks :)
p.s. He no longer likes to be swaddled.
Nicole, it sounds a bit to me like your son has reflux--my son had it and would kick while feeding, arch his back, cry, never sleep, and spit up a lot. Sound familiar? He was put on a mild dose of oral Zantac (liquid for babies) at 2 months and continued til about 5 months and then stopped and is fine. You might ask your pediatrician about it? good luck! L
It seems like most boys have this problem. My daughter was wonderful. She use to sleep on my chest all night and no problems at all. My son, (6 mos) use to kick, scream and spit up all over the place.
I am not suggesting this to you but, I put my son on Soy milk. He may be lactose tolerant. Try putting him on his stomach for naps and sleep (thanks to the mamasource moms) rub his back while he is on his stomach. My son is going to a daycare that has Yoga for babies and they showed me a technique, if you rub them in between there ribcage and there tummy very gently, they will calm down and go to sleep.
You can also dance, sing, your voice will calm baby down.
Give him a message starting with his legs and rub them like you were milking a cow with some baby lotion or oil. Make sure you are calm, have calming music. That will help them with gas and bowel movements. Good luck, it will get better.
We were in the same boat after our 4 month old got out of her routine when we traveled. We ended up instituting a bedtime ritual. Every night we put on the same cd, change her diaper, give her a lotion bath/massage, read the same two books, sing her the same lullaby(twice) put her in her crib and sing the lullaby again. It took about a week but bedtime is much easier, and she cries less and less each night. I am sure any routine would work so find one that works for you. Good Luck!
hi I have also a 5 mos old boy, i had to feed him with formula, i can say one when you give him the bottle give him in two pieces so he will not spit.(feed, burb,10 min play later feed, burb) and for the bed time find a nice calming cd with words . i bought one from my country (it is not a nursing rime)everytime he has to go to bed i sing that one with cd he sleeps as soon as he heards it. you may also play with him, maybe he does not have a sleep and / or has to burb:) good luck.
Maybe he wants to nurse more since he spit up? Why are you giving a bottle at all? You need to know that bottles will lessen your milk supply.
Try rocking him and walking? Dancing with him in arms?
Congratulations and good for you to be nursing twins! You should be very very proud of yourself!
Try lying him on his stomach in a cosleeper and see if that works. If you're concerned about the SIDS component you have to weigh out the tiny risk vs. your sanity. Besides he could lie near you and you'd probably have a lot less of the tantruming behavior as well. Good luck.
I agree with the bedtime ritual idea - works like a charm with our 6 month old. Every night he gets a bath (he drools so much his neck needs it, at least), a story, nurses in the rocking chair. Then he gets the same song (which is *only* sung at bedtime), put into bed, a kiss goodnight, and he goes right to sleep. Do you always nurse your daughter before your son? Is it possible that he isn't getting enough to fill him up and that's why he wants a bottle too? If so, you might try nursing him and putting him down first.
Another thought about the bottles (maybe unrelated) - since you mostly nurse your twins it sounds like (and I'm assuming give them bottles partly for logistic reasons and maybe because you're having trouble keeping up with them?) then you should definitely be using newborn-flow nipples on the bottles. I pump for my son while at work and he has never used anything but an Avent #1 nipple when I'm gone. The higher flow nipples come out too fast and a lot of time your baby can gulp a lot of air and too much milk and that makes them spit up more.
I would *not* put him down on his stomach. When he turns himself over to his stomach on his own that's one thing, but until then there's a reason they ahve guidelines for SIDS - because they WORK.
