I don't know if we've covered this, but I have a baby who just HATES to nap! Ryan is not a good napper to say the least - it's a battle to get him down, even when he's tired and then it's a struggle to get him to stay asleep for more than a half hour at a time. I swear I am losing my mind - I can't get anything done and he certainly is not benefitting from such short naps. The only way to get him to nap longer is for me to lay down with him on my bed - which I cannot do all the time! The ped says that some babies are just not good nappers and that in time, he will get better...did anyone have a baby like this and is there a light at the end of the tunnel?? I really feel like I am losing my mind.
Combined with the fact that I can't seem to get a good feeding routine down - i.e. balancing formula with solid food and that he wakes up EVERY HOUR in the crib at night. I'm starting to think he might have reflux or something. He is very gassy and fusses quite a bit at the bottle.
Here is my routine for feeding - let me know what you think about this - I really need some opinions here...
Bottle at 4:00 am 5 oz.
3 TBS cereal + full stage 1 fruit at 7:30/8:00 am
Bottle at 9:00 am 4 oz. (to try to get him to nap)
Bottle at 12:30/1:00 pm - 8 oz. Lunch
Water Bottle at 3:30/4:00 pm - 2 oz.
3 TBSP cereal + full stage 1 fruit at 5:00 pm
Bottle - 8 oz. at 8 pm
Does this seem right to anyone? I'm just having such a hard time with him spitting up and the teeth are making him miserable. And the lack of sleep for all of us is making me crazy...HELP!! I'm having a bad Mommy moment!!
Victoria
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Re: Mommies!! Help!!
How old is Ryan now? Annalise was on a 2 nap schedule until about 9 months. She took a nap about 10 or 10:30, but it lasted 30-90 minutes depending on the day. Her afternoon nap was usually less than an hour, especially if the morning nap was long. There may be a direct correlation as you mention to the teething, spitting up, gassiness and fussiness. What formula is he on? If it is not soy, you may need to talk to the dr. about switching. He could have an allergy or intolerance to Lactose, so a Lactose free formula or soy may help. How much and how often is the spitting up? I can give you some suggestions depending on your answers. For the teething pain I recc. Hyland's Teething Tablets. They are homeopathic and dissolve instantly. You do not have to worry about any of the problems that happen with Orajel- throat numbing, etc.
Lee
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Re: Mommies!! Help!!
Ryan is 5 1/2 months now. He is already on soy formula milk and lactose free - has been the whole time. I'm wondering if the teeth really do affect all of these other things like you said Victoria. The spitting up is mostly a little after the 9 am bottle, and LOTS after the lunchtime bottle - probably too much formula but the kid is 18 pounds and sucks down every last drop. He has 'man sized' gas all day and even into the middle of the night - I'm aty my wits end here trying to 'figure' him out!!
Victoria
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Re: Mommies!! Help!!
He is definitely not having too much formula. Until 9 months when they start to have more solids, 32-36 oz of formula is recc. I guess you give him Mylicon already. Did he have this problem (gas) when he nursed? It could be from his bottles if he is getting too much air. If it only started after introducing solids other than cereal, it could also be the food making him gassy. This may be TMI- but if he has hard stool he may need something like Prunes. This could soften the stool and may alleviate some of the gas. Gassiness and teething are probably causing the fussiness. I do not think it sounds like reflux, but ask the dr. when in doubt. He is definitely old enought to go through the night without needing to wake to eat. If he is waking it is probably his teeth. Try giving him the tablets when he wakes. If he will fall asleep quickly on you after that, then you may not lose more than a few minutes sleep. I think the sleeping is a separate issue though. If you feel comfortable doing sleep training, you should start ASAP as babies form sleep patterns by 4 months. The longer you wait the longer it takes to sleep train. As he learns to put himself back to sleep at night and you establish a bedtime routine, you will find it easier to put him down for naps. I think Annalise slept from 10PM to 7AM at his age. She was breastfed and ate solids 3x/day. HTH! You have a few problems to tackle, so I widh you luck. You will get more sleep soon. Hang in there.
Misha
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Re: Mommies!! Help!!
Lee, Joseph was the same way until about 2 weeks ago. He is also 5 1/2 months. We found that once we started putting him down to sleep at 8pm and waking him at 11pm to drink 8 oz, he now sleeps through to 6am or 7am. His naps during the day have also fallen into a schedule and seem to be longer now (about 1 and a half hours). Here is his schedule:
6:30am: Bottle, 6-8 oz. formula (we alternate btw. soy and regular-i think he does better with the soy regarding reflux)
8:30am: 4 tbsp. Cereal + 1/2 jar veggies
9:00-10:30am: Nap
11:00: Bottle, 4-6 oz. formula
2-3:30pm: Nap (sometimes he'll sleep longer)
4:00pm: Bottle, 6-8 oz formula
6:30pm: 4 tblp. cereal + 1/2 jar veggies + 3-4 oz. formula
7:30-8pm: down for bedtime
11:00pm: we wake him for 8 oz bottle
he hasn't started on fruit yet and our doctor has not said we should give him water on its own yet (just form mixing formula) Like i said, this has just started working for us a couple of weeks ago, before that, naps were several for about 20-30 minutes!
Lee
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Re: Mommies!! Help!!
Misha, Ryan is on fruit since our doc said to start with that... I'm glad to hear Joseph is sleeping better - gives me some hope! How does waking him at 11 go? Is it relatively easy to get him back to sleep? Do you worry that he 'should' be able to go through the night without eating as Victoria mentioned? My ped seems to think he should be able to go from 8 pm to at least 6 am without eating but I'm not totally convinced he's ready for that - is Joseph teething?
michele31
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Re: Mommies!! Help!!
Could it be the type of fruit is making him have more stomach trouble? I am NO expert though. I know certain foods just do not agree with all babies at all stages.
Teething can be a real struggle for many babies. My nephew had fevers and ear aches sooo many times from teething. The gas drops should also be able to offer him some relief I would like.
I don't think that any doctor should lump him into a catagory. I mean, Ryan is not the same as every baby and perhaps he needs more or less than others. 8pm-6am is a long stretch...heck I would hungry on that schedule.
Kathi
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Re: Mommies!! Help!!
Lee!
I'm sorry I can't help much since Sean's only 3 1/2 months and I haven't started him on cereal yet, but, he's a big boy like Ryan and he's been able to sleep 11-12 hours a night (from 7 - 7) since 7 1/2 weeks. (I've been told OVER AND OVER again 'do you know how lucky you are?')...
Anyway, Sean's a bad napper, too. If I let him nap on his tummy he's good for 1+ hour, BUT, since I won't leave him alone on his tummy, I can't get anything done! I don't mind the trade-off at all. He's up alot during the day, but once he has that 6:30 bottle....zzzzzzzzz!
Have you tried skipping the 4 am feeding? does he use a pacifier? If he wakes up at 4 is he able to put himself back to sleep?
BTW, I'm not ready for teething!! I have a *feeling* he's already starting!! He goes to the Dr. Nov. 3rd!!
Lee
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Re: Mommies!! Help!!
You know at one point we were making it through without that 4 am feeding but it seems lately, if he doesn't get it, he's wide awake and ready to go and forgive me, but I can't start my day that early! I'm hoping its the teeth that are making him spit up so much - it's so frustrating trying to tweak everything to find the right combination of food/sleep/etc.
Kathi - you are sooooo lucky! Ryan is so miserable right now with the teeth that I really hope that is the cause of all this misery. It is a battle for sleep all the time around here lately - and it wasn't always like this.
It's too bad there isn't an instruction manual tailored for each baby! I wouldn't mind the bad napping so much if we were having more success at night - the only way we have success is in my bed and that we cannot continue to do!! I feel like I am such a bad Mommy!!
