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Is it possible that my baby is just more bothered by wind now shes older? At end of tether and so desperate for sleep.

6 replies

MonstersIncq · 22/12/2014 07:47

My DD is 4 months. Up until she was about three months she was a good sleeper. Had a few awful nights but occasionally she'd do an impressive stretch and I'd be amazed (my DS didn't sleep through the night until he was 9 months). The sleep has been getting progressively worse which I put down to her getting older (?). In the interest of not drip feeding, she was never a 'sleepy' newborn, always very tricky to get her to sleep in the day time.

I am in such a tizz about what it is that's stopping her from sleeping.

I think that it is wind but I can't see why her wind would be any more pronounced now than before. Is it possible now she's more alert the wind bothers her more? I would have thought the older we got the better shed be able to deal with it?

She is a terrible BFer (EBF), very noisy, leaks milk etc. I have tried everything. She had tongue tie snipped at eight weeks but it doesn't seem to have helped at all.

She's very difficult to settle in the day (oddly went through a short phase where she was easily settled in day).

I wondered whether she might have an intolerance to cows milk as I gave it up for a little and then went back to it and it seems like there is a vague correlation. But I didn't give up dairy until she was about two months and she slept well before that. I have been back off it for a week and no change (I do realise it can take time). Although she does seem a little less prone to crying in the day.

I have been giving her a bottle of EBM at bedtime which seems to help her have a little bit of a stretch (but not long) as she seems to be a lot less windy from bottle. I do find it hard to express enough though (just circumstances wise looking after both children etc.)

I tried a bit of formula for a bit which seemed to help for a time but then it didn't any more and have stopped a couple of weeks ago due to thinking maybe there was a dairy issue.

I am pretty confident she's getting enough to eat in the day. Have tried doing days where she is on a strict routine (big feeds every two and a half hours) and tried feeding little and often.

I also don't think she is getting too much or too little sleep in the day. She has probably three to four hours in daytime.

I also don't rush to her in the night. Always give it a little bit to see if she'll sort herself out.

Thank you for reading this long. And I know I sound completely all over the place. I suppose I am!

Any advice at all?

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GoldfishSpy · 22/12/2014 07:53

My 4 month old DS is the same. Ebf since birth, but was going for 5-6 hour stretches from about 2 weeks at night.

We had nearly 2 weeks of him going 7pm - 5am, but since he turned 4 months, it has all gone wrong again! He's been waking every 2-3 hours for a feed, hard to settle again Last night he and I slept in the spare room and I was awake to see in midnight, 2am, 3am, 4am, 5am, 6am....

He is chewing his hands a lot, dives on my finger to bite it (not suck) which might be teeth. I think not sleeping again is a 'thing' at this age. SInce his 16 week vaccs a few days ago he has been grumpy in his bouncer, which he loved before.

I am just trying to ride it out. Hoping month 5 is a bit easier!!!

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noitsachicken · 22/12/2014 07:57

Google four month sleep regression.
Typical time for sleep issues.

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MonstersIncq · 22/12/2014 08:33

Glad to hear someone in the same boat goldfish!

What do you when he wakes?

I do know about sleep regressions etc chicken, but I can't wait it out. Won't survive on this little sleep for much longer. Have other children to look after.

Would love some suggestions if anyone has any?

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dorasee · 22/12/2014 08:50

I am of no help but I offer sympathy in abundance. I've had 3 kids, my third is 6 months, eldest 12 years... all three just dreadful sleepers... all three progressively worse, from 4-8 months being the hardest time. And then it all goes away! I remember when I was pregnant with my third I just told myself "You will not sleep for a year and you will analyze the reasons baby is not sleeping and still get no answers" and hey, it's the ONE thing I was right about.
Personally, I truly think it's the teeth. I really, really do. I've always thought, it takes them a while to get there tummies to settle, to grow into their little physical selves outside of the womb. That's the first three months. And then 4-6 months, when they're sort of getting their sea legs on at home in the world, the sleep pattern just nose dives (in my case it's pretty bad from day one). And that's when the teeth are popping in. I don't know for sure. My 6 month old has also had the great pleasure of catching every cold my kids bring him... despite breast feeding. So that's made sleep pretty rare as well. He is now bottle fed. My milk runs out around 6 months so from this point I mix breast and bottle... mainly bottle though. My first I nursed for a year and still had sleep issues. So I don't thing it's intolerance. It's easy to wonder though. But intolerance to milk is not as common as it's made out to be. But you could see your GP and try and get this ruled out.

On the up side, day time sleep really improves around 6 months because they are much more active. I recommend a Fisher Price Jumperoo! They expend more energy, it's safe, it gives you a breather, and it makes them a little more tired. My LO now takes a 2 hour nap daily. This is huge considering he wasn't sleeping much at all beforehand. Good luck!! Sleep will return... it really will. But oh I feel the pain.

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MonstersIncq · 22/12/2014 08:59

Thanks Dora. My other two have been hideous sleepers and thought I was being rewarded for all my suffering with this one! Good to remember though that one day it will all be over!

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GrumbelinaPicklebottom · 24/12/2014 19:36

Hi - sorry I'm seeing this a bit late, but I wonder if perhaps you have an oversupply of milk, and/or fore-milk-hind-milk imbalance. Does baby ever splutter/cough, or come of the breast while feeding? What are babies poos like?

It can come on quite suddenly (it did for me, at about 6 weeks). Sorry if I'm teaching you to suck eggs, but basically it means that baby gets too much of the more watery and sugary fore-milk, and less of the fatty hind-milk. The "sugar overload" causes gasiness and frothy green poos. Babies typically do better with expressed breast milk because in a bottle the fore and hind milk are mixed together.

If you google it and look at results on kellymom, it should give you a bit more information. It's relatively easy to correct (block feeding).

Also, regarding dairy, you need to be off it for at least a few weeks, ideally a month, to see the full benefit and assess if baby may be dairy intolerant. You have my sympathies on that front - I'm on my second breastfed baby with multiple food intolerances (can't even find a formula to suit her ... I miss chocolate, and cheese. And lattes ).

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