Sorry for starting yet another thread on this topic (I'm boring myself now!) but I wanted help on a specific question not really covered on my other threads.....
Background, DD is 9 weeks old, EBF. Fights sleep and gets overtired. Often (couple of times a week) has boughts of ?colicky screaming which go on for hours, hard to settle her during these periods. Have been referred to paeds to rule out silent reflux, dairy intolerance etc....awaiting appointment.
Weeks 1-4 she would do 2-3 hourly stints in her cot at night, daytime sleeps usually on someone, but occasionally in her basket. Got overtired if naps were interrupted by appointments, hard to get her back to sleep as she fights it.
Weeks 5-6 she had a terrible cold/sore throat, plus 2nd TT snip and was very unhappy and unsettled. Sleep went completely out the window, stopped going in her cot and as she was poorly I let her sleep on me for comfort.
Weeks 7-8 she seemed to suddenly become extra alert/aware of her surroundings and her sleeping became SO light that the only way to get her to stay asleep was on me or DH. Her ?colicky crying episodes became more regular and intense since 6 weeks too.
Since week 8 I have become militant about getting her to have regular day naps.... Seems to be helping as she goes to sleep more regularly now and with less resistance. All these naps are on me.
Nighttime sleeps still on me or DH. Tried putting her in her cot a few times but she wakes up immediately! Takes up to an hour to settle her back to sleep fully afterwards (on her 'settled' days...we havent tried it on her colicky days as after 5 hours of screaming/getting her to sleep we don't DARE try to put her down to have it all start again).
Still awake?! Thanks for getting this far...
Right, so my question is this. Where do we go from here????! How do we get her going back in her cot regularly at night and eventually be put down for naps in the day? (She won't co sleep, she wants to be on someone).
Should we keep doing as we're doing until she's a bit older and sleeping more deeply again and then try putting her down? Or Should we just keep putting her down regardless, even if she wakes up and every night is full or hours and hours of screaming? (Isn't that 'sleep training' and isn't she too young for that?)
I feel like I've suddenly looked up and realised I've walked way off the beaten track, with no real recollection of how i got here and no idea how to get back on the right road again!
Thank you :)
AIBU?
To ask for help re: baby's sleeping
Absofrigginlootly · 31/12/2014 13:29
Poor little thing 
And poor you 
I don't like to suggest buying anything more than you've probably already bought, but maybe a swing might help in this case? The Happiest Baby by Harvey Karp was quite effective in some ways for DS2 as he talks about 'The 5 Ss' to replicate the womb and get through the fourth trimester. They are: swaddling, side-lying, swinging, shushing (AKA white noise) and sucking. DS2 was never much fussed about swinging, but everything else certainly helped. Harvey Karp recommends swaddling, swinging and white noise all night if needs be. Is it worth trying a dummy again? Dip in a little bit of EBM and gently hold it in, maybe while she's in light sleep so won't protest quite so much? A dummy was high on the list of things I was Never Going To Use, but it's given me a little bit more space from DS2 and buys me a little bit of scream-free time to sort out DS1 if needs be. He'll actually even re-settle at night with it! Yes, without boob! 
I've read quite a few threads where people have persisted with dummies and their babies have eventually taken one to good effect.
Sorry - X-posted with you there. Still pooing that much at night screams intolerance to me. Are you being really strict with the dairy and soy? How long have you been going for? I was on a long-running thread with a lovely lady with supremely refluxy twins with dairy and soy intolerance who was told by a dietician to also eliminate eggs at the same time then re-introduce gradually. That was a miserable month for me. I'm a vegetarian so ate like a caveman 
One of her DTs was dairy and soy intolerant, and it helped his reflux a lot. I almost hope they do diagnose a silent reflux in your DD just so it can be treated. Have you tried Infant Gaviscon yet? It's a total pig to get into BFed babies, but if you can try it before your paeds appointment, it may either work or you'll be in a position to say 'tried it, didn't work/couldn't get it into her. Give me ranitidine please.' It's available OTC and quantities/administration are given on the box. You could get it on prescription from the GP as well.
I would definitely second both the suggestions of grobag and keeping the cot warm. We used to put a hot water bottle in DS's Moses basket, under the blanket, whilst he was having a night time feed. However we found that once we switched to a grobag, that became less necessary as he stayed in that during the feed.
I know it must feel like this stage will go on forever (it seemed like that for us) but it will improve and, I know it's a cliche but things do tend to get more settled after the first 12 weeks or so. Hang on in there
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