14wk DS refuses to go to sleep

[chocolatesolveseverything]

My DS has never been great at going to sleep (though generally once down he lasts a while at night) and it's always been a bit difficult to settle him. Most of the time we put him in a zip up swaddle pod, give him a dummy, soothe him each time he cries, stroke his nose, and after a little while he will drift off.

But over the past few days he's been even harder than normal and I'm unsure why this is, though I have a few guesses. He'll now only go to sleep after a big meltdown (me or dh will hold him tight and rock him until he stops screaming and falls asleep through exhaustion) or if he is fed to sleep. However, the latter happens rarely as he's suffering from terrible wind and has been needing burping every few minutes. It doesn't matter how tired he is - he will steadfastly refuse to close his eyes day or night until he has no choice as it were.

It's really awful to hear him scream his lungs out like this and I really hope it's just a short phase. He has silent reflux which is mostly controlled with gaviscon and omeprazole. But he's had that so long I doubt that it's the cause of this sudden downturn. (The pattern of the screaming is different iyswim) He does have a bit of a cold - not totally stuffed up but sometimes you can hear the mucus in his throat. That's caused him problems going to sleep in the past. I've also noticed a very tiny bump in his lower gum and he's dribbling a lot so he could be an early teether possibly.

Has anyone any ideas about this, and what other methods of getting him to sleep we could try?

Thanks,

It can be so hard can't it? If you think that it may be teething related can you use something for his gums? What I found made settling down easier with mine at that age was to start winding things down a little earlier than usual, take things in a relaxed manner and curl up with them on my lap (or snuggled close, on the bed) whilst I read (quietly) or popped the tv on to catch up with the news etc, they probably fell asleep with boredom. during the day for naps, well they would fall asleep in a sling, then popped onto the bed or rug on the floor.

Feed him to sleep? At 14 weeks he may be hungrier (building up for the 16 week growth spurt) so he might need more milk anyway.

Thanks, unfortunately feeding to sleep isn't something I can rely upon as he has such bad issues with trapped wind. I should try the wrap again soon, but it's been getting harder to get him to sleep in that as well. He just doesn't want to close his eyes!

Is his dosage for silent reflux correct?

And I'm sorry you are going through this, it is very very hard but hopefully it will pass.

I'd get him back to the dr about his reflux. It can change, or his doses might need changing if he's got bigger. Have you tried a sling, a vibrating chair, white noise? They might not get him to sleep but they might help him chill out. Also, is there anyone else who can deal with him for a few hours. They do feed off your concern and frustration sometimes. I have to say that it was at this stage with my silent reflux baby ds2 that he started sleeping in his tummy in his own room. He was much happier like that.

Yep, have a wrap, bouncer, and have used white noise in the past though ot didn't do much. His reflux meds were checked just over a month ago and he hasn't been growing that fast (another story) so think they're ok. He's on a high dose.

Once asleep at night, he sleeps well. But it's the getting him asleep that's hard. But saying that, I've seen some slight improvement in the last 24 hours, so fx this is a temporary blip.

Is he teething? Around 12-13w both my DSs started teething and needed a lot more help going to sleep (feeding to sleep, teething gel, sometimes Calpol if it's really bad).

We had this with my son when he was little, gently rubbing his tummy in circle motions really works. We also used to put gripe water in a bottle of boiled water for drinks through the day. Failing that speak to the health visitor they always have really good tips.