Another grunting baby

[Namechangemum100]

dC2 is 4 weeks and just like Dc1 has started to grunt in his sleep all night long...I feel like I am being tortured.

I late awake all night as it is so hard to sleep through.

With Dc1 it lasted for 11 weeks...ELEVEN WEEKS! how am I going to do this again when Dc1 is only 15 months and has me up at 5am!

Anyone else with a grunter have some words of support?

Grunting baby is often a sign of reflux and/or malacia (floppiness) of the larynx or trachea. They're similar issues caused by too-floppy connective tissue, and babies with floppy airways typically have floppy oesophagus too. Often gets worse before it gets better gradually, typically resolving at around 2 year, as their cartilage hardens. Most cases are mild-moderate and don't need treatment.

However it could get worse with colds, smoke etc, and severe cases need treatment. I'd recommend raising the bed, trying reflux meds from GP (reflux more likely than floppy airway). Keep a really close eye on him when ill with colds etc, as worse case scenario is that your baby is in respiratory distress, struggling to breath until they get tired and give up breathing altogether.

DD had (looking back) a mild version, and DS had it severely and was in and out of hospital with serious respiratory distress, once diagnosed - like you the GP was dismissive but missed that this was a severe form, and he was actually in real danger. I'd advise going on YouTube for "respiratory distress babies" to see what to look out for.

You can also look up 'trachaeomalacia' and 'laryngomalacia' but please bear in mind that the groups etc focus on the few babies with very severe problems, whilst the vast majority will just be 'noisy babies' and will recover with no risk to health (apart from your sleep....)

And I sympathise with the sleep deprivation. DS is 5 and when ill we still have to sleep in the same room in case his breathing goes downhill, which means 0 sleep. Even when he's well we can sometimes hear the grunting from an entirely different floor of the house!

Thank you everyone that has taken the time to show some solidarity. It really does make me feel better to know that others actually understand what we are going through and have survived it.

Tonight has been awful, not because of ds (dh is sleeping with him tonight), but because my 15 month old screamed for 2 hours before bed.

It's no exaggeration that I genuinely feel as though I am being tortured day and night at the moment.

Have kept a close eye on ds all day and I'm convinced that he does in fact have silent reflux. Am planning to try a collect some videos of him tomorrow in order to give the pediatrician the best view point as possible.

I'm just finding parenting so bloody hard at the moment. I feel like I can't catch a break. 2 cmpa babies, one now with suspended reflux, DD was and still is a crap napper, ds heading the same way, DD a crap weaner, didn't sleep through the night for nearly a year. Won't nap out in pram or carseat for longer than 30minutes...I just feel as though I'm being punished for something 😭 I had no idea parenting would be this hard.

Agee with lots of the advice from PPs.

Just to add 30 minute naps is also a symptom of silent reflux if feeding to sleep. It takes 30 minutes-ish for them to start digesting milk and push acid back out of their stomachs and waking them up. I held DS upright for 30 minutes after every feed. An absolute killer, but worth it for the resulting 2 hour nap when I put him down.

Infant Gaviscon was a life saver for us. Don’t remember any constipation.

In terms of getting a diagnosis. I did a lot of research and presented GP with all the symptoms DS had of silent reflux (and cried. That part wasn’t deliberate, but probably helped. I was just so tired!) and got lucky, because not all GPs believe it exists. GP came to silent reflux conclusion without me having to mention my google diagnosis. Then we got the Gaviscon and he was like a new baby.

Good luck op. It’s an absolutely vile time, but it will pass.

Having the baby in the same room wasn't a thing when I had mine. I did have my first newborn in with me initially, but even the most minute snuffle would wake me. So she went in her own room. And funnily enough I would still wake when she was just beginning to tune up for a night feed.
I don't know how parents sleep at all with young babies right beside them. I understand why it's thought best, but I never could.

Ah yes, reflux - holding them upright for 30 mins after every feed. I'd forgotten about that one!

Ds was seen by a pediatrician today who diagnosed him with reflux and has put us on ranitidine.

I haven't started him on it yet as we only got it late this afternoon and I don't like giving medicine for the first time before bed, so he will start on it tomorrow morning. Really hoping it helps to settle his grunting and to also help him feed better and be more comfortable 🤞

Oh great news@Namechangemum100 at least you have an answer hope he settles now

That's good news - hope it helps. We found it took a while for everything to start helping but they did. Just wanted to let you know, if it helps at all on those long dark nights of feeding, listening to the howling and feeling like it may never end that it does! I have two very happy chappies now - it just got incrementally (and very slowly at first!0 better and we really started turning corners with weaning, then when we added dairy free probiotics (optibac), then when they started being upright and walking more etc etc etc. I hope it's the same for you, if only quicker and you'll be catching those breaks in no time

Hi Namechangemum100, i know the post is old now but im in on an exactly situation. Going crazy duento luck of sleep with the grunting and restless movements of my 6 weeks baby.

How did urs ended up? Did ranitidine helped or it got sorted on its own?

Thanks, so desperate at the minute