10 week old struggles

[Frazzled37]

Hi all,

I posted a few weeks ago as I was struggling with my 6 week old, he's now 10 weeks old and I feel awful to say it but I'm hating it. I had started wearing him in the sling for all his naps to overcome his over tiredness, which helped a little for his night sleep. He started doing 1 2-4 hour stint, then a 2 hour stint (then up from 4am every 30 mins or so.) However he's gone back to not having any long stretches of sleep now. I'm also struggling wearing him in the sling all the time now he's bigger as it hurts my back.

He has also now gone off feeding completely in the day, screams at the breast after a few mins. This means I'm feeding him more at night! He won't take a bottle so worried he's not feeding enough.

Still won't nap in pram, car seat or bouncy seat either.

Not sure why I'm posting this, just feel so useless right now and terrible that I'm hating every day!

People have suggested co sleeping but how do I get him to sleep in the first place? He won't fall asleep from cuddles. I have to stand up and rock/bounce him so when I lie down with him he just wakes again. Any suggestions would be great. Thank you

Sorry I haven't seen your previous thread but if he's refusing feeds and can only sleep in an upright position that sounds very much like silent reflux?

Could definitely be reflux or possibly trapped wind (colic). Have you tried infacol before a feed? Any othrt symptoms like arching back or bringing knees up to chest?

Re Co sleeping, generally you master the art of feeding while lying down and feed them to sleep, they just stay there all cosy and happy next to you

Sounds like my 6 week old. He's been diagnosed with silent reflux. See a gp as I think there's an underlying issue that's stopping him from sleeping

Thank you all. @Crystaldoves and @SmellyOldPartridgeinaPearTree the HV said he might have silent reflux but didn't suggest I see a gp or anything. What do they do to help this if it is the case please?

@Inthesky42 he has awful wind, not quite as bad as when he was tiny, but still suffers a lot which interrupts his feeds. I do give him infacol which seems to sometimes help and other times not. I shall attempt some lying down feeding for the co sleeping then, just one daytime nap not wearing him would be nice! 😂

Do you have a night time routine? Something that helps him tell the difference between night and day.
My night time routine with my 11 week old is 8:30pm I change her Nappy, massage her with coconut oil, put her in her pj’s and then feed her.
She is normally settled at 9:30.
I bath her every 2 days and just start 15 mins earlier.

For day time naps for 9 weeks she only wanted contact naps but I couldn’t get anything done so worked on self soothing.
For my baby she had started sucking her hands (now sucks her thumb) so I would lay her in her crib when drowsy and place a hand on her chest while she sucked her hands normally took about 15 mins to fall asleep now takes about 5.
To get her drowsy in the first place When at home I go to my room with curtains closed and rock her in my arms in the dark.
I’ve also found the huckleberry app (the free trial) helped me get her into a daytime nap routine - I was having too long awake times and she was getting over tired.
I’m careful now to start naps 90mins to 120 mins awake.

If you suspect reflux and have a crib that you can adjust at both ends you could try a slight angle feet down to see if helps sleep longer.

@Frazzled37

Thank you all. *@Crystaldoves and @SmellyOldPartridgeinaPearTree* the HV said he might have silent reflux but didn't suggest I see a gp or anything. What do they do to help this if it is the case please?

@Inthesky42 he has awful wind, not quite as bad as when he was tiny, but still suffers a lot which interrupts his feeds. I do give him infacol which seems to sometimes help and other times not. I shall attempt some lying down feeding for the co sleeping then, just one daytime nap not wearing him would be nice! 😂

Oh definitely ring the GP first thing tomorrow. They'll possibly give you a thickener for your babies milk or some medication (obviously thickener is no good if you're breastfeeding) maybe both...but they'll definitely help. Mention when you call that the health visitor has already told you they suspect reflux. I recommend you join a Facebook group for parents of babies with reflux too.

Sounds very similar to my DD, now 6 months. We had the exact same night wake up pattern and screaming whilst feeding/refusing. It was hell and I really feel for you. I second the possibility of silent reflux, infacol provided some relief. It then stopped working after 2 weeks so moved to colief. Both these helped to ride it out until she was older and more developed.

It steadily got easier and she's been great from 5ish months. Please know you are not alone in feeling like this. Although it is difficult to see ahead, it will get better 💐

Also to add, we had a bath, bottle, book bedtime routine and that made no difference to our night wakings. We used a dummy for naps and bedtime, still woke the same amount just wanting the dummy put back in.

Yeah doesn’t help with how often wake up but it helps settle them in the first place

Infacol was no good for us really, but dentinox worked although we added it it to bottle of BM and formula, so not as easy with breastfeeding.

It does get better, but it's soul destroying when you're in it

Are you EBF? How’s his weight?

@Frazzled37, we’re having feeding issues with our 11 week old. A GP prescribed infant Gaviscon, which seems to help. We think it’s reflux, which could account for many of the things you’re experiencing, too. Can be used whether you’re feeding by breast or bottle. Worth discussing with GP.

Definitely go gp if silent reflux they can prescribe baby gaviscon or rinitidine. My son had silent reflux and a dairy allergy. It took a few months to get diagnosis and meds sorted but then he was so much better.

Thank you for replies, mumsnet has crashed everytime I've tried last few days so only just back on.

Seeing HV on Monday and will try to get GP appointment too to check if it's reflux. Although he'll feed in the night when he's drowsy. He does have such bad gas though and always does explosive poos.

@Kona84 we have a similar bedtime routine, and he normally goes down between 8-8.30pm. Settles okay on this one, and then a bit harder to settle after next feed then after that it's game over!

Also use huckleberry but his night sleep has actually got worse since I started. Instead of a 3 (sometimes 4) hr stint, then a 2 hour stint. Now it's more like 2 hrs then 1.5 hrs..then up the rest of the night.

I do need to work on self soothing though, and he's been sucking his hand for weeks now. It's just so difficult when I feel too tired to even rock him to drowsy anymore. Even in the sling I have to cover his eyes as he's so alert he looks at everything, then walk around with him. I know I must persevere though.

@LapinR0se just I'm EBF and unfortunately he's so far refused the bottle as was hoping DH could bottle feed expressed occasionally. He was gaining weight well, but only 1 oz in 2 weeks now ☹

Honestly I think he sounds hungry. And a hungry baby will never settle

@LapinR0se this is the problem, in the daytime he has gone from feeding for 40 mins everytime to now only 20 mins and just one breast but he will outright refuse to take anymore. Screams and screams if I try. So through the night he'll feed for ages instead! But to be honest even when he was feeding better he still woke all the time, not for feeding, just to be settled or because of gas. I don't know how I can get him to take more during the day again though.

Yeah he is bound to be starving. He should feed more when the underlying cause is treated. Mention the gas and poo to the doctor too...CMPA also a possibility especially if any eczema like rashes.