Feeling a bit desperate- up every hour

[Suchanamateur]

9wo DD has now been waking every hour at night since her earliest weeks. The longest we might get out of her is 1.5-2 he's at the v beginning of the night. Then she wakes grunting and wriggling (but not really crying) pretty much hourly- presumably with wind. She farts like a trooper. Feeding sometimes settles her or more rarely patting - and I think the feeding may get is into a viscous cycle with the wind. We cosleep as that is the only way to get any sleep but I'm getting increasingly desperate on just catnaps all night.

Infacol makes her sickier than she already is and infant gaviscon didn't seem to work either (although I admit I didn't try for long). She won't take a dummy. Im also trying to go dairy free as her nappies are hideous and i wonder whether its all related. Help?!

Sounds hideous, poor you. I think I would be more than a bit desperate!

Going dairy free is a good idea, but you do have to totally cut it out, read all the packets etc. Might be worth keeping a food diary to see if there are any other possible causes (eg egg is a common allergen too, if you eat a lot of egg).

Is her growth ok? ie she's getting enough milk?

Seems to be yes, but then she does feed pretty much all night long!!

We tried a cranial osteopath for ds, he did settle for longer but can't say it sorted all his sleep issues out, still only manages 4 hour stretch most nights and he's 3! But I would recommend cranial osteopathy, it did make him noticeably more comfortable. It's not cheap, £50 initial assessment and £35 for two follow up sessions, I'm in the north east if you need a recommendation.

Thanks Down - have already tried cranial o. She was definitely more relaxed after but didn't seem to touch the nights..

From what I've read on the breastfeeding boards, your diet has little effect on your breastmilk unless your baby is truly lactose intolerant or has a fairy allergy. You should check out the Kellymom website, it's a great website for breastfeeding advice. I don't know what you do about self settling when you cosleep. My DD is 16wks is in a crib a foot away from me and I used to pick her up on the first murmur she made. Then one night when i was exhausted she woke and I decided to pick her up when she started to cry as i was knackered and thought I could grab an extra 5 minutes. The next thing I knew it was morning! DH was still up reading so I know I didn't sleep through her crying. From then on I used to leave her until she started to get upset, which was hard as the grunting was quite loud and I did worry she was upset but I kept telling myself she'd cry if she was really struggling. I'd say 8 times out of 10 she'd go back to sleep of her own accord. Last night I put her back down after she'd woken. I popped to the loo whilst she was grunting, heard her cry once so fully expected to get her up again when I went back in and she'd gone off on her own. I'm not saying you should leave her to cry, i never leave my DD to cry but pushing your own boundaries of how long you can leave her to sort her own wind out is worth exploring although in the middle of the night it's still a challenge to me because do I pick her up straightaway because she needs to burp or leave her and risk her fully waking up. Even though 8 out of 10 times for us she goes back to sleep herself, I still question myself every single time and lie there incredibly still in case I disturb her.

lol obviously what I meant to say was dairy allergy. I've made myself laugh :)

Could be silent reflux as the symptoms are sometimes confusing. My friend has just been through this with her second son and she really had to fight the GP for meds. He was gaining weight and not being sick so GP and HVs said not reflux, but it was.

I just wanted to say that I personally wouldn't cut out anything from your diet unless you have spoken to doctor/dietitian first. I am convinced my LO has a food intolerance and we are about to have her tested. Taking out different foods can be quite annoying and stressful so maybe get some advice from a professional first?

Thanks all. I'm talking to my GP today about both the reflux possibility and the dairy. Just wish there was a way I could get wind up better. It's a viscous cycle of her waking In discomfort and then feeding to make it better, but actually makes it worse. Just had an argument with DH who helpfully told me to settle her without the boob- easier said than done!

Well, if he wants her to settle without the boob, there's no reason that he can't do it himself!

good luck, it all tends to get better over time anyway

Is she perhaps just a very noisy sleeper? If the wind was painful in any way she would be crying, no? My DS1 was incredibly noisy at night (also grunting and farting ) and I realised after a few weeks only to feed him when he really cried properly. And I soon relaxed a bit more and learnt to sleep through his gruntings and wake only when he was crying for a feed.

Co-sleeping should be renamed co-waking.

I'm in a simular situation, my little girl is 3 weeks, she was born 3 weeks early,weighing only 4lb 14 ozn and has been suffering now from what I think is colic for the last 2 weeks, were now on our 3rd type of milk to see if that helps...
I've tried everything u can imagine, 3 types of milk, a dummy, elevating her cot, swaddling, excessive winding, feeding sat up right, infacol, baby massage, bed time bath, anymore recommendations would be greatly received. X

mrsb has she been seen by a GP? I would try first as she's prem. Also, I was advised not to chop and change with milks as it can take longer for any positive impact to be seen, if the milk is the issue.

Sorry, no advice but right there with you as my 6 week old DD is in constant agony from colic and suspected reflux. Have tried just about everything and still she's just terribly distressed. She won't sleep much on her back but will nap for up to an hour if held upright or carried in sling. Since we can't put her down DH and I sleep in shifts. He gets home from work at 7pm, relaxes and has a nap for half an hour, then we eat in shifts while i bf DD. I go to bed around 9, we do a changeover at 1:30. He then sleeps from 2-7:30 and takes her for 30 minutes in the morning so I can shower. We are shattered but at least this way are getting 4-5 hours nightly each.

I think overfeeding can be a problem with a refluxy baby although at the time, sticking the boob in their mouth seems like the only solution! Colic shouldn't cause that much distress, certainly not throughout the night although some babies can be very very unsettled at this age. It's supposed to start getting better from the 6 week mark and by 12 weeks I would have thought you'd see some marked improvement - unless it's reflux in which case it's unlikely anything other than meds will help significantly.

We've definitely got some over feeding going on. Trying to find alternative ways to settle in the night but it's so hard when you're so tired!