Feeding Reflux Baby to Sleep

[TicTacsMum]

dd, 13 weeks has reflux and the only way i can get her to go to sleep without vomiting, gagging and choking is to bf her to sleep. I always said i would never do this, to enable her to self soothe.

Am worried that she'll never be able to get herself to sleep when she outgrows the reflux.

Advice please?

TTM - no experience of reflux I'm afraid, must be awful, poor thing. FWIW my 11mth old ds has always bf to sleep and shows no sign of stopping just yet! I can't say when she'll grow out of it, but just because you do it now, it doesn't mean she will never learn to go to sleep by herself. Honestly, don't worry about it - she will learn when she is ready, and in the meantime you can just let her fall asleep in the nicest way possible

self soothing can come later tic tacs, the most important thing right now is that your baby is comfortable and happy, imo

have you tried a dummy, they can be very good for reflux babies and your well past the point at which it would interfere with bf. bf to sleep and replace boob with dummy! or just use the dummy but personally i think it's more likely to interfere with bf if given any time other than right after they've fed.

good luck

forgot to say, my dd was bf to sleep until i finished bf at one year, she's 13 months now and goes down by herself at 7 and sleeps til 7 or 8 in morning. she still has dummmy but then i had mine til i was 3 and i can get to sleep just fine by myself!

Thanks eve & tatties. Not keen on dummies and vowed my child would never have one! To be honest i actually really like bedtime when we have a cuddle and I feed her. I guess there is time for self soothing later (hopefully!)

TTM, I was never a fan of dummies either, but bf was so draining in the beginning, and I would just spend hours on end bf in the evenings just to get him off to sleep. I gave a dummy at around 7wks, only after a good feed, and it was magic at getting him to sleep in his cot. By 3mths though, it had lost its magic properties and ds gave it up. I think this is because we really restricted its use to before nap/bed time. Obviously if you really don't want to give a dummy then don't, you have got this far without one, but if you feel it would give her some comfort (and you a break maybe?) then I think as long as you are sensible with it there's nothing wrong with that. He then went through a very short phase of settling himself to sleep, then decided he needed bf to sleep again - so just because you manage to get them settling themselves, that is no guarantee they will do it forever!

I think it is hard to bf to sleep if you've got it into your head that it's somehow 'wrong', or that you're 'creating a rod for yourt own back, blah, blah..' It got easier for me once I stopped fighting against what ds was telling me he needed (bf to sleep), rather than trying to make him conform to the expectations of some book/relative/friend.

It sounds like you know you're doing the right thing for your dd, and you enjoy bedtime together so just carry on doing what you're doing

dd has this, have you been to your gp? dd has infant gaviscon in her feeds and if you breastfeed I think you mix with water in bottle and offer it that way. It really made a big difference using it and it has no lasting effects dd is 8mths and we are still using it

hi tic tac my ds had severe reflux andwas on medication for a year. its very difficukt he is now 16months and is still breast fed to sleep wakes up all night and wants to be fed to sleep. i had to sart fedeing ds again during the night due to poor weight gain. The cause of problems now. At 13 weeks dont worry breast milk soothes the acid of the reflux ( stomach acid) ask to be referred to a paediatrician for a ph study to determine how bad the reflux is. Then you can start medication ranitidine domperidne or ompeprazole all wonder drugs. ds slept much better. ds at 8 months started to sleep through until i had to start feeding him again. If anyone suggests that to you once your little one starts sleeping through dont do it .

Basic tips raise cot end up . Gravity helps.
Talk to gp and ask fr referral
Include hubby in night time routine. it is very tiring coping on your own even if its just t cuddle for a while.

good luck sorry so long

Thanks for replies. Have got the moses basket at an incline - did this when she was snuffly at 6 weeks and just kept it like that. Maybe should make it higher though?

dd is actually a really good sleeper once she is off - always has been - so I know i'm lucky in that respect.

Got infant gaviscon which i use during the day - she now takes it off a spoon after a very shaky start(!) and now seems to quite enjoy it!! Makes for some really bizarre wallpaper paste-like nappies though Seems to be working reasonably well but no miracle cure. I've never actually used it at her last feed of the night as it just seems to be so much easier to feed her to sleep. It relaxes her and when she is in such a deep sleep she doesn't actually bring anything up. I just feel that i can't put her down awake as i am paranoid about leaving her in case she chokes.

Just reading the replies on here has given me more confidence that what i'm doing isn't wrong.

Thanks!!