Bloody shattered!

[Inapickle123]

Not really looking for sympathy..just empathy!
9 week old DS has been a crap sleeper/feeder from day 1. Reflux and colic-happy days! Formula fed which-as everyone keeps reminding me-doesn't help. Thanks. Nice to know his inability to latch was a total failure on my part.

We thought we'd turned a corner when we introduced specialist reflux formula and dr brown bottles. He went from sleeping 5 hours a day (yep-5 hours in 24) up to 9, then 11 then he actually started napping for 30min at a time during the day! Oooooooo!!! Luxury!!!

So we got onto a "sort" of schedule. Feed at 7/10/1/4/7 and dream feed at 1030-11. In "theory" this should see him through til the next morning.

He takes between 3-5 oz per feed and we're using teat 2 as teat 3 means he guzzled the entire bottle and ended up screaming in pain because he couldn't get his wind up.

I wish he'd read the same books as me :(

He's constantly waking up between 2/3 looking for a feed OR because he's straining so hard to fart. I've sort of figured out which cry is which so either spend an hour trying to soothe him as he forces out a mammoth fart (typical boy-always a bloody production) and eventually feed him at 3 with the vague hope that he'll last til 7.

No matter how much time I spend trying to wind him (can be up to an hour), he still wakes screaming at 6. Upright cuddles in bed (which, I must admit, I do love) soothe him until 7 when we start all over again.

Infacol, gripe water, colief, dentinox: nothing will shift this boy's wind. His poo face is something to behold!

When will it get better???? Surely he should be able to fart without it being painful by now???

Empathy all around. I remember those dark days with DD. It was awful. She was ebf and still had terrible colic, reflux, allergy issues, so don't feel guilty about ff...you have enough on your plate to deal with so be kind to yourself.

My Dd responded well to prescription reflux meds - domperidone and ranitidene. None of the OTC stuff had any effect. And we tried it all, gaviscon, infacol, colief, gripe water. Tried cranial osteopathy as well, no joy. I found out when I started weaning at 6 months that DD had multiple allergies, including cows milk and soya. Your DS might have a cows milk allergy or intolerance, lots of babies do, it can be difficult to digest. Maybe try switching to a hypoallergenic formula and see if any improvement? The two main ones I know of are Nutramigen and Neocate. DD started having Nutramigen at 12 months when I started mix feeding. It's expensive but available free on prescription in the UK. Talk to baby's GP or Pediatrician.

DD was never great at cot / basket sleeping, so we mostly co slept. She could not tolerate being on her back at all, and would always wake up within an hour of being put down, drawing legs up in pain, grunting, crying, and often coughing on vomit. I had a few bad scares with that, so ended up placing her on her side with a sleep positioner, and a special reflux wedge under the cot sheet. I also used an angel care breathing monitor, and a respisense monitor that clipped to her nappy when we were co sleeping. Probably a bit over the top but it gave me peace of mind. She slept much better on her side, sometimes 2-3 hours at a time.

The colic and all day all night crying eased up around 14 weeks I remember. No one actually knows what colic is. There is no evidence of it even being a gastric issue at all. I read a study - which I will try to find - which theorized that colic was a neurological issue rather than a gastric one. MRI scans of colicky babies were similar to that of migraine patients when experiencing an attack, and babies with mothers who suffer from migraine were many, many times more likely to experience colic than those whose mothers were not sufferers.

My DD's reflux cleared up almost overnight at about 7 months when she started sitting up independently, and she was off her meds by 9 months.

Unfortunately even with all her issues resolved her sleep was still shit, but that's another thread. But she's just turned 2 and is doing much better, finally sleeping through most nights, and she's happy in her cot and in her own room.

Hope this helps. It will get better. Hang in there!

My 7 week old DS is EXACTLY the same!!!! It's so hard to see him crying in pain.

Sorry F1. Massive empathy to you as well. It is so hard...

Empathy granted.

My LO is 18 months soon and hasn't been off meds long. Omperazole, Senna (chronic constipation, using suppositories became far too commonplace) and finally Nutramigen formula - which he still has. It's like 40 a tin so most doctors will try to fob you off about allergies / intolerances, sadly.. You've got to be persistent and INSISTENT to get what you want.

He still wakes every night and comes in our bed despite asking to go to bed and settling himself in his cot. Once in every month he will sleep till morning so I KNOW it's not just 'habit' and I'm gonna have to get my tough mumma hat on again when we see his paediatrician next. Round 64..

However, if I compare this to the stage you're at now, we're talking pure bliss! I know how hard it is and you get sick of everyone saying 'It'll get better' (Yeah, like when??), but it really does. Get as much help as you can while this sleep deprivation lasts. My MIL takes him once a month so we get a full nights sleep without getting battered by a toddler! Sleep when LO sleeps.. Whatever gets you some zzz's.

Xxx

Poor you, it's awful, ((hugs))

I would second that try a hypo allergenic formula. Ask the GP for it, insist on it, and see how it goes.

Also ask GP for peadetrician referal too. My LO was diagnosed with silent reflux on put on medication at 3 months, and we took her off the medication at 6/7 months and she was fine. Two weeks on medication was a different baby, though is still a very poor sleeper and demanding.