Hi all, I am sorry if this is the wrong place to post this or if this sort of problem has been done to death already but I am looking for any advice I can get or even just to hear that we are not alone as I am getting rather desperate!
The problem I think is that by DD's symptoms below could be so many things that I honestly dont know what to do!
I am a first time mother. My DD is 6 months old (30 weeks this Friday). She has been exclusively breast fed as she wont take a bottle. She had reflux problems a few months ago, treated with gaviscon and ranitide. These seemed to have cleared up. We started weaning about three weeks ago. This generally went well - she ate lots. I was doing mostly vegetable and fruit purees. About two weeks or so ago she got a cold and, around the same time, her bottom two front teeth appeared, although they are very small and I am not sure if they are all the way through.
For the past two weeks, maybe a bit longer, my DD has really gone completely off her sleep cycle. I know people will say "teething" and, I agree, many of the symptoms below sound like that, but I'm not sure.
She never was a good sleeper. For the past 7 days or so she will go down and then, after an hour or maybe longer, will wake up screaming and crying inconsolably for a long time. She arches her back and wriggles around. We can calm her and get her back down but then either she will wake every hour or so or else she will wake with another screaming fit. Often between roughly 3am and 5.30am she will wake up and just lie there chatting to herself.
She sounds very snotty when lying down. Some evenings, especially when there is a screaming fit, she wont let you lie her down at all. She has a bit of a cough still. During the day she can have these screaming fits too. She slobbers a huge amount and rubs her eyes (mainly the right one) and tugs her ear. Her cheeks can go quite rosy in the evenings. She is looking pale and has gone off her solid food. Maybe it is me overanalysing but she seems to have bags under her eyes and must surely be over-tired!
We have taken her to the doctor but the GP said the baby was absolutely fine. 91st percentile on weight. No ear problems, etc. Although my DH is off (on garden leave) and tries to help out, DD only wants me for comfort so he cant take too much of the burden at night.
There could be so much going on, I know. It sounds like teething, although I cant see any new ones. Could be developmental. Could be another sleep regression. Maybe it is all of them. Maybe it is something digestive?
Her daytime naps have gone out of the window too. She might do a 40min stretch in the morning and afternoon even with our routine.
Sorry to rant, I am just feeling very alone and low at present as I dont know what I can do to help her - and my tiredness doesnt help at all! Has anyone else been through something like this? In the middle of the night with a baby screaming for hours you can feel so alone. I worry she isnt getting enough sleep. Any advice or similar stories much appreciated!