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Sleep

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Original poster

19-week old waking several times a night - MIL suggesting Medised.....what do you think??

31 replies

naturopath · 01/11/2007 21:05

My 19-week old DS is waking pretty much every hour throughout the night. Not sure why - could be hunger/excema/habit. Soemtimes I feed him, sometimes he will go back to sleep with themobile / DH rocking him. Usually settles back to sleep pretty quickly. DH therefore rules out hunger as main cause of waking.

Anyway, MIL now suggesting I give him Medised to help him sleep.

What do you oh wise MNters think?? (personally I am v anti drugs for no good reason, butmaybe I'm wrong)

OP posts:

meemar · 01/11/2007 21:07

I wouldn't medicate a baby unless it needed the actual medicine. It's not what it's intended for.

oranges · 01/11/2007 21:09

i wouldn't. if you are desperate for sleep yourself (and you must be if he's waking every hour) try leaving him to cry for 15 mins to see if he settles. Is he warm enough?

Megglevampire · 01/11/2007 21:10

I really wouldn't. Would you take nightnurse/Benidryl etc to get yourself to sleep on regular basis.

Original poster

naturopath · 01/11/2007 21:12

my feelings exactly. DH and his family would and do take these sorts of meds for no reason... but I wouldn't dream of doing such a thing.

OP posts:

Sobernow · 01/11/2007 21:12

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Ellbell · 01/11/2007 21:13

I wouldn't either. Babies do wake up lots... sadly! How bad is the eczema? I know that woke my friend's dd on a very regular basis when she was a baby.

Having said that, my dd2 wakes quite often (i.e. maybe a couple of times a month, sometimes more) crying and saying that she has a 'hurty knee'. I think it's just stiff as she does like to sleep on her front with her knees curled up under her. However, I know that a spoonful of Calpol will stop her crying and make her go back to sleep immediately. It can't possibly have cured the 'hurt' in the time it takes for her to feel better (i.e. about 20 seconds!) but it works, calms her down and gets her back to sleep, so I do go along with it quite often. She is 5 though (and it's one spoonful of the 2-month and above Calpol I'm giving her).

I feel for you, but I really wouldn't drug such a young baby to sleep.

BroccoliSpears · 01/11/2007 21:13

I think you're right to trust your instinct and not drug your baby to sleep.

Hope LO finds a smoother sleeping pattern very soon. It must be hard.

Original poster

naturopath · 01/11/2007 21:14

def. warm enough. Have one of those Grobag egg things so pretty sure temperature is fine.

OP posts:

Shitemum · 01/11/2007 21:14

I'm afraid you might have to do Controlled Crying with him. I think giving a child medicine to make it sleep if it's not actually ill is a very dodgy thing to do...

Shitemum · 01/11/2007 21:15

Is the eczema bad? What are you treating it with?

Original poster

naturopath · 01/11/2007 21:17

thanks - has been like this for a month now so really do want to get him out of this pattern.

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lomond · 01/11/2007 21:17

No I wouldn't. My dd is the same age and we have had a few nights like this because of a cold. I still don't use meds unless she has a high temp.

Hope he settles for you soon.

binkleandflip · 01/11/2007 21:18

I wouldnt give medised to a baby, frankly because I do give it to dd (5) when she has a froggy throat or raspy cough which keeps her awake - it is great for that but I only give her a small amount (less than a teaspoon) as if I am having trouble sleeping I will have a swig myself and it puts me right out - it is quite powerful stuff - either that or I am just very susceptable to its sedative power.

katiebirdie · 01/11/2007 21:18

Echo everything already said, couldn't imagine it could be great for his tiny liver etc. Remember my own ds going through similar stage at this age, my only advice is ride the storm - he will sleep through eventually

Original poster

naturopath · 01/11/2007 21:19

excema is pretty bad - treating with Cetraban but waiting for appt. with dermatologist so might switch to something else. I put cream all over his face and head at least 2-3 times at night, but he still seems to be in the habit of waking.

I don't really believe controlled crying will be good for hm as I don't want to leave him to cry when he is itchy / hungry (which sometimes he genuinely seems to be)..

OP posts:

gingerninja · 01/11/2007 21:20

I agree, I wouldn't give drugs just to try and get some sleep. Not sure there is such a miracle drug, Medised has my DD bouncing off the walls anyway so that theory is out for us.

The 4/5 month mark seems to be a very common age for multiple night wakings, probably a growth spurt. Even if you do nothing it will settle down again eventually. We started cosleeping at about this age so we could feed and sleep more easily.

Original poster

naturopath · 01/11/2007 21:21

Thanks - just checking I'm not alone in not wanting to "drug up" a 4-month old! He's already been on enough drugs as it is for his reflux.

OP posts:

Jojay · 01/11/2007 21:31

Nope - I wouldn't.

Medised doesn't make my lo sleepy anyway. so even if you did try it, there's no guarantee it would work.

How does he go to sleep when he naps, and goes down for the night? Can you put him down awake or does he need some help from you, ie rocking, cuddling, feed to sleep etc to go off to sleep??

If that's the case, it sounds like he may not be able to sleep without help, and teaching him to go to sleep independently could be helpful. Then, if he comes into a light sleep in the night, and wakes up, he can go back to sleep without needing you.

This site has lots of ideas on teaching babies to sleep on their own without leaving them to cry, which IMHO, he is too young for.

If I'm barking up the wrong tree, feel free to ignore me

callmeovercautious · 01/11/2007 21:32

Save it for when it is needed! I use it when DD has a cold (which is its' purpose) and it does work. But if you use it when you are not sure of the problem it could mask the symptoms.

A few questions:

How are you feeding, ie BF or FF? DD is BF and woke alot at this age as she was growing fast!

Could she be teething? if so calpol would ease the pain but not sedate her.

Don't be afraid to read up on what the medicines can be used for and then use them for their intended purpose. As DP said to me "you would take a paracetemol if you had a headache!"

I hope I don't sound too self rightious! I was in your place not long ago and had to go through all the ins and outs!

DD has another bad cold, so today I gave her Calpol about half an hour before her nap and she had Medised before bed as she was very bunged up - she is fast asleep now but I know that if she is hungry or thirsty she will still wake up - it is not that "hard" a sedative, they still stir if they need to.

Medicines have their place but only if you use them when needed - think through what the problem is and then look into possible solutions and THEN make your decision - don't listen to anyone else - your instincts will tell you what is best.

callmeovercautious · 01/11/2007 21:38

SO I x posts with you - sounds like the itching is keeping him awake, DDs' has become worse since we put the heating on/it has got colder. My excema is the same - Winter is much worse than the Summer.

Make sure he is in cotton clothes at night and keep trying with the creams - I am in the same boat!

taliac · 01/11/2007 21:38

We went through the waking every hour at 4 months thing. Miserable, you have all my sympathy. I was one of the living dead for a while. After a month of it I did try a night or two of medised out of sheer desperation and after similar pressure from my DH (who also has a very relaxed attitude to medication). It worked but not in a good way, produced a very groggy grumpy baby.

Also it didn't solve the waking long term, though it did give me just enough sleep to start to deal with the problem properly. We in the end consulted a sleep counsellor who was very good - gave us a sleep plan which used a method described as "controlled comforting" which worked very well. There's still some crying involved as the baby learns how to go to sleep without help but its a much gentler method as you don't leave them alone. My DD is now an excellent and happy sleeper. The counsellor was Andrea Grace, she has a book, "Teach Yourself Baby Sleep" which maybe might help??

Amberjee · 01/11/2007 21:54

hi naturopath, sounds like it's pretty tough at the moment. my advice is just to ignore MIL and do what you think is right. 4-5 months is a typical time for unsettled sleep so do what you can to get through, get as much help as you can, give up housework etc, and hope for this stage to pass soon!

CantSparkleWontSparkle · 01/11/2007 21:58

Only skimmed thread, but just noticed you mention that he has reflux. I think it's quite common for reflux to peak around 4/5 months, so it may well be that causing the problem (aside from the fact that some babies just do wake often). Have you have his meds adjusted recently?

Original poster

naturopath · 01/11/2007 21:58

Jojay - thanks - great site. I had read some of "The Baby Whisperer" a while ago but forgot all about it. Will reconsult, and look at the talkboards on there.

callmeovercautious - thanks.. DS is totally bf. I actually wish he would take some formula but he won't (as it's dairy and soya free and horrible). Was teething for a bit but now I think it's just the hunger and excema. Thanks for yr support!

taliac - thanks! will look into contacting her.

oh my gosh, he's up for the gazilionth time this evening.

Maybe my milk supply is low - I can'y express more than a few drops any more.. but don't know what to do about this either. During the day he seems fine but does feed quite often..

OP posts:

Original poster

naturopath · 01/11/2007 22:03

CantSparkleWontSparkle - hmm, intersting, he has actually recently come off both of his meds, but then again the night wakings started while he was still on them. Our paed knew about frequent wakings but still told us to wean him off the drugs. Pead thinks he is probably waking from hunger and urged us to start weaning him (just started this week)...

But as a said, v frequent wakimgs started a month ago.

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