Struggling with sleeping on back

[Nix99]

My dd is 8 weeks old and we've had a few issues with sleeping. She suffers from reflux so we have her upright after every feed for half an hour. Basically she will be put down in her crib (on her back) after a feed and being held upright when we go to bed and sleep for a good few hours before waking for a feed. Once she has had this feed (usually around about 5am) we will hold her upright and she will fall asleep on us before we move her back to the crib (same as when we go to bed) but when we do this at about 5am she will grunt and flail and move around and just will not settle before eventually crying to be taken out and then proceeding to fall straight asleep again on me. I dont understand because everything we do when we go to bed with her (when she sleeps peacefully after an initial few grunts and flailing) we do after the early morning feed but she will not go back down after this feed. Any suggestions or help much appreciated.

Hi, I’m sorry this is really hard but normal, at that age my DS would generally wake around 3am and would not go back in his cot after that point, as he got a bit bigger that would stretch to 5/6am. Just adjust your schedule and try and sleep where you can! I would go to bed at ten and my DH would do a bottle feed so I at least got a solid 5 hour stretch before he woke at 3

This isn't unique for babies with reflux, it's always tricky to put down baby into the cot.

A swaddle will help - it reduces external stimulation and controls the startle reflex.

Also a dummy will help. It's recommended for reflux babies anyway, and reduces SIDS risk. But it also helps baby to settle into a deeper sleep independently (ie in the cot).

Finally - master the knack of putting baby down. Be very slow and gradual with all movements. Keep baby in exactly the same position relative to you for as long as possible. So bend your own body down to the cot, keeping baby on shoulder

Prop one end of the crib up (at the legs not the mattress). Even just slightly.