Reflux, 8 week old, absolutely no sleep, help?

[MerryHen]

Has anyone else been had the same and what helped?

8 week old DS cannot be put down to sleep day or night. For now I've given up trying to put him down to sleep during the day and he is held or worn in a stretchy wrap.

I do try putting him down multiple times a night but he usually wakes immediately thrashing around crying. Since birth he's slept on his own a handful of times, usually for 20 mins, a couple of times for an hour, once for an hour and a half.

He's not my first baby and I've tried all the usual tricks.

He has reflux and is quite unhappy with it and I suspect this is why he won't go down to sleep.To address the reflux I've cut dairy from my diet, we've tried colief, holding upright for 30 mins after feeds, block feeding, and for the past couple of days infant gaviscon. The GP mentioned trying a PPI like Omeprazole if gaviscon doesn't work after a couple of weeks.

The gaviscon has reduced his vomitting but he's still unsettled and unhappy, he's been pooping less this past day so I'm worried he's now becoming constipated and this is bothering him.

At the moment my husband and I hold him in shifts while the other sleeps. I go to bed with 4yo DD for 2-3 hours in the evening until DS needs a feed, then I have him overnight until 5-6am when DH takes him back so I can get another 1-2 hours sleep before DH starts work. We are both exhausted. We have no other family nearby so noone else to hold the baby or help.

Our 4yo DD was, and still is, a poor sleeper but even she would have one longer block of 2-3 hours sleep each night. This is something else altogether.

Co-sleeping isn't an option for us, plus I'm not sure it would help because DS would still be on his back.

Currently I'm holding a very unhappy, unsettled, thrashing baby wondering if there is anything I'm missing? And even though I know from experience these things do eventually pass I'm so worried this is it now forever and he'll never be put down to sleep. Please anyone who's had the same, did anything help? Does it get better?

Have you tried a reflux wedge pillow? Seemed to help with mine. Hope you find something- sleep dep is torture!

Ours is the same. Also reflux. Omeprazole has been somewhat helpful but we are still doing shifts. He will sleep on his side whilst my husband watches him from 8.30 - 12.30/1am then I'm afraid to say he is sleeping on my chest whilst I dose for the rest of the night. I'm scared re sids but don't know what else to do. Ours is now 11 weeks. I'm just hoping and praying we make it to 4 months so I can start worrying slightly less about sids.

Sorry I meant to write more earlier but got sidetracked.

My second daughter slept on my chest for first few months. I propped myself with pillows so I couldn't roll and I honestly woke up as soon as she moved. DH did the late night shift while I slept on my own and then he went to bed and I took over.

I got the wedge because I noticed she slept well in the tilted hospital bed. I put the wedge next to me in bed and once everyone had got some sleep I then risked transferring her onto the wedge (so she was lying with her head propped up a bit). Then I put the cot next to the bed and gradually starting settling her in there. She slept in there more and more and finally I put the side on the cot and moved it away from the bed.

Things really improved after weaning onto solid food - much less sick!!!!

There is hope honest.

@catsnore thank you very much for describing that as it sounds like a road map we could follow. I actually bought a wedge the other day coincidentally. I also wake really easily with him on my chest and from a potential smothering perspective it actually feels safer than lying with him next to me in a traditional co-sleeping position, though of course there is the difficult to quantify sids risk with him lying on his front on my chest. I find my son finds the period 3-5am by far the hardest to sleep and is so disturbed.. I read that the stomach has an 'acid dump' around that time to kill any bad bacteria that have been ingested and I wonder if that's why? I think the period for us to try the hopeful transfer would be after his first wake (ie after I've got sleep whilst he sleeps on my husband) at around 1am.

Handhold DS2 was like this, I can empathise, he grew out of it around 7mths, we tried everything inc white noise, cranial osteopathy etc. Very tough time, but you will get through it, life will get easier. It was quite a shock for us as DS1 was a very easy baby, a DC3 was out of the question!

Reflux is often caused by a cows milk protein allergy. My first daughter had horrendous reflux and we discovered that was the cause when she was about 8 months old. If things aren't improving I'd ask the health visitor to refer you to a dietician. If you're formula fresh. G they can prescribe special formula, or support you if you're breastfeeding to remove dairy from your diet. It's made a massive difference for us!

Omeprazole really helped with the pain. It can get worse before it gets better though. It also doesn't stop the vomiting just helps with pain.

We also propped up the cot, however I do think the lullaby trust has just released new information that it's never safe for babies to sleep on an incline so it's maybe worth deciding how you feel about that.

It's so not easy having a reflux baby, only now looking back with my second do I see how difficult it was.

Thank you for the replies and handholds 💐

Hi OP. If you are breastfeeding are you mixing the Gaviscon with a little expressed breast milk? It’s been a long time since my DD was that tiny but I remember doing that.

If breast feeding is well established, will your DS take a bottle of expressed milk? Just thinking that maybe your DH could have the baby for a full night so you could try and have a good chunk of sleep?

Do consider a wedge pillow, and speak to your health visitor if no improvement.

Posted 👆 that one too early. M

@catsnore thank you for the wedge suggestion, it sounds as though it's been a lifesaver for you. We used to have the cot & bassinet on a tilt during daytime sleep, hard to tell if it helped but I know from having reflux myself during pregnancy a more upright sleeping position was more comfortable so it probably does.

@TradedAtlanta I hope you get some respite soon too. DH and I have both fallen asleep holding him, I'm so worried re: SIDS or accidental smothering/positional asphyxiation too, especially when DH falls asleep because he's less likely to rouse. It's so hard isn't it. I hadn't heard of the 'acid dump' but will look into it, it would make sense to time a transfer to not coincide with it. DS has his longest sleep on my husband in the evening while I'm sleeping with DD and we've said this is probably the best time to try putting him down, but we also don't want to sabotage the little bit of sleep I'm getting if it doesn't work. It hard knowing what to do for the best.

I expect we might end up giving Omeprazole a go, the gaviscon has reduced the vomitting but not stopped it (just made the sick thicker!) and he still seems in pain. I took it during pregnancy to great effect but I think it did increase my susceptibility to gastro-bugs and reading about side affects like acid rebound has made me hesitant to try it but I also don't want him to be in pain 😞

@Roselilly36 thank you. Do you think cranial osteopathy helped? I've had it recommended by someone else. Our DD had a few sessions to help with feeding but I'm not sure it did anything with her and it's so pricey I'm hesitant to try it again unless I'm more confident it'll help.

@Fipfop thank you. I wondered about CMPA because he also has mucousy poo so I have cut dairy from my diet, I haven't cut soy though which I've heard CMPA babies can also be intolerant too so that might have to be a next step. As a vegetarian I've been trying to avoid limiting my diet even further 😬 I also forgot myself today and are one of DD's wotsits without thinking 🤦🏻‍♀️

We used to tilt DD's cot when she was congested but I'd also seen the updated Lullaby trust information which has stopped me doing the same for night time sleep this time. We do have an additional SIDS risk factor though and if not for that it's probably something I'd try again.

Hi @Shallysally yep we've been mixing the gaviscon with a bit of expressed milk. We've tried a bottle for the first time this evening (because syringing and spooning it in was a faff) and thankfully he took it well 🙌 DD was a bottle refuser so this is a relief.

Unfortunately until DS can be put down to sleep I wouldn't want DH to have him all night, he finds it harder to stay awake than I do and is less likely to rouse if he does fall asleep 😞 as much as I'd love a full night's sleep! Thankfully I'm managing to get 2-3 hours in the evening, and if we can get DS to go down at this time then a bottle of EBM with DH could be an option to extend this sleep.

We found we needed a combination of a half dose of Gaviscon and a half dose of lactalose due to constipation but many friends ended up giving Omeprazole. Until then we had almost four months of shifts as baby 1 just couldn't sleep lying down at all.

I’ve had 2 with reflux, one of them really severe. The severe one pushed me to the brink as a second time mum. I couldn’t even get out of the house some days in the early weeks when we couldn’t establish what was making him so sick. He would take his bottle and then projectile vomit all of it, scream because he was hungry, I’d make another bottle and we’d go around in circles. Health visitor kept telling me it was CMPA. I knew it wasn’t, but they wouldn’t listen. I’d tried colief etc. It wasn’t until I took him to the GP covered in sick as he’d puked again in the car and basically cried my eyes out that finally we got some help. Once he was on gaviscon, carobel and omeprazole that life returned to something resembling normal. With the one after him I’ve not taken any of the being fobbed off and have just been very firm with GP that I needed gaviscon/carobel on repeat prescription please and thank you so that I can cope and deal with it (the other two weren’t so bad so didn’t need the omeprazole).

Maybe ask your GP to try instant carobel powder to thicken the milk if you are are FF. I find 1 scoop of carobel to every 2 scoops of milk is about right. If you use the perfect prep machine, you need to set the number of ounces higher so that you get more hot water as it makes the milk harder to mix. So I set to 10oz for a 6 or 7oz bottle, then stop the cold water manually by pressing cancel. You also need to use a bigger teat size too. My 3 month old uses a 9 month+. It’s honestly saved my sanity!

I have also let the worst one sleep on his tummy (I know, i know!!!) with the head end of the cot raised. I wasn’t getting any sleep with him on his back vomitting when he moved or strained to pass wind. He’d be choking on sick so I couldn’t rest, I was watching over him for hours. So I used the angle care movement monitor pad under his chest and felt if he was sick, at least the vomit would come out on his front not be caught in his mouth choking him. It at least allowed me some sleep. You could eve just try naps while you are awake on their tummy.

Hope you find a solution to make it bearable. You have my sympathies. Reflux is not easy to deal with. Hold on to the fact that it will get better. Mine improved drastically once they were walking and spending their days upright. It will end!

@MerryHen we only had one session, so difficult to say.

DS2 was such a discontented baby. I dreaded taking him out, a few times DH even took him to the emergency Dr. To be told he’s a healthy baby take him home!

We just needed to survive at the time. We lived in a terraced, property at the time, I felt so sorry for my neighbours, they never once complained. Lucky the lady who lived next door said one of her sons was the same as a baby.

We did this, I went to bed once DS1 was settled in his cot, around 7pm. DS2 was screaming his head off downstairs with DH, DH would finally get him to sleep in the pram,DH would come to bed, usually around 11-midnight when DS2 woke I got up to feed him etc.

My late MIL also helped us so much, she would take out DS1 to the local park a few times a week, and once a week, told us to go out for a drink & something to eat together, I was very reluctant at first, saying but he is going to scream, not fair on her etc, MIL said he’s going to do that whether you are here or not, get away from it for a while. So we went out, MIL dealt with him, stayed the night and looked after him all night. She said she had never known a baby like him, she had had a large family and had a lot of experience of babies.

We got through it, DS2 turns 20 this week. He is such a lovely, kind person. But still very determined, driven and a total chatterbox. DS2 is 21, still chilled, quiet, and very loving. They are total opposites and best friends as well as brothers. They have a lovely bond.

I can empathise completely with your situation OP, I can honestly say, I can remember how I felt at the time, the tiredness, feeling like I was on this constant treadmill, unable to get off. Very draining. But it will get easier, your baby will grow out of this phase. Just do whatever you can to get through it. It’s not easy. I hope things improve soon.

@MerryHen my second is dairy and soy free, think there's something else but can't work it out yet. There are some great Facebook groups which can support with going allergy free when breastfeeding. It can take 6 weeks I think for everything to heal from removing each allergen so might just need a little more time if that's the problem. Hope it helps, I remember taking about 5 outfits and 1463376 muslins every time I left the house!

I totally sympathise with you. I have a 6 week old and feel like iv written this post myself. I have tried everything and nothing is working. Like you sleep is non existent even in the day time he is wide awake for 6-6 hours at a team. Even by the time next feed is due he is still awake. Sometimes he may be very pleasant albeit I know its not right for a newborn to be awake for this amount of time.
we tried reflux milk, HIPP Organic and both made him projectile vomit. Gaviscon and omeprazol both did nothing and now hes on lansoprzol. He was moved onto prescription formula aptamil pepti 1 and omg it was absolutely horrendous it made things 10x worse he was screaming is uncontrollable pain and refusing feeds and when i looked at reviews and through posts many babies experienced this so we stopped straight away. I have tried wedge pillow and tilting cot and I have to be honest the only thing that os helping is sleeping him totally upright on my bed ( im using two cushions off the sofa next to each other with my bed pillow over the top and this creates a tilt on the bed. I found that pillow underneath cot etc just wasn’t enough and this has managed for him to sleep better at night. Also during day hes sat upright on pillows on the sofa

gp has now referred to a paediatrician

@MerryHen I know it has been a while since you posted this but did it get better? You’ve described my exact situation right now and I’m at my wits end.