STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Can't help much with the acid reflux...Johannes did not have this.

But...as to the sleep thing...she is still fairly young to be put on a schedule.  But the best tips I can think of are: 

• natural light/natural dark : pull back the curtains during the day, the light may help her wake or stay awake


• with my son I would begin the go-to-bed process as soon as it was dusk...bath first, then a bottle, then just rocking him to sleep


• if he woke up I would not turn on the light...I'd just go in and pick him up and do my best to rock him back to sleep.

HTH

I used the swaddling Miracle Blanket, www.miracleblanket.com, you can find it online or on ebay.  Sometimes it's in boutiques.  I used it all the way up to six months with my son last year and on the rare nights that we would leave him sleeping loosely, he would wake more often.

I would rock him when he woke, nurse him, or just hold him snug and tightly in his miracle blanket and sway back and forth either walking or sitting in a chair.

However, night waking is based on your baby's temperament mostly.  Mine was still waking frequently all the way up to one year (meaning about twice until normal morning wake up time of around 530 or 6AM).  Now at 13 months, it's rare, but he might still wake up in the middle of the night sometimes, fortunately, the older they get, the quicker and easier it is to calm them back down to sleep.

Mine was a breastfed baby, and I read a study from the late 80's that found that weaned babies generally slept better than still breastfeeding babies.  So if you are breastfeeding, you can look forward to maybe better sleeping once you wean.  Or if you are formula feeding, you can keep your fingers crossed that she will be sleeping much better once she hits that 12 week mark, because that's when most easy tempered babies get into more of routine.

I was a new mom last year and I agree swaddling your baby in a blanket works like a charm, you don't have to buy a special blanket tho, if they didn't teach you how to do it in the hospital, I found the instructions online: http://www.babycentre.co.uk/refcap/125.html#1, http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/baby/newborns/125.html#1

I tried to keep her awake a lot in the day, not so much because I wanted her to sleep at night, but because I was so astounded with her.  She would go down at about 9 get up to eat at midnight & again at 5am, but she didn't get on this schedule until she was about 2 mths old.  So I would give her more time, she's probably still adjusting as much as you are.

LMonet wrote:

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If she does have acid reflux, maybe sleeping flat on her back is uncomfortable?  Have you tried putting her to sleep at night in her swing or chair to see if that might help?

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Hey JMR--Yes Lucy has reflux.  In babies it's actually called gastroesophageal reflux (I think), the same as acid reflux in adults.  It occurs when the muscle that keeps the food from coming back up is not fully developed and food won't go down into the stomach as easily (if that makes sense).  When a baby is placed on his or her back, gravity will force the food to come back out and they will spit up.  I used to worry about the choking thing too, but I think the risk of that happening is relatively minimal.  Nevertheless many peds recommend that the baby sleep on his or her back on an incline sleep positioner or even in her car seat.  We put Lucy in her car seat in her crib and she did really well and started sleeping through the night at about 10 weeks.  She slept that way until she was about 4 1/2 months old (just recently).  I think it was a lot more comfortable for her.

Lucy was diagnosed with reflux when she was about 6 weeks.  One of the major red flags with reflux is if the baby fusses/cries during feedings, which means that eating is causing their esophagus to hurt I think because the stomach acid is coming up.  Fussiness and frequent spitup are the main symptoms.  Also, some babies simply have difficulty digesting breastmilk and regular formula, so they have to take special formula with proteins that are already broken down, or soy formula if they are haing an issue with Lactose.  Lucy only likes Nestle Good Start; it is much easier on her stomach.  I don't know if formula is something you want to consider but it's something for you to think about.  Also, there are tons of different medications your ped can prescribe, i.e. zanax, etc.  Some people have good results from these, but we never have.  It helps to keep them elevated after a feeding burp them very thoroughly after feedings so they don't have any trapped gas that will add to the problem, rub their little tummies, and move their legs in a bicyle motion to get the trapped air out.  Also, constipation makes reflux a lot worse so you want to be on the lookout for that (there are things you can do to help with constipation also). 

What are Talia's symptoms?  Let me know if you have any more questions--I did a lot of research on reflux.  

Erin - hahaha ...

Alb - lately she has been spitting up A LOT - it might even be vomiting (hard to tell the difference)...She will fall asleep on me then when I put her down in the crib she will ALWAYS wake up. She only seems to be comfy in her vibrating chairs. In addition lately she cries when I feed her -breast or bottle (I do give her one bottle of formula a day). She also gets the hiccups a lot -they used to not bother her...now she screams when she gets them. The thing is though  - she isn't overly fussy - not colicky or anything. Could it be that maybe it was just something I ate that didn't agree with her since I breastfeed?

JMR--From what I understand,  spitting up can be a sign of reflux, but then again a lot of babies spit up and don't have it.  The key is to determine if the baby has other symptoms indicating reflux in addition to the spitup.  Also, regarding the spitup--I thought it was hard to tell if it was vomit or spitup at first too, but the way you tell is that if it is vomit it looks a little thicker (almost to the point of being in chunks) and it definitely will smell like vomit.  Also, is she experiencing projectile vomiting (i.e. where it goes out with force, such as a water fountain)or does it just dribble out of her mouth?  That's a definite sign as well.  Lucy had that a few times.  Re: the hiccups, I hate to tell you this but requent hiccups can also be a symptom of reflux.  Again, I'm sure there are babies out there though that spitup and hiccup frequently but don't have reflux.  The fact that she doesn't like lying down also might be a sign--are you putting her down right after she eats?  Reflux babies do better if they are not put flat on their backs right after they eat.  That also could be nothing though, as lorelei pointed out, she could just want to be held. 

 Regarding Karina's suggestion of switching formula, I would definitely try that.  We tried similac, isomil, alimentum, emfamil, just about all of them and she liked Nestle Good Start soy the best.  I would definitely recommend it, even if you just get regular (non-soy).  I'm not sure about the breastfeeding question b/c I didn't bf, but I would assume that could be the case if her symptoms get better after you change your diet a little.  The fact that she's not fussy is a good sign.  Lucy was really fussy, and I had to call the doctor's office a couple of times.  That's what led to her reflux diagnosis.  HTH some, let me know if you have any other questions!