I'm having problems with Amelia

My babies had been doing so well with their schedules and had been consistently sleeping 7 - 9 hours each night.....until about a week ago. At first I thought it was because last week they got way off schedule because we took them all over the place for Christmas, so Christmas night and the night after were shot. 2 nights after Xmas they did both sleep through the night, but then on the 28th I took them to the pedi for shots, and on the 29th they came with me to a baby shower, so they were over-tired again. But I dont know if that could still be affecting them now?

Well they never really got back to normal, and now they are constipated. The doctor said to first try karo syrup in their bottle, which I tried, but they don't like the sweet formula. So they'd only take about half of the bottle and then they'd be screaming from hunger an hour and a half later, so it would take them 2 feedings to eat 1 bottle, and I don't like giving them "snacks"....so I called the doctor again and she said to try pear juice. Well they hate the pear juice too. They act like it's very sour, they pucker up their little faces and try to spit it out. So I'm trying to give them a little pear juice before each bottle, because when they are good and hungry they'll take a little juice. It doesn't seem to be bothering Lily as much as Amelia. Another thing I've noticed is that they aren't passing gas as much as they were a few weeks ago. We changed their formula to Enfamil AR a couple of weeks ago because they were spitting up at every feeding.

Do you think the reason Amelia stopped STTN is because of the constipation? Or do you think it was just a fluke that they were sleeping through in the first place? I'm so hoping it's just due to the constipation or maybe they are having a growth spurt or something and will start sleeping through again soon. Lily is still going about 7 hours each night, which isn't bad at all. But Amelia has been waking every 2 hours, and that's just not normal for her. She has always gone 3 hours even during the day, so I don't know what is wrong and it's so frustrating! 2 nights ago I got up with her, because DH had to work, and here's how the night went: 9 pm she had her last bottle, which she ate all of
11:30 pm she woke up crying, so I went and checked on her and her arm had come out of the miracle blanket, so I re-wrapped her and she went right back to sleep, until 12:30 am, she woke up crying again, so I figured she was probably hungry, so I fixed her a bottle but when I went and got her I saw she had spit up, so that's probably why she was crying. So I cleaned her up and tried to give her the bottle, but she only took about 1 ounce and then fell asleep, so i put her back down and she started to cry, and cried until 2:00 am!!! Finally at 2 I was like "well maybe she's hungry again?" So I gave her another 4 ounces and she ate the whole thing and went to sleep but only slept for 3 hours and was up again to eat at 5 am.

Last night DH stayed up so I could get a good night's sleep, and he wound up coming to get me 2 times because Amelia was crying and he didn't know what to do. Could she be having a growth spurt and maybe we need to give her more formula? It is confusing because she isn't ACTING like she is hungry, she's not making a sucking motion or putting her fingers in her mouth or anything like that, and she acts like she is satisfied at the end of the bottle. And poor Lily has to hear her sister screaming in her ear all the time. When she wakes in the night like that I have been moving her out to the living room to her PNP so Lily doesn't have to hear the noise.

Thanks so much if you've read this far, I'm worried about my Amelia!!! Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

I am wondering if she has a bit of reflux. Mine both had it and were diagnosed much earlier but if she is spitting up and then crying maybe it is painful and that is why she is only eating one ounce and then crying. The reflux was definitely worse at night for some reason. Might be worth a call to the Ped.

FWIW mine did not STTN until they were close to 9 months but when they woke at night, they were hungry and would eat.

 

Ditto pp - it's definitely worth checking for reflux.

Have you tried glycerin suppositories for the constipation? They're supposed to be very effective.

I think that it was probably a fluke for them to STTN that young. Some babies will consistently do it that early, but it is unusual. At that age, if they're waking up, they're hungry, or something else is the matter (reflux, constipation, etc). HSHHC says that babies may need night feedings up to 9 months (adjusted age), though of course some will drop them sooner.

Good luck! I hope you can get some relief for your little girl. :hug99:

 

Early on mine had some constipation issues. The doctor had us put 1 oz. of pear juice in each bottle. They did not notice it was there and it REALLY worked. If you make a 4oz. bottle, try 1 oz. of juice and 3 of water. Then add 2 scoops of powder like always.

We also did some baby massage to help them out and I think it helped some!

It does sound an awful lot like reflux to me. I am still battling it to this day. Get her checked because if it is reflux, meds WILL help!

I ahve great sleepers even with the nasty reflux, so get some meds and you might get your great sleepers back.

 

I am going to try the pear juice for their next bottle, I hadn't thought of mixing it with the formula, I was just trying to give it to them straight up, thanks for that advice! I'm going to give her one more night and then I'm going to call the pedi tomorrow if she's the same again tonight.

 

I have no advice on the consitpation/possible reflux -- but I will say that my boys were (are) VERY inconsitant about sleeping longer for a while (still are) -- they would sleep longer for a few days -- then not for a few...then more...back and forth -- we are currently to usually about 4 days a week they will sleep 10-11 hours without interuption, and 3 days of 8-9 hours - wake to eat and back down for 2-3 hours. I tried for a while to get them through with paci's if they woke early (because i didn't think they needed to eat) -- but have since realized that when they wake (unless i hear them tooting - gas is also a culperate for us!) they are 99% of the time hungry - and will go right back to sleep if they eat.

Oh, and just to add -- my boys started (ocassionally) sleeping a 7 hour strech at about 5 weeks -- so as you can see, it's taken a while for them to do it consistantly.

I know it can be REALLY hard to backslides after you've made progress -- so hopefully if you find a solution to the consitpation or reflux things will go back to the way they were!

ETA: Sorry - I just re-read your post -- and I do think that there is somthing up with Amelia -- your right that doesn't sound normal -- I really hope you figure out what bothering her (we had a long streach of changing formula's because of conspitation which made my boys miserable - so I can simpathize!)

 

i just read somewhere that adding rice (which AR has rice) Can keep them from sleeping thru the nite. Also my DS was very constipated when we started addinf rice.. He didnt Bm for about 4 days.. After that its was normal.. (once a day)

 

I use 1/2 oz prune juice every other bottle and have since day one. I have one on Alimentium which can make a baby very constipated. She also has reflux, after she eats and burps she MUST sit in her bounct seat with the vibrations on for about 15-20 minutes and she sleep great! My girls are 5 months old and have just now started sleeping thru the night. They flipped around a lot, give them a little time. :hug99:

 

Hi there,

As everyone else has mentioned, I would definitely check out the reflux issue - one of mine has to take Omeprazole twice a day for it. We also have to use thickened formula so that it stays down better. Thickening increases the constipation problem though, so we used Coloxyl when it was really bad, but now we just give him brown sugar water and it works a treat (1 teaspoon for each 60ml of water). I prefer the sugar as it doesn't contain any preservatives and isn't overly processed.

sounds like everyone else uses pear juice, so I guess if that works for you, go for that...

 

QUOTE(Tammy Fine @ Jan 2 2008, 10:46 AM) [snapback]554406[/snapback]
Early on mine had some constipation issues. The doctor had us put 1 oz. of pear juice in each bottle. They did not notice it was there and it REALLY worked. If you make a 4oz. bottle, try 1 oz. of juice and 3 of water. Then add 2 scoops of powder like always.

We also did some baby massage to help them out and I think it helped some!

It does sound an awful lot like reflux to me. I am still battling it to this day. Get her checked because if it is reflux, meds WILL help!

I ahve great sleepers even with the nasty reflux, so get some meds and you might get your great sleepers back.



It worked! Yesterday I took your advice and for the next 2 feedings I snuck in 1 ounce of pear juice. (the pedi says to give them 2 ounces/day).......well both babies had 2 blow out diapers each!!! (sorry if that's tmi!) I think they were both very uncomfortable and "clogged up"!!! Lily slept her 7 hours again last night as usual, but Amelia slept 8!!! I think that's what it was, the constipation was making them uncomfortable, I'm going to keep the pear juice going again today and then maybe cut back to 1 ounce/day. Thank you so much for your advice!! I don't know why I didn't think of mixing it in their bottles, I guess because I thought it would change the taste of the bottle, the idea of milk mixed with pear juice is so gross to me, but I guess they can't taste it!

-aimee