I seriously feel like a brand new mom again even though I have done this once before! Our DD who's 5 weeks is not napping well during the day suddenly. She naps a little better if I have her in the living room with us (my son and I) where all the noise is or if shes in my arms. As soon as I put her in the room in her bassinet swaddled with sound machine and shusher she wakes up exactly 20 mins later every. single. time. It's frustrating because when we go to bed she does the same thing and I am ready to sleep before she wakes me for a night feed! Is this a normal 5 week old thing? Sometimes she just seems restless even at night. We ended up switching her formula to sensitive and using probiotic colic drops per the pediatricians advice and that helped with a lot of the gas and fussiness but man I would like to put her down or have her nap in her room so I can get things done! I am just forgetting that this is how it is at this stage?
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I can’t offer a whole lot of advice, just commiseration. My LO was the exact same way. My first would sleep until he got hungry so this was a whole new experience for me. I ended up giving up dairy and soy on my pedi’s recommendation. Things seemed to slowly improve after that. LO is 16 weeks now and is sleeping much much better and is much more content. I’m still not sure if she’s dairy/soy intolerant or it was just a phase. But now I’m too afraid to try eating it again.
How are her poops?
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@BadgerMom: Poops are good but definitely have changed probably with the formula switch and the probiotic drops (they are the soothe drops from Gerber.) I would say the poop is much pastier now then runnier like it was before. Not seedy anymore. She goes every other day really.
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I’d think since she’s on milk based formula and her poops aren’t mucousy or bloody then it probably isn’t an intolerance. Besides the crap naps, would you describe her as content? My friend had good luck with Gerber Soothe formula (sensitive formula that has the probiotic drops already in it), but I don’t know if you’d want to switch formulas again just for 20 minute sleeps... According to the sleep consultant I follow, 20 minute sleeps prior to 4 months is completely normal (although terribly frustrating!).
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My son would never sleep for more than 20 minutes, max. Turned out he had reflux. Once we started the reflux medicine, it got noticeably, noticeably better. It could be silent reflux, where they spit up and swallow it back (which hurts double because it goes up and comes down). Check for stinky breath, swallowing when not eating, fussiness when laid flat, etc.
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@periwinklebee: YES to all of those things. Pediatrician didn't want to put her on the reflux meds just yet when we last visited a week ago and I was surprised by that since she has all the signs.
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Could you put a bassinet in the main area of the house for naps if she sleeps better? With DS2 he napped in a bassinet in the living room until about 4 months. Until about 3 months I just let him sleep there in the evening too until I went to bed.
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I have 2 babies and I've learned honestly it's not worth it to stress about naps and sleep before 12 weeks. Every day is different, they're charging so quickly.. 20 minutes is a typical newborn sleep cycle. Both my sons were restless sleepers. And As soon as they get into a bad pattern it will change. I hope this helps, I need to remind myself of it now with my 5 month old. At like 4 months his naps got predictable but it was absolutely pointless to try and control his pattern before then.
I also have never met a baby who liked their bassinet. The only way I got my son to nap was on his tummy in his crib. A big no-no but he's a great napper. -
Mine would only nap on someone at that age. I think it’s normal? For restless nights, I agree could be reflux. We had to hold her upright for a long time after eating and we tried probiotics. Never did meds since she was gaining.
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@paigeface: My ped was the same way and I understand they don't want to jump the gun. But once she did diagnose reflux she very heavily reassured me that infant reflux medicine has been very extensively tested, is super safe, and has few side effects (we didn't notice anything, and my son has subsequently turned out to be severely allergic to so many things...)
Other bees encouraged me when I went back to the doctor to really reiterate the reflux symptoms - swallowing went not eating, fussy after feeds, hates lying flat, stinky breath, etc. And it worked.
I think it's hard to understand without having been there just how unsustainable it is to have an infant who won't sleep for more than twenty minutes at a time. We are not meant to function this way! So if it continues and the symptoms seem consistent with reflux, I wouldn't hesitate to go back to the doctor and be very assertive about the symptoms and your concerns...
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@periwinklebee: Thank you all! This was really reassuring. Our pediatrician called me directly (we didn't see my personal one last appointment since she was out but she read all the notes and thinks she too has GERD/reflux) about an hour ago and said that I should give the formula change one more week before she prescribes the baby zantac. If its not better she is going to call it in for me without needing to be seen again. @JJ2626: Did the reflux get better overtime without the meds? Our pediatrician on the phone just said that shes gaining very well.
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@paigeface: I'm so glad the pediatrician was helpful!
With silent reflux they usually still gain normally - since they are swallowing the reflux and hence not losing calories. My son initially didn't gain well, but he also had other issues (a tongue tie, which can also increase the odds of reflux). Most babies will outgrow reflux around the time they start sitting independently, because sitting also strengthens all the muscles that keep food down, and solids also help with reflux. Some will improve sooner, some can take a bit longer. My son outgrew right around the time he started sitting.
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@periwinklebee: Ah! I think we are going to end up needing the baby zantac anyway but I'll give it this week she wants to see. She stated too what you did and didn't want to jump the gun on prescribing.
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@paigeface: it did get better by maybe 10 weeks? In terms of the fussiness and sleeping at least. She still spit up for many more months , but happily and became a really great sleeper once we sleep trained her at 4.5 months.
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I ended up calling the pediatrician back this afternoon to tell her that the night was rough and she was truly acting like the reflux was painful. Only happy tummy to tummy last night and could not get comfortable. I felt terrible for her. My mom is watching her today while I am at work and she said she fussed through two of her bottles today like she was also uncomfortable. Hoping she prescribes the baby zantac today and we can start it this weekend to see if it helps!
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