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#1
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If only sleep were carrots...
Caterpillar was extremely enthusiastic about carrots. She actually
finished a 2.5 ounce (70ml) jar over 3 days. And after the good carrot experience, she was willing to eat rice cereal over the following 3 days (more rice cereal than I would have given her, by the sound of it, but I wasn't there). She's been hard to put to sleep over the last month or so, and only eating much solids for the last week, so I think her falling asleep problems are unrelated. No matter how boring and unstimulating we make things, she screams for 10-15 minutes at every bedtime unless she nurses to sleep, and she normally refuses to nurse to sleep. Wednesday night, she took a very long, very late nap, and when she woke up (at 9:30 pm!), I whisked her away to the dark bedroom and we lay down and nursed then I pretended to sleep. An hour and a half later, she was still sitting up (for about 5 seconds at a time, then toppling over from exhaustion, then struggling back upright), babbling quietly, and patting me to try and wake me up. Allyson came in and put her to sleep (by holding her firmly and patting her) with only 5 minutes of screaming. (If I try the firm holding and patting, she squirms and thrashes and screams until she's wiggled loose, then goes back to playing.) Normally, once asleep she stays asleep as long as I latch her on fast enough when she's hungry. Last night, she nursed to sleep (no screaming!), but when she ate at 1:30am, she didn't stay asleep. She nursed and pulled off and nursed and pulled off, and when I finally recognized that as meaning she had to burp, howled when I tried to burp her. So we nursed some more until I was sore on both sides and touched out from being mauled by her sharp little nails - so I gave her to Allyson, who was able to get a burp out in 10 seconds. But then she was awake, and her tummy was full so she couldn't nurse back to sleep - so she screamed for 30 minutes. Except she didn't scream for 30 minutes straight - she'd scream for 5 minutes with tears running down her cheeks, then stop and calmly look around at us for a minute, then yell louder and louder with no tears, then stop look back and forth at us for a minute, then cry hysterically until we were worried she was going to make herself sick, then stop and calmly look at us for a minute - repeated in various combinations for half an hour. Finally we put her down on the bed by herself and she calmed down in a few minutes and burped a little more and then wanted to nurse to sleep. (We'd tried gas drops, with no success. She's been burping an unusual amount lately, and gas drops don't seem to help, in that she'll burp a few minutes after having the drops.) The only thing I can think of is that the solids feel different digesting, and when she doesn't have the normal daytime distractions, it makes her a little uncomfortable. She's still having frequent liquid bowel movements, so she's not constipated by the rice. Any suggestions? 30 minutes of rude nursing followed by 30 minutes of screaming in the middle of the night makes for cranky tired mommies, who would gladly sell her to Gypsies as long as the Gypsies didn't want too much money to take her... Phoebe |
#2
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If only sleep were carrots...
Phoebe & Allyson wrote:
The only thing I can think of is that the solids feel different digesting, and when she doesn't have the normal daytime distractions, it makes her a little uncomfortable. She's still having frequent liquid bowel movements, so she's not constipated by the rice. Any suggestions? 30 minutes of rude nursing followed by 30 minutes of screaming in the middle of the night makes for cranky tired mommies, who would gladly sell her to Gypsies as long as the Gypsies didn't want too much money to take her... Phoebe Teething? How many teeth have come in so far? The only reason I suggest this is because DS is the same age, he has sinilar crying jags, and we found the FOUR upper front teeth are coming in. BTW, he won the race with his older sister - he got his two front upper teeth in before her adult teeth came in. Jeanne |
#3
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If only sleep were carrots...
Bruce and Jeanne wrote:
Teething? How many teeth have come in so far? She has no teeth, despite 4 months of gnawing like mad. No teeth apparent under the surface, either. Usually she'll gnaw her fingers at bedtime and fuss, and we'll give her Tylenol, but not in the last week or so. Phoebe |
#4
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If only sleep were carrots...
Phoebe & Allyson wrote:
Caterpillar was extremely enthusiastic about carrots. She actually finished a 2.5 ounce (70ml) jar over 3 days. And after the good carrot experience, she was willing to eat rice cereal over the following 3 days (more rice cereal than I would have given her, by the sound of it, but I wasn't there). She's been hard to put to sleep over the last month or so, and only eating much solids for the last week, so I think her falling asleep problems are unrelated. No matter how boring and unstimulating we make things, she screams for 10-15 minutes at every bedtime unless she nurses to sleep, and she normally refuses to nurse to sleep. Wednesday night, she took a very long, very late nap, and when she woke up (at 9:30 pm!), I whisked her away to the dark bedroom and we lay down and nursed then I pretended to sleep. An hour and a half later, she was still sitting up (for about 5 seconds at a time, then toppling over from exhaustion, then struggling back upright), babbling quietly, and patting me to try and wake me up. Allyson came in and put her to sleep (by holding her firmly and patting her) with only 5 minutes of screaming. (If I try the firm holding and patting, she squirms and thrashes and screams until she's wiggled loose, then goes back to playing.) Normally, once asleep she stays asleep as long as I latch her on fast enough when she's hungry. Last night, she nursed to sleep (no screaming!), but when she ate at 1:30am, she didn't stay asleep. She nursed and pulled off and nursed and pulled off, and when I finally recognized that as meaning she had to burp, howled when I tried to burp her. So we nursed some more until I was sore on both sides and touched out from being mauled by her sharp little nails - so I gave her to Allyson, who was able to get a burp out in 10 seconds. But then she was awake, and her tummy was full so she couldn't nurse back to sleep - so she screamed for 30 minutes. Except she didn't scream for 30 minutes straight - she'd scream for 5 minutes with tears running down her cheeks, then stop and calmly look around at us for a minute, then yell louder and louder with no tears, then stop look back and forth at us for a minute, then cry hysterically until we were worried she was going to make herself sick, then stop and calmly look at us for a minute - repeated in various combinations for half an hour. Finally we put her down on the bed by herself and she calmed down in a few minutes and burped a little more and then wanted to nurse to sleep. (We'd tried gas drops, with no success. She's been burping an unusual amount lately, and gas drops don't seem to help, in that she'll burp a few minutes after having the drops.) The only thing I can think of is that the solids feel different digesting, and when she doesn't have the normal daytime distractions, it makes her a little uncomfortable. She's still having frequent liquid bowel movements, so she's not constipated by the rice. Any suggestions? 30 minutes of rude nursing followed by 30 minutes of screaming in the middle of the night makes for cranky tired mommies, who would gladly sell her to Gypsies as long as the Gypsies didn't want too much money to take her... This is similar to what DS had been doing over the last 6 weeks. It got really bad on Sunday/Monday night with the screaming sessions going for a couple of hours. Took him to the doctor and it turned out that he had an ear infection. Within 12 hours of starting the antibiotics, he is back to happily nursing to sleep and waking up only enough to eat at night and then falling back asleep happily. He had no other symptoms that would point towards an ear infection, but that apparently was the culprit. This may not be your problem, of course, but your story seems similar to mine. Manda |
#5
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If only sleep were carrots...
Phoebe & Allyson wrote:
Any suggestions? 30 minutes of rude nursing followed by 30 minutes of screaming in the middle of the night Hunter only ever acted like that when he had an ear infection. His behavior was strikingly similar to what you describe. He never had temps with ear infections. Only at night. Luke only ever acted like that when he was a newborn and nursed without being hungry. I think it was overeating, or gas. Once I figured it out and let him suck on my finger instead of nursing him he was a happy clam. Again only at night. Could be both. If her ears (or teeth) hurt she may want to nurse for comfort, then can't sleep either because of the pain, or because of the gas/uncomfortablness of overeating. Have you experimented with giving her some pain releiver? If that helps, something is hurting her. -- Nikki Mama to Hunter (4) and Luke (2) |
#6
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If only sleep were carrots...
Nikki wrote:
Have you experimented with giving her some pain releiver? If we give her Tylenol before bed, she sleeps much better. But I hate to give her Tylenol every night for months on end. Our doctor's nurse practitioner said that if she has an ear infection, she's likely to refuse to nurse, rather than nursing more (in response to us bringing her in to have her ears checked when she was acting like she was in pain after getting over the flu - NP said it was just teething). She's definitely a more distracted nurser recently, in that she pops on and off more whenever she nurses, and rarely settles in for a long nursing. But I'd attributed it to a recent increase in burping. Phoebe |
#7
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If only sleep were carrots...
I think that Olivia and your Caterpillar have been conversing in the
middle of the night. Olivia does not want to stay asleep during the night nursings anymore, wakes up screaming in my ear, very burpy and hates to go to bed. When you get it figured out could you throw the solution my way? Jeff (hubby) actually ended up bathing her at 4:30 in the morning the other night as it usually calms her down!!! Tammy momma to madeline (I sleep through the night momma! course... I am 2.5 and that is just taking into account THIS week) and Olivia (I hate sleep, I am never sleeping again) Caterpillar was extremely enthusiastic about carrots. She actually finished a 2.5 ounce (70ml) jar over 3 days. And after the good carrot experience, she was willing to eat rice cereal over the following 3 days (more rice cereal than I would have given her, by the sound of it, but I wasn't there). She's been hard to put to sleep over the last month or so, and only eating much solids for the last week, so I think her falling asleep problems are unrelated. No matter how boring and unstimulating we make things, she screams for 10-15 minutes at every bedtime unless she nurses to sleep, and she normally refuses to nurse to sleep. Wednesday night, she took a very long, very late nap, and when she woke up (at 9:30 pm!), I whisked her away to the dark bedroom and we lay down and nursed then I pretended to sleep. An hour and a half later, she was still sitting up (for about 5 seconds at a time, then toppling over from exhaustion, then struggling back upright), babbling quietly, and patting me to try and wake me up. Allyson came in and put her to sleep (by holding her firmly and patting her) with only 5 minutes of screaming. (If I try the firm holding and patting, she squirms and thrashes and screams until she's wiggled loose, then goes back to playing.) Normally, once asleep she stays asleep as long as I latch her on fast enough when she's hungry. Last night, she nursed to sleep (no screaming!), but when she ate at 1:30am, she didn't stay asleep. She nursed and pulled off and nursed and pulled off, and when I finally recognized that as meaning she had to burp, howled when I tried to burp her. So we nursed some more until I was sore on both sides and touched out from being mauled by her sharp little nails - so I gave her to Allyson, who was able to get a burp out in 10 seconds. But then she was awake, and her tummy was full so she couldn't nurse back to sleep - so she screamed for 30 minutes. Except she didn't scream for 30 minutes straight - she'd scream for 5 minutes with tears running down her cheeks, then stop and calmly look around at us for a minute, then yell louder and louder with no tears, then stop look back and forth at us for a minute, then cry hysterically until we were worried she was going to make herself sick, then stop and calmly look at us for a minute - repeated in various combinations for half an hour. Finally we put her down on the bed by herself and she calmed down in a few minutes and burped a little more and then wanted to nurse to sleep. (We'd tried gas drops, with no success. She's been burping an unusual amount lately, and gas drops don't seem to help, in that she'll burp a few minutes after having the drops.) The only thing I can think of is that the solids feel different digesting, and when she doesn't have the normal daytime distractions, it makes her a little uncomfortable. She's still having frequent liquid bowel movements, so she's not constipated by the rice. Any suggestions? 30 minutes of rude nursing followed by 30 minutes of screaming in the middle of the night makes for cranky tired mommies, who would gladly sell her to Gypsies as long as the Gypsies didn't want too much money to take her... Phoebe |
#8
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If only sleep were carrots...
Phoebe & Allyson wrote in message ...
Any suggestions? 30 minutes of rude nursing followed by 30 minutes of screaming in the middle of the night makes for cranky tired mommies, who would gladly sell her to Gypsies as long as the Gypsies didn't want too much money to take her... Phoebe I don't have good suggestions, but you have my sympathy. We have our own sleep issues here but they are different, plus our DD is younger, so our experience won't be helpful. When DD won't go back to sleep after long nursings at night, I just put her on the mattress next to me and turn over and ignore her. But she doesn't scream - she just flails and grunts and eventually goes to sleep. I have been reading "No Cry Sleep Solutions" and have found it moderately (but not extremely) useful. I bet you are already doing everything she suggests anyway, but you could take a look at it. Are you spending more time away from her during the day? Could it be delayed separation anxiety manifesting itself in odd nighttime behavior? I really don't know, but for y'all's sakes I hope it passes quickly. If you get really desperate, my aunt says back in her day (the 50s), her pediatrician told her to drink some wine before bed to help her baby sleep (she was b'feeding). I haven't gotten that desperate yet but thought I'd pass it along! Rachel & DD, 3 months |
#9
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If only sleep were carrots...
Rachel wrote:
I have been reading "No Cry Sleep Solutions" and have found it moderately (but not extremely) useful. I bet you are already doing everything she suggests anyway, but you could take a look at it. I bet we aren't, since we don't have it yet. I actually added it to my Amazon cart this afternoon, since it's been so highly recommended. Are you spending more time away from her during the day? Not more time away, but I'm usually gone about 10 hours a day, and she just howls when I walk out and clings when I come back. Poor Allyson feels like chopped-liver Mama. Maybe sleeping all night pressed tightly against me isn't enough, and she needs to be awake. If you get really desperate, my aunt says back in her day (the 50s), her pediatrician told her to drink some wine before bed to help her baby sleep (she was b'feeding). I haven't gotten that desperate yet but thought I'd pass it along! Maybe I'll threaten her with that. When our midwife told me I needed to drink some wine so I could get some sleep after ~20 hours of non-progressing labor, I started progressing. I hate to be one of those people who thinks their almost-8 month old is manipulating them, but Caterpillar does seem to be a very stubborn, opinionated, *willful* baby. Since she got those genes from both sides, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. She got up at 8:30 this morning, and has had a total of 1 hour of nap in the 11.5 hours since. Tonight may be interesting. Phoebe -- yahoo address is unread; substitute mailbolt |
#10
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If only sleep were carrots...
In article ,
Phoebe & Allyson wrote: Nikki wrote: Have you experimented with giving her some pain releiver? If we give her Tylenol before bed, she sleeps much better. But I hate to give her Tylenol every night for months on end. Our doctor's nurse practitioner said that if she has an ear infection, she's likely to refuse to nurse, rather than nursing more (in response to us bringing her in to have her ears checked when she was acting like she was in pain after getting over the flu - NP said it was just teething). She's definitely a more distracted nurser recently, in that she pops on and off more whenever she nurses, and rarely settles in for a long nursing. But I'd attributed it to a recent increase in burping. Phoebe Phoebe: It might be worth taking her in for a check since she's doing the pull off and on kind of nursing. My ped just saw my dd for an ear infection. I really complained as she's been sick for AGES and he said it seems to be a pattern lately that he has seen child after child who had the flu and then developed either bronchitis, ear infections or sinus infections. So, phooey to that NP, any time my dd has been sick she demanded MORE and MORE nursing, the difference was whether it was regular nursing or interrupted jerk away a lot and make me sore kind of nursing. I mean, maybe it *is* teething, but what if it's not? I'm not sure which country you're in, but if you're in the US, e-mail me at h h u s v a r at y a h o o d o t c o m (bunged up with spaces so that address doesn't get spammed) as I have a copy of the No Cry Sleep Solution you can have for $1.00 plus shipping. Heather H. |
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