SOMEONE PLEASE HELP

Hi everyone my name is Sian, I'm a newey to this website. I have a 10 week old baby girl named Ava, she's my first and is absolutely adorable, being her mum is sooooo rewarding but I'm at my wits end and hoping someone can help me.
I've been reading everyone's posts on the message board and it seems like there are alot of you out there with problems but it seems like Ava has a mixture of all of them.
Firstly it's her sleeping. Generally she goes to bed for the evening at around 7.30pm and wakes every 3 hours for a feed but quite ofen wakes up crying every hour and a half and needs to be resetttled by either being rolled along the wooden floor in her basinette or being brought into bed with me. She wakes around 6am and then throughtout the day refuses to sleep. Like many of you if she does go down it's only for a cat nap for 10-15mins which means getting anything done is a nightmare. I've watched her sleeping and I think half her problem is she wakes herself up by fidgeting so much, she just won't keep still. I've tried wrapping her but she hates having her arms restricted. If i'm lucky putting her in the car or pram often puts her to sleep but the minute we walk back through the doors she's awake again, which doesn't help me get anything done or get any rest during the day.
From the day I brought her home she was always really good at being put down of the evening and falling to sleep on her own, however as of last Friday when 5pm comes she's starts screaming uncontrollably, nothing I do seems to settle her. Then eventually after a heartbreaking hour or so of crying she falls asleep. I have been really quite proud of myself for sticking with the breastfeeding but anyone I tell about my sleepless nights says I'm mad for breastfeeding and I should put her on the bottle as the formula is much more filling and babies tend to sleep for longer intervals. I really enjoy feeding her myself and hope that her sleeping pattern improves so I can continue to do so. I was fully aware that babies wake through the night but I thought as she gradually got older the length of her sleep times would get better not worse.
Secondly it's the vomiting. I've honestly never seen a baby of her age bring up such huge amounts of vomit. I often wake in the night to hear her make loud gulping sounds and find her covered in vomit by morning. I've visited her GP 3 times, she's been diagnosed with reflux but the doc won't prescribe her anything because she's not loosing weight (YET) I've tried some over the counter medication such as Gavisgon and Zantac but this hasn't helped her at all. Somedays I bath her and while dressing her she projectile vomits all over herself which sees me putting her back in the bath. It breaks my heart to hear her gagging and then finding her in pools of vomit. I've tried propping up her mattress and keeping her upright after feeding but 3 hours can go by after a feed and she still manages to vomit. I pray everyday for sunshine just so all the washing gets done.
If anyone out there has any advice for me regarding the sleeping or the reflux i would greatly appreciate your ideas. I have four friends who all had babies around the same time as I had Ava and I'm sick of hearing about their babies who sleep right through and wake only for one feed. It would be nice to hear from someone whose going through the same thing. I'm starting to feel 65 not 25!!!!

Hi Sian,

You really sound like you are speaking for me, except for the reflux. I soooo know how you feel about the breastfeeding thing, i am trying hard too, but am starting to wonder.

Is there a baby health clinic you can go to?? They are an enormous help to my family! In fact i went there to day, and here was some of the advice i was given. Wrap baby, very tightly, yes most don't like it, but most don't like going to sleep either. I am a big believer in wrapping, both my children have never liked been wrapped, but won't sleep otherwise, too much fidgeting.

Put baby down awake and go in and resettle as necessary! Avoid picking them up, try and pat! Also i cannot handle a screaming baby, so i can only let him grizzle before i go in!

In the evening, have a set pattern before bed. For me it will be a feed, bath, small top up, then bed!

Only a few ideas, but there are people out there who can help. Ring your hospitals Maternity unit for numbers, if you don't have any.

Don't think you are failing either by asking for help! My children wouldn't have survived ME, if it wasn't for our Area Health Service!

Best of luck and let us know how things are going!!
Don't forget me next time your little girl is crying and not sleeping, my sons probably doing the same!

Tepe :~

Hi Sian,

my littleboy is 9wks and has reflux also.. i agree with trying a health clinic seeing someone deifferent and they might prescibe the drug for you.. my doc gave me the prescription just in case but as i had alot of trouble brest feeding i had to put my little one on the bottle as wasn't producing enough.. as soon as in went on s26ar specially formulated for reflux babies, he has been a totally different baby.. sleeps thru the nite, and alot during the day, doesn't vomit hardly anymore maybe the occasional spew and is much happy.. is smiling all the time.. other than that i dont know what else to try.. have you tried sleeping bub on there belly.. my boy will only sleep on his belly.. hope all goes well and look forward to hearing how you go..

Hi Sian, me too a new mum with 9 wks baby jane. Honestly, good to know that I'm not alone. With the sleepless night and the reflux, all true and sounds rite to me. I find this helpful, you might try this.

After breastfeeding (esp at nite), try to burp her. If she doesn't burp, try again when she wiggles between half to 1 1/2 hr later. Usually, when my bub wiggles really hard, it means she has lots of winds inside and feel uncomfortable. Also, i found it easier to burp my bub when she wiggles a lot. Usually, after a big burp, she'll settle down, and back to sleep straight away. And in the morning, no mess anymore. It's bit hard for the first few nites, it means you don't go to bed straight after every feed. But after a while, you'll get used to it and wake every half or one hr after every feed to burp her. It also means she sleeps longer.
I think one of the nurse told me, when baby vomit means she might have too much milk.

For the cry uncontrollably, I rang the Tresillian Family Care centre in NSW, they are really helpful and it's 24 hr hotline. They told me to wrap my bub hold her up chest to chest and pat her and walking around, bouncing slightly. Better if you have aspring bed. You can sit down and do the bouncing. Sounds crazy, but it does work for me.

I bathe my bub just before feeding her, so that her tummy isn't very full. Or do it at least one or two hrs after breastfeeding to make sure all the milk in her tummy.

Also, sometimes my bub cries when she needs to poo. She makes funny faces when she does this.

I also tell my baby every night that she is a good girl and gives mummy enough sleep during the night . Anyway, that's my baby though. Hope that works for you too. Good luck

Mel/Kenzie & atid thanks alot for your input, it's really great to talk to you guys after feeling really alone. It's just really upsetting for me to watch her cry and vomit all the time. Ava has never been a good sleeper and 3 hours is the most I've ever got out of her. When I first brought her home she was a really placid baby and would lay in her basinette quite happily entertaining herself for up to an hour b4 she fell asleep on her own, nowadays my husband and I have to take it in turns to eat dinner etc as we are unable to put her down. I dread her bedtime because I know we are going to have a screaming session which really upsets me and I nearly end up crying with her.
I took Ava to see the Chiro and he confirmed that her back and neck were out of place and tells me that after 3 or so vists 90% of babies get better....fingers crossed.
Oh I forgot to ask in my first post if anyone had any quick cures for the hiccups. Ava gets them all the time and can't seem to get rid of them for ages which in turn really frustrates her and eventually turns into one of her screaming sessions????
Would love to know of any home remedies.

Thanks heaps xx

I find a quick top up from the breast cures the hiccups in my little girl. Good luck!

Thanks alot kj i'm sure she'd love that cure smile

yeah - I found that with Hannah too - definitely the ol' top-up!

Just on the breastfeeding. Lots of people say that formula helps them to sleep better. I'm going to tell you that if it works for you then that's great - but it didn't work for me and actually doesn't work for a lot of people. Formula does fill them up a bit more - but they will still wake and you will still have the problems with reflux and so on. If you want to continue breastfeeding then don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Only put them on formula if it is YOUR decision or if you are advised by a medical practitioner.

I can't advise you on the whole reflux thing because I was lucky and hannah isn't like that. However - I've posted the method I've used for sleep here: (about halfway down) http://huggies.kcaforums.com/ShowPost.aspx?Post...

I have been using this method since hannah was 7 weeks old

Even though my son is only 4 weeks old I found that he wasn't sleeping and was always attached to the breast or screaming. I tried the australian breastfeeding assoc, and my early childhood nurse and they told me to just keep doing what I was doing. I was going insane. Not only did I have a screaming baby but I also have 3 girls (8yo twins, 5yo). They would take advantage of what was happening and missbehave. In the end I gave in and put him onto formula and it was the best thing I did. Now I get housework done and he is much more settled. I am getting more sleep and am able to spend time with the girls and my partner. I know this may not work for you but it is just a suggestion. You could try supplament feeding to see how she goes. Good luck.

Hi everyone

Well i'd like to thankyou all for your advice. After 5 visits to the chiro i now have a totally different baby. The most sleep at one time I ever got out of Ava was 3 hours, can you believe that she is now sleeping 7.5 hours thru the night. I know the thought of sending your lil baby to the chiro is quite scary but the spinal adjustments are really gentle. Ava's reflux has settled down 90%, she is hardly vomitting at all and she is so much happier in herself. I wouldn't hesitate in recommending a visit to the chiro for any baby suffering reflux or experiencing sleep problems.
Having Ava is now a joy instead of a stress.

Hi Sian
I just joined this site as I am too a new mother that feels very old for her age smile
I've just read through all the advice you were given and was thankful that you responded with a positive result - this gives me hope.
I may just go to a chiro now as I too have tried a few medications for collick/reflux (they are not sure?) and really nothing seems to help.
Did you look for a chiro that specifically had experience with babies?
And one more thing - did you stick with the breastfeeding? So many mother's tell me to switch to formula but I really love breastfeeding and dont' want to do this unless it is my final option.

Hi Sian,

Even though I have not had the problem of Reflux with my 6 wk old daughter (what a relief) I do have a close friend who had the exact same problem. The Doctor told her that her baby had reflux, when infact she was lactose intolerant. They found this out quite by accident when her partner brought home soy formula instead of normal formula. She was feeding from both breast and bottle. She noticed immediate results when the baby had the soy formula.