I am very excited to be the first poster on this forum. Thanks Roni for setting it up!!
So, how long does it take for your baby to settle for the night?? I am just curious as the boys will often take up to 40 minutes to settle- sometimes longer. Is this normal??? Usually Matthew cries because he has vomitted (which is at least an hour if not more after his feed). I think Stephen just enjoys crying!!! :( Do refluxers take longer than other babies to settle?? The boys are now 11 weeks old. Since weaning Stephen out of going to bed in his carseat, it has becomw quite a stressful event- settling for the night that is.

I am no help Shae-Lynne wouldn't wake up! All she wanted to do was sleep and Roni had to learn every trick in the book to keep her awake! Guess that justs shows how every child is different.

I had heard before if you try to make it routine, like the same time every night that might help.

BUT, I do have a questions, does Zantac tend to make them hyper?

Thanks
Jean

What happened Mom, weren't you signed in?

Shae's over sleepiness was really only in the beginning weeks, after about a month she started having more normal sleep/wake patterns. She was always very much out of the norm in terms of her sleeping though.

She usually seemed to do better at night for some reason and sleeping wasn't a real big problem, until she got to be 6 or 7 months old and begin getting worse...that's when the real sleep problems started. But even then, I would put her in her crib and leave, within minutes she'd be asleep. It would be the staying asleep that was the problem, because she'd wake frequently crying, gagging, puking, etc.

As she got older, the putting her bed began taking longer to get her settled though and now it can take up to 45 minutes for her to fall asleep.

I know with Hobbes that he never settled unless I was holding him. He would never go into his crib. He always sleep with me and still does. :oops: Where Zoee is diferent, she could be crying up a storm and then bang there would be nothing and she is a sleep. She likes her music. When she was our little guys old, she liked her head rubbed and her classic lubbaby music. She doesn't like to sleep on anyone and likes her room. Now if I could just keep her a seep all night, it would be great.

Have you tried music,or massages or even rubbing their backs (guess it would be hard with two, Sorry)

I am probably not helping! :oops: Sorry!

Shannon

when Eli was a baby he was very hard to settle because as soon as he would settle the reflux would make him uncomfortable or he would start vomiting. It did get better though. We would be up and down all night the first what 10 months I am thinking and thereafter on bad days same thing. That is why I think Eli is so easy to put to sleep.. LOL, because he just lays there waiting for it to happen and entertains himself because he is so used to it and I dont help him anymore, he just hangs out in his crib and chats with himself.

When Evan was little, it was impossible to wake him at night for feedings. I remember doing everything possible, including baby sit-ups, to try to wake him, and he wouldn't sleep feed either! Somewhere between 6 and 8 months he started to need to be rocked for litterally hours to get him to sleep. It would be 11 p.m. or later, some nights. It was just impossible for him to follow any routines like the ones we had used for our first son. It wasn't until Evan was 2 1/2 years old that we were able to start lying him in his bed to fall asleep, usually with my hubby kneeling on the floor with his head beside Evan's head on the pillow, and we're still doing that most nights.

Sarah, you asked if 40 mins. is normal for the twins to fall asleep. That's really hard to answer. It sounds really good compared to Evan when he was an infant, but compared to Brandon (my non-refluxer) that's a long time.

Thanks ladies for all your replies. I guess ther is no "normal" when it comes to any baby. I don't have problems during the night now (thank goodness) as they always settle well after their 10pm and 2am feeds...it's just that early evening going to be (7pm). You're right SHannon..it's hard to rub 2 backs at once!! :lol: :lol: I just go between their cots (they are in the same room). And that was another question I had...do any of your children share a room?? And do they keep each other awake??

do any of your children share a room?? And do they keep each other awake??
Nope! They have their own rooms. There's no way that Evan could sleep with someone else in his room. The reflux has made him a lighter sleeper.

:lol: My sister and I shared a room and of course we'd talk, and my mom would hear the quietest whispers! Not that you have to worry about that for awhile, Sarah!

We are guilty of continuing to rock Daniel to sleep because that's when he's mostly likely to drink anything. Plus when he really gets crying we hear him swallowing down food! But most nights he drops right off.

Catherine is asleep when I put her in her crib. Yes, I know that's a bad thing and she won't learn to put herself to sleep that way (so the "experts" say), but you know what? I like to hold her. I like to rock her and feed her to sleep. I like to hold her upright long enough to reduce the chance of puking. Besides, if she's asleep when I put her in her crib, she's less likely to fidget and roll down the steep incline her mattress is on.

Additionally, she still eats every hour or two all night long so she's back asleep nearly as soon as she wakes up! The one-ounce wonder!

I had to convert half of my garage into a 4th bedroom. because my then 5 and 7 year old partied all night every night, They were having way to much fun!!!

Lesley,

There's absolutely nothing wrong with rocking a little baby to sleep. I also believe that children with reflux are in so much pain that if it comforts them to have that snuggle that helps them to fall asleep, then so be it. When it comes to children with reflux, you just can't follow the normal rules. :) She will learn to fall asleep on her own later, but for now, enjoy those cuddles. I'm really glad that you've chosen not to listen to the so-called "experts". I doubt that most of them have ever had children, let alone children with reflux.

Ditto Janette, and how many teenagers do you know who still needed to be rocked? I wish I could still rock my boys. I say rock them while you can, those experts are probably the ones who tell parents to let them cry it out too, which I am not one for. Especially when reflux is involved, the need someone there telling them its OK and its going to get better:D

those experts are probably the ones who tell parents to let them cry it out too, which I am not one for. Especially when reflux is involved, the need someone there telling them its OK and its going to get better:D
Exactly! If I had let Evan cry himself to sleep, he could easily have choked himself to death. He would have also been covered in vomit and in need of a bath. Plus the bed would have been drenched.

Janette, I actually did do that to poor Eli a few times, and it didn't take long :cry:

Janette, I actually did do that to poor Eli a few times, and it didn't take long :cry:
I know...It's like we have to try the things that have worked for others or something. Never again...! :?

I tried the crying it out one night and never again... I reckon the distress it caused meant it took longer to get them to sleep than it would have if I had of just comforted them to sleep.
I feel strongly that we should have the boys in the same room as they are twins and used to having each other there. It is truly amazing that if I take one boy out of the room the other will wake up not long after (even if he is in a deep sleep). We are not co-bedding the 2- as we have apnea monitors on both boys and with Matthew's vomtting I don't think it would work too good anyway!!! I have wondered if they would sleep better in seperate rooms (especially if Matthew needs attention/ bed change due to the puke as Stephen inevitably wakes up) but I'm too scared to try.

I have wondered if they would sleep better in seperate rooms (especially if Matthew needs attention/ bed change due to the puke as Stephen inevitably wakes up) but I'm too scared to try.

Try it for a couple of days - long enough for them to get used to a difference - and see what happens. You're not "locking" yourself into anything and can always put them back in the same room if separating them makes more work for you instead of less.

My two share a room right now till Hobbes is at least in school. I am only doing that because when we buy the house last year, I was expecting Zoee but we didn't know that she was agirl. So that is why they are sharing till we made athree bedroom down stair in the basement. Zoee does wake Hobbes . But it is cute because he will just goGRRR and put the blanket over his head. I laugh when i saw that. I am in the same room as well because I sleep with Hobbes when he was little and now he can't sleep with Mommy near by. Zoee is in her crib at least and she goes to bed and can put her self to sleep.

Shannon

When Eric was really young, and unmedicated it took a good 2 to 3 hours after eating before he would settle in for the night. Well, 4 hours... eat... 4 more. Then the marathon began all over again.

Once we started his meds it slowly cut down. Now he settles right in, even right after a bottle.

Wow! It sounds like those meds. are really working for him, Minnie!

Sara and Sadie both rock to sleep.We all enjoy it. Then Sadie goes to her crib at the foot of our bed and Sara has recently gone from our bed to a pallet beside it. Both are usually in our bed by morning. They share a room, but nobody sleeps in it so I guess that doesn't matter does it:lol:

I've always broken every sleep rule there is, IMO, the only expert on my kids is me:)

I miss rocking my little boys. Now they go to their room, often without even kissing me goodnight.:(

I tried letting Nathan cry himself to sleep once - NEVER again. I went in after ten minutes of crying, he was covered in tears and shaking, which made me break down in tears. I just can't do that to him. So now it does take him about 5 - 20 minutes of crying to get to sleep, but it is with me holding him and rocking him. I wonder why he gets so upset the second he senses it is naptime (even though he is EXHAUSTED and would cry if I kept him up), but I don't think it is due to pain. Does anyone out there have a problem with there little one always wanting to sleep? Nathan will wake up from a two hour nap, stay awake for about 10 minutes, and then start to really fuss and cry. I put pacifier in, and he instantly closes eyes and seems relieved to rest again in my arms. I think most 4 mos old can stay awake a couple hours. I am thinking because he is getting limited calories, maybe it is his body's way to conserve??? Anyone have experience with this?

He may well be exhausted, or something is making him feel sick or in pain, which would make them groggy.

Evan was a constant sleeper in the early months. We actually had to do baby sit ups with him and spin around with him to wake him. I think he was making up for the rest of his life, when he wasn't going to sleep so much. Not to scare you, but there were many nights later on when we only got 2 to 3 hours of sleep per night, plus he outgrew him morning nap between 6 and 8 months, and his afternoon nap by 19 months. He never really did take to the soother, and there was no way we could let him cry himself to sleep. He'd just volatiley vomit all over the place. In Evan's case, I'm pretty sure that the constantly want to sleep was because he wasn't getting enough calories due to the reflux. Once we were able to get more food in (and keep it down), he didn't need as much sleep.