It sounds as if everyone had a rough night last night!

Last night was esp. bad for us--we tossed our whole "Teaching Bethany to get Herself to Sleep on her Own" out the window!
On top of everything else, she has a runny nose/cough, is teething and has developed some sort of intestinal bug (read: lots and lots of diarrhea. Great...I have wanted this kid to have regular BMs for so long; however, this was not what I expected!)

DH and I got her to bed around 8pm (after a very cranky, napless day). Between 8 and 11, she was up about 6 times. Sometimes we were able to soothe her, sometimes not. We crashed ourselves after the 11pm wakeup and everyone slept peacefully until about 3:00am (a record for us!!!). From 3 - 7am, she was up constantly screaming, arching her back, biting and kicking. She was gassy, drooling and inconsolable. Today she is cranky and exhausted (just like mommy and daddy!)--she won't go to sleep and she's throwing fits right and left.

What do you do when your kid has a triple whammy on top of the GERD? How on earth am I supposed to address teething, diarrhea/fever, runny nose, cough and acid reflux? I don't want to overmedicate her, but she needs something to help her sleep! I'd like to try a homeopathic remedy--I have Hyland's teething tablets and Calms Forte for Kids in addition to the arsenal of OTC and prescription drugs that every parent has.

Any advice?

Hi Mary,
I am sorry that you had such a rough night!!! We are in the exact same spot as far as GERD and sick and teething, etc. How about good ol' Tylenol or Motrin before bed? The Motrin is nice since it will last 6-8 hrs. Hang in there! Hopefully once the teeth pop through and she is feeling better, you will just have the GERD to deal with and she will get a little more sleep.

Oh, quick note... Your signature shows that you will have a newborn in just a few weeks (and I am SURE you don't want that :D ). She was born November '04, right? :lol:

What do you do when your kid has a triple whammy on top of the GERD? How on earth am I supposed to address teething, diarrhea/fever, runny nose, cough and acid reflux? I don't want to overmedicate her, but she needs something to help her sleep!
I hear you on that one! Zac has to take a crapload of meds and I hate it. The prevacid, the motrin, benedryl for this congestion he's got going on, lotion for eczema on cheeks. I dont remember the last time I put him to bed and not gave him meds before hand. I think he was like 3 wks old! :?

:oops: Thanks, Sheila, for catching the signature goof...Bethany was born in '04...and there's NO WAY we're having another one in the near future!! :lol:

As for the meds...it makes me feel better to know I'm not the only one doing the Tylenol/Prevacid/Benadryl/Teething Tablets dance at night. I have given Motrin; however, it seems to wear off just as quickly as the Tylenol. :x

Goodnight! I'll cross my fingers that all our kids sleep soundly...

Just thought I'd throw this out there to you guys that Benedryl can cause some sleep problems, too if given at night. Kaylin was on Benedryl for chronic congestion when she was a baby and we had subsequent sleepless nights and it turned out it was the benedryl. We ended up using Dimetapp for her congestion, which she grew out of at one...thank goodness. Her nasal passages were just immature. Anyway, Benedryl still keeps her up at night and makes her jumpy during the day, so I won't give it to her...still Dimetapp for every cold she has.

But, on the flip-side, a lot of babies sleep like logs while on Benedryl. My nephew is one of those kids who did really well on Benedryl when he was a baby.

I'm probably absolutely no help at all...sorry.

You know, you may be on to something...Benadryl only seems to really knock Bethany out the first day of a bad cold (when she's already exhausted and sick); otherwise, except for helping to dry out her (constant) runny nose, it doesn't seem to help her sleep.

I do have Dimetapp here--maybe we'll give that a go tonight.

BTW--She slept in 2-3 hour clips last night!! Down at 8pm, up again at 10:30, 1:00, 3:00, 5:45 then awake for the day at 7am. We are beginning to see improvement!

2-3 hours! That's great compared to where you were. I'm glad you're making progress!

Definitely something in the air... We don't sleep much either, but it sound like you are getting FAR LESS than we are! Hang in there, it'll get better!

Just wanted to throw in a crazy story. Very off topic. My MIL to-be told me to give Noah benedryl in a bottle every night to get him to sleep through the night starting at birth. She says she did it w/ both her boys. Can we say CRAZY!?!?!?!? There is absolutely nothing wrong w/ meds when they're needed, but I consider that "drugging" the baby. What's wierd is, she's a highly educated woman but she does have some of the DUMBEST answers to my questions.

:shock: :shock: :shock:

BTW--She slept in 2-3 hour clips last night!! Down at 8pm, up again at 10:30, 1:00, 3:00, 5:45 then awake for the day at 7am. We are beginning to see improvement!

Oh my goodness, Mary. I feel SO SELFISH when I complain of him waking even once at night. I feel for you! :? :oops: :shock:
Hopefully things keep on improving for yoU!

And the benedryl issue...i haven't really noticed much sleep issues w/it...if anything it works to my advantage but havent really noticed a bid diff when I use it. And about the mom putting benedryl in bottle...i've THOUGHT about that, but would never actually DO it! :shock: WOAH...yes crazy![/quote]

Just wanted to throw in a crazy story. Very off topic. My MIL to-be told me to give Noah benedryl in a bottle every night to get him to sleep through the night starting at birth. She says she did it w/ both her boys. Can we say CRAZY!?!?!?!? There is absolutely nothing wrong w/ meds when they're needed, but I consider that "drugging" the baby. What's wierd is, she's a highly educated woman but she does have some of the DUMBEST answers to my questions.

:shock:

Ummmm ... I've thought long and hard about giving Catherine a dose of Benadryl for several nights in a row just so her body would get used to sleeping. I've never done it (well, just once) but I hold on to the idea in the back of my mind.