I am very new to this site, but I desperately need help. My almost 9 month old, used to be a great sleeper, despite her GERD. In the past few months, she is now crying more and more from gas pains, eating less during the day, but snacking at night. She is taking Prevacid (used to take both Prevacid and Zantac, but found no difference with the Prevacid alone). What's worse is that I nurse her to sleep (the only way I could get her to eat), and now this is the only way she knows how to sleep. When she wakes up (usually 20 minutes to 2-3 hours), she needs to be nursed back to sleep, otherwise she will literally cry for hours. This causes gas pains, which wakes her up again, and then she needs to nurse again. This cycle repeats itself all night.
My daughter has become so chronically sleep-deprived, sleeping 7-8 hours/24 hour period. I have brought this up on several occasions to her doctor, but she only tries to up her meds and doesn't see her lack of sleep as a huge problem. I just don't know what else to do to get her to sleep better. We even hired a "sleep doula" to help sleep train her without nursing to sleep, which only made things worse.
I remember how sleepless nights were! I'm sorry your family is going thru this. What dose of prevacid is she on now? Did they increase it? Is she teething? I know teething always caused a huge flare up in my son's reflux.
__________________
Kerri
Wife to Ryan
Mom to four beautiful boys: Ryan 11-28-93 ~Jack 3-12-05 gerd grad, hiatal hernia-just like daddy~Sammy aka Bamm Bamm 5-19-06 GERD, Gastroparesis corrected by a Pyloraplasty at 8 months, G-tube placed at 5 months with a Fundoplication, immune deficiency~Baby James 1-4-08
Thank you for your reply! She is on 7.5mg Prevacid/day. And, yes, she is teething, but I am so tired from nursing her that I have left her to cry with my husband holding her instead. This can take 3 hours for her to go to/return to sleep. We have given her meds for the teething pain, but she needs to breast to fall asleep and it is killing me, which in turn, is keeping her from getting the sleep she needs.
Hi and welcome to IRD. I remember those sleepless times too. Your dd's dose of prevacid is very very conservative. At that age my ds was on 22.5mg a day and we jumped to 30mg just shortly after. I would most definitely try upping her dose. In the meantime she can also have appx. 3ml's of mylanta cherry supreme at bedtime. That may help her sleep longer. Once you know that it's all under control then you can try some sleep training because while it will initially cause more crying/gas etc. it'll be over in just a few short days.
__________________ Tru, Mommy to Dayton, IVF#2 Miracle
DX: Gastric Arrhythmia from Nerve Abnormality 3/16/09 - Lap Nissen Fundoplication,
Pyloromyotomy, Mic Key Placement Vital Jr boluses every 2 hours during the day 30mg prevacid daily, 17g Miralax daily
100% Vital Jr. fed, but tasting food! I 'm in LOVE with his tubies, and grateful
for his fundo...even if it doesn't always work!
His quality of life is so much better!!
Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another,
"What? You too? I thought I was the only one." -- CS Lewis
Thank you! This has been very helpful. She will be seeing the paed next week so I will bring this up then. Also, she is on such a small dose of prevacid b/c she is a small baby for her age (born 5.4 lbs). It is just a shame that she is so reliant on nursing to sleep only, since this does exacerbate her symptoms tremendously.
Hi and sorry to hear you're going through all this! I agree with Tru, that is a very low dose of Prevacid. My dd has been on 15 mg a day since she was 4 months old, split into AM and PM doses of 7.5 mg. If she's crying for three hours that sounds more like she's in pain than a sleep trainging issue.
My dd also used to be dependant on nursing to sleep and would wake up soon after and have to be nursed to sleep again. To break this habit we used the methods in Health Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth. I HIGHLY recommend this book as can others on this site. But it will only work if your daughter's reflux is not causing her pain so like Tru said, get her dose upped and be sure she's comfy before trying any sleep training.
Good luck! I know it's sooooo stressful but you will get through this.
__________________
Amy
Mom to Katelyn born 9/18/08
Silent reflux, dairy intolerance
Previously on 30 mg Prevacid, now on 20 mg Nexium
Ongoing feeding difficulties but she's come a LONG way
I agree with the others, it sounds like her does of Prevacid is too low. Both of my kids started right out at 15mg. Have you noticed any connection to foods you eat and her night time fussiness? My dd was sensitive to a number of foods when she was nursing and if I ate them, we would have a bad night with lots of gas pain and crying.
__________________
Mom to:
Sebastian Joseph 12/7/2005*Silent Reflux/MSPI
Multiple food allergies/intolerances
Positive skin test for: Chocolate, Peanuts and Oats
Reacts to, but tested negative for: Milk and Soy
(he is fianlly starting to tolerate more foods, but we are taking it slowly!)
Environmental allergys to: Grass, Tree, Weed , & Molds
Low IgG and IgA
Prevacid 30mg a day Benefiber 3-4 teaspoons daily(previously been on Zantac, Reglan, Axid and Mirlax)
Emma Catharine 3/24/07*
Silent Reflux outgrown at 15 months but back again at 3 years
15 mg Prevacid OTC
MSPI, Outgrown at 1 year!!
Allergic to dogs, dust and mold
low IgA and IgG
Ella had some very similar sleep patterns until recently. 3 things have helped us: 30 mg of Prevacid, a food sensitivity test, and The No Cry Sleep Solution by Eliz. Pantley. First came the med increase. Then we had her tested with a naturopath for food sensitivies. We now avoid those foods that are problematic, and just as importantly, I avoid those foods as she is breastfed. This has made a HUGE difference. We share the same diet and she no longer wakes frequently at night...she is even comforted w/o the breast when she does wake. She used to wake every couple of hours and be inconsolable unless she was breastfed back to sleep. That doesn't happen anymore ....unless I eat something that I shouldn't. Last, we tried the book. This has helped us get her to sleep now that her meds and diet have eased the reflux symptoms. From 6-11 months of age, sleep at night was a disaster! We now have some success...she wakes once during 11-12 hours at night and she naps for 2 + hours during the day. I feel for you b/c it was at that point of 9 months that I started trying new things to get my DD (and me) some desperately needed sleep. Perhaps, one or all of my 3 tips may help. Either way, I wish you some sleep soon!!!
Sorry, I didn't get a chance to finish my response-- I did, in fact, begin re-introducing small amounts of dairy into my diet a few weeks ago, but didn't think it made a huge difference in her crying at the the time. Also, I briefly perused the Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child book, but thought there was too much emphasis on crying it out. Is this how you broke the nurse to sleep habit? Was there a lot of crying involved for you?
I remember how sleepless nights were! I'm sorry your family is going thru this. What dose of prevacid is she on now? Did they increase it? Is she teething? I know teething always caused a huge flare up in my son's reflux.
Kerri
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