May 28, 2009

Owen, please stop crying

Owen has become a pretty fussy baby boy. He thinks he had to be held in order to sleep. I am going crazy and my back has had enough. Does anyone have any suggestions for me to help this little one?
So far he ~
~is fussy about being awake for 15 minutes, so I swaddle him up tight and help him back to sleep (no luck)
~he pefers being held to go to sleep (only by his momma)
~I can't tell if it is something I am eating that is making him upset or if it is just lack of sleep that is driving us all insane.
~he will be so completely exhausted by 11 p.m. that he will finally fall asleep and stay that way for about 5 hours until it is time to eat again and then it takes me about another hour to get him back down for bed.
~he spits up quite abit. I am thinking we have some acid reflux issues happening here. We need to check in with our doctor about that.

But other than that, he is adorable and smells so good. I LOVE the smell of babies.

4 comments:

Liz and the girls said...

he could "just" be colic baby. Zoe was. The only thing that would calm her down was the sound of running water. I can't tell you how many times I would sit up against the dishwasher when it was on and hold her most of the time the dishwasher was empty. She spit up too. If we lived close I would take him for a walk so you could sleep.

Brittany said...

Yeah, I've heard that most babies who are classified as colic usually have acid reflux...so you should definitely check that out ESPECIALLY if he spits up a lot. I really would be surprised if he didn't have it. I'm so sorry, that really stinks. I'm glad that he at least goes 5 hours for you. Have you ever read a baby sleep book?? I don't know if it would help, but you could try the things they suggest in those. Babywise and Secrets of the Baby Whisperer are ones I've read. I think Nicole, Rustin's wife has them both...if you want to call her. Hang in there, it won't last forever... I'd watch him for you if I lived up there. :(

Jaclyn said...

Oh Melissa! I know exactly what you're going through because I've done it! I hate to say it, but all those things you listed are all linked to acid reflux. It's not just spitting up! All the fussiness, all the wanting to be held, the crying until 11pm and then passing out for 5 hours... all of it is acid reflux! This is EXACTLY how Bree was. I would bet all my money Owen has reflux too. The good news? It really doesn't last forever. The bad news? It's ridiculously hard. And I hate to say this, but the baby sleep books don't work with a reflux baby because they're crying out of pain, not habit. You can't train him to sleep well and entertain himself until he's no longer in pain. There's lots of things that helped Bree with her reflux:
1. acid reflux medicine-- Don't wait! My doctor was able to prescribe some over the phone and it made an immediate difference to Bree. It's the only thing that got us through her first year.
2. Propping up the head of the crib when they sleep. We stuck a big folded blanket under the mattress in Bree's crib so she slept with her head above her feet.
3. Water. Baths were always a sure fire way to stop the crying for 15 minutes at least.
4. My diet. The best way to do it is to cut out all the problem foods (dairy, tomatoes, nuts, chocolate, califlower, brocolli, onions, caffiend and salsa) for a whole week and then introduce one food back in at a time and see if it bothers Owen. Our big problem food was dairy, which is really common with reflux babies. That's probably a good place to start. Or you can do formula-- they make non-dairy based ones now.

oh my, I have so many other little things we've learned over the past year... I think I'll stop this LOOOONG post and just call you tomorrow. :) Hang in there! We love you and this too shall pass!

Lynnette said...

Oh Melissa - I feel for you. Kaden was just the same. He cried all the time and would never sleep. I tried everything!!!! He has never taken to a pacifier, blanket, sucking his thumb - nothing. About a month ago I finally tried for the hundreth time to sleep train him and it finally worked. So it only took 10 months :) But the colicy crying stopped around four months. I wish I had some good advice. I asked everyone too, but he was just a fussy baby.