Who else has a grunter?

[Plummeting]

DD is about to drive me MAD with her middle of the night grunting and writhing. I know it's normal for some babies, as they haven't yet coordinated their whole digestive thing, and it's clear that she really needs to poop and just can't, because for the past few nights she's done this for HOURS, then finally pooped in the morning and rested peacefully after that. That's all great....but I'm TIRED. Seriously, it's ridiculously loud and I can't sleep through it. It's why I'm up right now. From what I can tell, this could last for a couple months. How the heck am I going to survive with an infant who keeps me awake from 2 am to 8 am every single night/morning for the next two months? I have another kid to take care of during the day.

[Amandamanda]

YES. ds does this too. and none of my 3 dds did that, so it really freaked me out when he first started. but its basically every night- for most of the night! ive learned to sleep through it, as long as he is fed changed and happy- just noisy.

[Lilcrunchie]

<raises hand>

neither of my other two kids grunted this much. First half of the night is a-OK and 2nd half full of grunting. I change his dipe, offer to nurse, but he just lays there and grunts.

I am not sure if it is him trying to poop though (in our case). He is like my DD was...saves up his poops and then does 1-2 ginormous ones per day. But he never seems to really strain that badly to get them out. I dunno. But I guess it could just be general GI discomfort.

The grunting definitely keeps me up! He's noisy.

[Plummeting]

It feels so much better to hear other people say the same thing. I start feeling pretty alone at about 4 am when I've been awake for 2 hours already because of it. I know it's not all that uncommon, but still...most people don't know what I'm talking about and have no idea why it would keep me up all night. I think it can definitely just be because of gas too, LC - anything that needs to get out of their GI tract they can't push out. I guess I should just consider myself lucky that she only grunts, and doesn't than get all miserable and upset and cry all night. At least SHE sleeps through it, so she must not be in pain. I just wish I could sleep through it. Yawn.

[Lilcrunchie]

This little guy is definitely gassy in the past few days. He burps and "toots" more than my other kids did. He doesn't seem particularly bothered during the day but it could be what makes him squirmy at night. I think the OAL has been contributing to the gassiness.

He let out some burps yesterday that qualify as full grown man belches!

[Kikelet]

I thought I had the gruniest baby in the whole world.. it seems I'm not alone! Evelyn grunts and grunts and grunts some more even when she's awake. Part of it is her way of just talking and listening to her own voice, but she grunts when she's trying to poop or pass gas. She also grunts in her sleep when she needs reassurance that someone is there beside her. We lightly pat or rub her for a few seconds then she's fine. I have OAL like some other mamas and I know the gas irritates her. Hopefully it settles soon. We get NO sleep unless we do it in shifts and I pump for DP.

[catchthewind]

Do any of you do EC? I find Fiona gets grunty when she needs to poop too. In the middle of the night if I try and ignore it she can go on for a long time too, or sometimes stop but then she'll wake me up again a half hour later squirmy and grunty again. If I hold her over the potty she'll poop almost right away and then sleep much more peacefully. Even if you don't EC normally if you think it's because of needing to poop it might be worth a try. I've read pooping lying down isn't very natural and some babies have a hard time with it, so holding her in the EC squat position might help. It might take a few nights before she gets it though if you haven't been EC-ing.

[welshwife08]

I have a grunter and, unfortunately, he is NOT pooping. My poor little is constipated (I've had to supplement with formula due to supply issues and his little digestive system is not taking it well.)

What is EC? I'm ready to try anything.

BTW--I'm doing all I can to increase my supply so he can be exclusively on breast milk!!!

[Geigerin]

Maddy is a grunted. She seems to do better on her side or belly (chest to chest). She works up to crying in the evenings, and I think she does have intestinal distress. And yes, the grunting keeps me up all night!!!

[judybean]

Originally Posted by welshwife08

I have a grunter and, unfortunately, he is NOT pooping. My poor little is constipated (I've had to supplement with formula due to supply issues and his little digestive system is not taking it well.)

What is EC? I'm ready to try anything.

BTW--I'm doing all I can to increase my supply so he can be exclusively on breast milk!!!

EC = Elimination Communication... or it's sometimes called infant potty-training (but there's not so much 'training' involved, but.. eh.. it's called that anyway). There's actually a board here on MDC for information/support.. it's under the "Diapering" forum (which is funny, right? Because, in theory, you're NOT using diapers .. or maybe I'm the only one who finds it funny ). Basically, you learn your babies 'cues' on when they need to pee/poop and you hold them over the potty/sink/etc and they go

...

Back to the OP, I have a grunter... at least in the early morning hours she grunts a lot.. and it *does* normally coincide with her need to get out a great big, messy poo She's been sleeping quite well at night and saving up a good poop for the mornings lately It's not terrible when at least she waits to sort of wake up/get grunty around 7 a.m., but I hate it when it's still dark out and she gets that way! (although honestly, I have it good, so I'm not really complaining THAT much.. just sayin'!).

[1babysmom]

Grunter here too!!! I don't recall DD's doing this, at least not to this extent. Very noisy at night, and when he's gassy too..sheesh. DH calls him the "zipper" because that's what his little gassy "noises" sound like.

[moonglowmama]

yes! Mine grunts at night too. I've figured out that it's because she needs to burp. If I make the effort to sit up and burp herm she'll fall right asleep but if not, it's hours of grunting followed by a big spit up.

[catchthewind]

Originally Posted by welshwife08

I have a grunter and, unfortunately, he is NOT pooping. My poor little is constipated (I've had to supplement with formula due to supply issues and his little digestive system is not taking it well.)

What is EC? I'm ready to try anything.

BTW--I'm doing all I can to increase my supply so he can be exclusively on breast milk!!!

There's info here: http://tribalbaby.org/ECindex.html as well as a forum on MDC like a pp pointed out. We did it last time too, but I'm amazed at how much experience + starting a tad younger makes a difference. I haven't actually had to change Fiona's diaper since yesterday evening and she's diaperless a lot already too!

[Plummeting]

Originally Posted by catchthewind

Do any of you do EC? I find Fiona gets grunty when she needs to poop too. In the middle of the night if I try and ignore it she can go on for a long time too, or sometimes stop but then she'll wake me up again a half hour later squirmy and grunty again. If I hold her over the potty she'll poop almost right away and then sleep much more peacefully. Even if you don't EC normally if you think it's because of needing to poop it might be worth a try. I've read pooping lying down isn't very natural and some babies have a hard time with it, so holding her in the EC squat position might help. It might take a few nights before she gets it though if you haven't been EC-ing.

We EC, but DD's problem is that she can't poop right when she feels the need. It's normal - their little digestive systems aren't well coordinated yet, so the stomach muscles are pushing it out while the sphincters are squeezing shut to hold it in. So I hold DD over the potty in all sorts of different positions and she gets incredibly frustrated and starts crying. It's weird, because the first couple of weeks she had no trouble at all and we were catching 90% of her poops. Now they're less frequent and we're only getting maybe 40% of them in the potty. I'm wondering if it's partly because there's still a good deal of colostrum during the switch to mature milk, which has more of a laxative effect, so as the weeks pass and there is less and less colostrum, it becomes harder for some babies who are particularly uncoordinated to poop and pass gas. It's the only thing I can think of at least. All I know is DD can't poop or fart during the night and she keeps me awake with all her efforts. lol

[magrat]

Yep, Graham was keeping me up from 5 am onwards because he was so noisy. So a few nights ago I put him in his room in his crib and I've been sleeping much better. It's right next to our room so I can still hear him, but it's not loud enough to keep me awake anymore. He's not pooping or spitting up, and no matter how much we burp him it doesn't seem to make a difference. I feel bad having him far away from me at night, but I am so determined not to go to sleep hell this time like I did with DD, I'll try anything. Of course, despite doing everything different this time, he's still waking up in the same pattern DD did. Guess I just make babies that don't sleep

[skeeter30]

I haven't been on here in quite a while I guess! glad to talk to you all again! Elinor will be 2 mos old tomorrow and she is still grunting away! I am not sure when it gets better but, i just want to say I sympathize with all of you! It does keep me awake at night too. It's hard b/c you don't really know what to do to help them. I even went to the doctor and he said that sometimes when babies grunt like this they may have reflux and they are trying to keep it down. We are currently trying Pepcid for Elinor and it does seem to help! I am not sure, maybe this could be helpful to some of you...Good Luck!!

[Plummeting]

Yeah, it can be a symptom of reflux, but I would NOT suspect reflux if there are no other symptoms. If baby isn't especially fussy, is feeding normally, isn't projectile vomiting, isn't having mucus or blood in stools (which isn't a symptom of reflux, but is a symptom of allergy/intolerance, which can cause reflux) I just wouldn't consider grunting alone a sign of reflux in the absence of other symptoms. When babies are very young, some of them just don't know how to poop or pass gas efficiently yet. It really is something some babies have to learn. Some are more coordinated than others, but a LOT of newborns will push with their abs while clenching with their sphincters, which is obviously counterproductive and can cause them to grunt a lot as they try to figure out HOW to get that gas or poop out of there. It's actually called "Grunting Baby Syndrome" not because it's a real disease or anything, but because it's so common some doctor in a pediatric GI book thought he ought to address it and name it. Apparently it concerns a LOT of tired parents. lol