Angry, frustrated cries when trying to fall asleep (11 mo old)

[lkmiscnet]

I co-sleep with my DS and always have to nurse him to sleep for naps and at bedtime.

Just before he falls asleep, he will frequently let out some angry cries and thrash about, like he's fighting sleep.

Also, during the night, he will wake up about every 2-2.5 hours, and again will do the same thing and kick his legs in the air. I have to nurse him back to sleep. He has difficulty falling asleep.

Any ideas on why he's doing that?

[TzippityDoulah]

any chance he has reflux? b/c that can burn like hec when you're lying down. perhaps he just needs to detress before falling to sleep- though him doing it in the middle of the night seems more like reflux... dies he cry like in pain? or scared?

[lkmiscnet]

His ped thought he had reflux from early on. I always questioned it though because before he was mobile and mostly on his back, he never seemed to have a problem after nursing during the day. It didn't make sense to me that he would only have reflux at night. He was also very gassy for the first 6-7 months, and I believed it was a gas issue more than a reflux issue.

Now, even when he's not gassy, he still "fights" falling asleep when he wakes up in the middle of the night. I can still nurse him quickly back to sleep usually.

[TzippityDoulah]

well reflux would certainly make him wake and the fight going back to sleep. slient reflux often can be fixed with dietary changes. milk, soy, wheat, corn, caffiene, sugar, and spicy foods are the most common problems. either through his diet or yours if he's breastfed.


once i cut out a handful of things (ok a big handful) my son's reflux got way better! I really didn't want to put him on meds b/c they are hard on the kidneys. I would if nothing else worked though.

[karika]

Both of my children fight sleep. So do I. I deal with it by having no schedule and sleeping whenever we want to. It has its drawbacks, but we all like it better than trying to go to bed at some specific time. They both do (well dd1 did) the same exact thing, kick their legs and whine... we have no reflux here or any medical problems. I am soy, dairy and gluten free though, not sure if that matters.

[MangoMommy]

My DD does the same thing, same age too. She's a restless sleeper many nights. She wakes every 2 hrs or so to nurse, and she is often upset or thrashy too. She keeps moving when she falls asleep, like jerking a leg, crying out,etc.