So my nine month old has NEVER been a good sleeper. He spent his first six months never sleeping more than a 45 minute stretch at a time. (no exaggeration). We figured out he has reflux, exhausted the non medical approaches, and tried a few meds before finding one that seems to work. We now medicate him for reflux. He had an upper GI study to rule out physical causes and there were no problems. He's better, but not good.
After nursing or bottle feeding him to sleep (we do a combo because, as you can imagine, I started to go a little nuts on the sleep deprivation thing), even in the middle of the night, he never ever just falls asleep or curls up next to us. At each and every feeding (which are now one to three hours apart) he requires someone to pace the hallway rocking and bouncing him. Or going for a walk in the stroller, which I won't do at 3 a.m, but my husband sometimes does.
He won't sleep in a swing. He will become more awake if you sit down or stop moving. If put him in our bed or his crib before a good ten minutes of sound sleep he will squirm and fidget (but not really cry) until he wakes himself up completely. He will stand and crawl around and eventually start crying more- in a crankiness sort of way. It can take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour to get him down- for naps, bedtime, or night feedings. (So much for sidelying nursing! Lot of good that does when you still have to pace the hallway after.)
I am sure he's teething and making many developmental shifts, but this has basically been his pattern for his entire life, so I can't really contribute it to those things.
Aside from reflux, what other medical things might interfere with him sleeping laying down? Did he just build really bad habits or a fear of sleep during his months of unmedicated (but never uncormforted crying) reflux?
Any and all ideas and suggestions are appreciated.
Or commiseration.
FWIW I thought my 4yo had been a bad sleeper, but it was nothing like this!
Angie
After nursing or bottle feeding him to sleep (we do a combo because, as you can imagine, I started to go a little nuts on the sleep deprivation thing), even in the middle of the night, he never ever just falls asleep or curls up next to us. At each and every feeding (which are now one to three hours apart) he requires someone to pace the hallway rocking and bouncing him. Or going for a walk in the stroller, which I won't do at 3 a.m, but my husband sometimes does.
He won't sleep in a swing. He will become more awake if you sit down or stop moving. If put him in our bed or his crib before a good ten minutes of sound sleep he will squirm and fidget (but not really cry) until he wakes himself up completely. He will stand and crawl around and eventually start crying more- in a crankiness sort of way. It can take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour to get him down- for naps, bedtime, or night feedings. (So much for sidelying nursing! Lot of good that does when you still have to pace the hallway after.)
I am sure he's teething and making many developmental shifts, but this has basically been his pattern for his entire life, so I can't really contribute it to those things.
Aside from reflux, what other medical things might interfere with him sleeping laying down? Did he just build really bad habits or a fear of sleep during his months of unmedicated (but never uncormforted crying) reflux?
Any and all ideas and suggestions are appreciated.
Or commiseration.
FWIW I thought my 4yo had been a bad sleeper, but it was nothing like this!
Angie
It is totally within the realm of normal, but definitely hard! Have you looked into food allergies causing the reflux? It could defnitely be part of the reason he is waking too. I would try cutting dairy from yours and his diet for at least 2 weeks and see if things improve. Next try soy, and gluten. My DS was dairy sensitive (still is a little) and I had to cut out all dairy.
