6 Month Old Son With Reflux Not Sleeping in Crib

[floridadad]

Our six-month old son is having a hard time staying asleep in his crib. He has Acid Reflux and has been taking Zantac for the past three weeks; he doesn't like taking even Zantac with flavoring and ends up taking a little over half of what we give him. My wife has had him in a consistent nighttime routine for the past few months: feeding (he started solids just about a month ago and has really taken to it), followed by bath time, followed by nursing with Mom, then he goes down.

He will not sleep for any lengthy stretches in his crib, though. Usually, if he's already asleep, he goes half an hour at the most. For a while, he was doing okay in his co-sleeper and now we have just been putting him in his glider at night (where he falls asleep pretty easily and only wakes a couple times a night to feed). We still rock him to sleep because if we don't he will simply not go down; we've tried the hand on the chest, the softly talking to him, etc. Doesn't seem to work. We tried the "cry it out" method in the crib a couple nights in a row last week and he simply did not sleep - he was just hysterical all night even though we came in every half hour to soothe him. Tried the glider the next night and slept wonderfully.

One of the nurses at our pediatrician said if the glider is working for now it's okay to keep using it. It's more upright than the crib and I wonder if it is helping with the reflux? I also know eventually he will have to get used to the crib but don't want to keep putting him in there if laying flat on his back is causing his reflux to act back up and is causing him pain.

Any ideas/insight would be greatly appreciated.

[MImom0608]

Have you tried propping his crib mattress??  My oldest had reflux BAD when she was an infant.  We didn't do CIO until she was 9 months old.  I did co-sleeping with her for quite awhile.  She slept alone no problems after 9 months.  I would try to prop up his mattress.  Another thing you may want to try is tummy sleeping (that is if he can roll alone and hold his head up).  Another thing is to lay him down awake (or he'll expect you to be there if he opens your eyes).  Finally, it takes awhile to get them to sleep alone.  I wish it only took a night or two... but it can take a few weeks.

[selmaS]

Hi I have to agree with Mlmom0608 with the elevating of the crib matress.Maybe u can get one of those wedges pillows and put it under the matressso it has the right incline.

Also since ur child is still nursing what "mom" eats will have a direct influence on the milk. It was the hardest thing for me when my daughter was that age.I have gerd and my daughter was very colic, which I attribute to the gerd.

May I also suggest since ur son is on solids, ask the dr for a med that can be put into applesauce, that way u may get more of the meds into him.

Good luck
"selma"

[ChitChatNine]

I agree with both posters above and strongly felt that if my babies needed me due to pain (not attachment) then it was fine for them to sleep with me or be in the same room and not CIO.  When they'd cry and wake up in pain even in my own bed, then we knew it was reflux.  Spent many nights upright in a stroller in semi reclined position sleeping next to me .... we were also very afraid of aspiration issues.

C~

[labyrinth22]

* beware, long answer*
Hi, I know how you feel, I've been there, and still am. my son just turned a year he was diagnosed with reflux at 7 weeks. My son was exclusively BF (I eliminated reflux unfriendly foods) and cloth diapered, I wore him and we had him in co-sleeper until 6 months, then bedshared from 6-10 months,at 10months we started CIO (I know, very un-attachment parenting-like) , but he has slept in his crib in his own room for the past 2 months only waking at night every now and then.  Here's some things to think about maybe you can discuss with your doctor, hopefully things will help.  Your son is still quite young, it may take a while for him to sleep through the night especially if he is exclusively BF. He may still need to nurse once or twice a night (my son did). I cut out all night nursing by 9 months. Also, My son, from day one in the hospital always slept poorly on his back (I know "back to sleep") the only way we got him to sleep in 3 hour stretches on his back was swaddled in an elevated co-sleeper (my husband raised the head with wood planks) and after 5 months that wouldn't work. We started co-sleeping at 6 months and I would sleep with him on his side, our doctor said that when he was old enough to roll over on his own he doesn't have to be forced to sleep on his back.  Since about 8 months my son has slept on his stomach (he would roll over on his own) and will not sleep any other way. Second, My son was on Zantac for about 3 weeks when he was first diagnosed at 7 weeks, (until I switched pediatricians because he didn't believe me when I said my son was still in pain) after 2 weeks my smiling boy went back to crying constantly. He was then switched to 3/4 tablet 15mg prevacid solutab at 3 months old. He stayed at this dosage until about 6 months then he went to the full 15 tablet once a day. At 8 months we had upper GI study done with Pediatric GI who confirmed severe reflux, he was then switched to 15 mg capsule 2x a day and 2 ml Zantac before bedtime. Our Ped GI stated that liquid Zantac is hard to correctly dose since it is given by weight and since babies are constantly growing, your little one may have outgrown his dose already. It can take as little as 2 weeks to outgrow Zantac dosage.  This also might cause the constant waking. If your son is on solids it's very easy to use solutabs or capsules, just disolve solutab in food, or break capsule and pour contents into food. If your son seems to be in pain you might want to have his dosage checked out, or a different medication all together. I had to go to a pediatric GI to get the best care for my son's reflux. Lastly, my son is a very determined little boy, it took us about 4 weeks (at 10 months) of CIO to get him to take all naps and night time without crying. However, I did not start CIO training until I made sure his reflux was as controlled as it could be. DO NOT do CIO if your baby's reflux meds don't work, crying makes reflux worse! At the start of the CIO training he would not take all sleep times peacefully, he would alternate which ones he would cry through! After 4 weeks he finally understood and started taking all naps and night times without tears. I figured it would take some time for him to get the hint that I wasn't abandoning him, especially since he was used to sleeping with me or close to me for 10 months + time in the womb! So, if you are going to do CIO, you need to be consistent and the worst of it is the first 2 weeks, depending on temperament they may cry for hours, but if you stick with (which is hard) it does get better. It was the hardest thing I've had to do so far (especially as an AP parent), but my son DOES sleep on his own now, and still VERY bonded to me (I was afraid if I did CIO he wouldn't), and more importantly he is happier with uninterrupted sleep.  Good Luck, and I hope that helped   - Robyn

[labyrinth22]

forgot to add, my son's crib is elevated as well. the same wood planks that held up the head of the co-sleeper now elevate his crib.

best wishes,

Robyn

[McHomies]

Thank you Robyn for your reply. I have been dealing with virtually the same senario (GERD) plus our son of 14 months was just recently co-diagnosed with Eosinophilic Colitis as well. I appreciate not feeling alone.