6 Month Old Sleep Problems

I had VERY similair issues with one of my twins. He had reflux and I had to put him to sleep in his carseat every night. I would ask about adding rice cereal to his bottle at night to push the milk down. I also strongly believe in alternative medicine. I ahve been taking my kids to a holistic doctor that could really help you! She is in Plano Let me know if you want more info. I wish I had known about her when my baby was that age. Hang in there!

My youngest son had the same problem's, would not sleep good and he spit up half of his food when he ate. from birth to about 1 year old. His doctor said his esophagus was not fully developed so the food in is stomach would come right back up.
There was not much to do for him but wait until he got bigger and it grew more, after he stared solid foods and got to be around 10 to 11 months old he started getting better. So ask you doctor to look into that for you, many babies have the same problem and a lot of doctors overlook it.
Also, you can try leaving him in his car seat or prop him up in a swing, That was how I got my son to take a short nap sometimes along with many other ways, sooner or later you will discover things that work for him and you.

Good luck, I've been there.

V. Perry

S.,

What a great questioning parent you are! Could be food issues, and it seems worth following up on this since this is your mother's gut instinct on which way to go. This instinct is usually very reliable.

For food intolerance testing, do it yourself, without a doctor referral, through www.enterolab.com. Lab is in Plano. Order test kit online, send in specimen, they email you the results. Easy easy easy! They do stool tests, which are more reliable than blood and skin scratch which are the standard in most allergist or GI doctor offices. You can test for gluten and casein, as well as others like soy, through them. When you eliminated milk, did you replace it with soy? If so, look at this as a culprit too. See the following article on this:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/0...

He's very young and will need some good nutrition, if you are not breastfeeding. You can research raw milk options on www.mercola.com as well as www.realmilk.com. A good state certified raw milk dairy nearby where you can get raw goat's milk, which may help him a lot, is www.randcdairy.com in Collinsville. Go north on tollway to end. Take route 380 west to route 377 north. Farm is off of 377 on the left after Pilot Point and before you get to the town of Collinsville. Rocky and Carol are the farmers.

Find a pediatrician who actually understands something about health and nutrition. Unfortunately, this excludes 95% of the pediatricians out there, so you have to look hard. One that I know of is Deborah Bain, MD in Frisco, www.healthykidspediatrics.com. Another one is Dr. Daniel Chartrand, family practice doctor in Allen, www.harmonyfamilyhealth.com

Also consider vaccinces. I bet they are dumping quite a few of these into him by now. They are filled with major toxins that are so toxic that the manufacturers refuse to disclose them to parents or physicians. Vaccines are also not researched and tested adequately. No physician can tell you what the affects are, because its never been researched properly. For vaccine info, you can begin your research on www.mercola.com to educate yourself bette about his topic. There is ABSOLUTELY NO REQUIREMENT that you vaccinate him in Texas. Texas is a great vaccine state, allowing you to opt out for "philosophical" reasons (ie any reason you want) with a waiver signed by a parent and notarized. He cannot legally be excluded from any school or program if you exercise this right. The only place he will be excluded, unfortunately and ironically, is most arrogant pediatrician's offices. They are so threatened they will lose this lucrative revenue stream. But Dr. Bain and Dr. Chartrand are two that I know won't kick you out.

Generally, www.mercola.com is a great place to do research on soy, gluten, raw milk, vaccines, etc.

If it's an ear infection, you still might want to investigate WHY he has a chronic ear infection and why his body's immune system is down. Ear infections are not "normal" for kids, contrary to popular belief. Most ear infection kids have undiagnosed food intolerances.

If he's teething, this will pass, but it sounds like you think there is something more.

Good luck.

OMG I am going thru the SAME EXACT THING!!!! You are much stronger than I. I don't have the heart (or nerves) to let my son cry it out. I rock and love on him till he's either asleep or just about then put him down. I've heard everything from he has reflux to he's going thru a growth spurt. Are you watching the bread you eat? I too cut out aaaaaaaaaaallllll milk. It's horrible, isn't it???? I just started trying to add a little cheese each day, and he's not doing so well with that. I'm going to go back to trying to eat foods that have milk in them, like breaded chicken, pancake from the mix, etc. And add the milk back in that way. He did better with that than adding "real" cheese.
Is your son on a schedule? I've noticed that when I got mine on a schedule and stick to it, he sleeps a little better. It could just be that they are at the age where their sleep changes.
I'm new to Mommasource, and don't know how to see what other responses you get. If you get some good ones, could you please email me? My email is ____@____.com I'm about at my wits end too. Last night my baby was up twice an hour... with the longest time sleeping being about 45 min.... His teeth have been bothering him, but goodness.... I'm a new SAHM of a 2yr old son and 6 (almost 7) month old son.

I meant to reply to you sooner, and I honestly haven't taken the time to read the responses yet, so forgive me if I'm a repeat. My pediatrician said that 50% of babies with milk protien allergies also have soy allergies. My son started having problems at 4-5 months... stools becoming mucousy and then some blood in them, very fussy, hardly slept, got up 4-5 times per night, and he ate all the time. We learned that he did have the dairy allery. I cut EVERYTHING too. Its very tough! But I kind of figured "oh, he's not in that 50% allergic to soy, its okay", and for 3 or 4 days I ate some soy ice cream each night (non-dairy kind), and he had more blood in his stool yet, so from that I knew that he had soy issues too. He DRASTICALLY changed after 2 weeks of cutting everything. He slept more at night, took better naps, had normal stools and was a much happier baby. And his weight gain slowed considerably. I think he ate so much at first because his tummy hurt and eating was all he knew to do to feel better. Anyway, he's now almost 11 months old, and I've started eating small amounts of dairy, and he seems to be okay with it. My pedi said many babies outgrow it by a year, and most by 3 years old. Good luck! I know the diet is so restrictive and can be very h*** o* you as a mom. And I knw the sleeping ordeal is horrible. My pedi said at 4 months (before we knew the allergy) to let him cry it out, that he's "ruling the house", etc. He would cry forever, and get hysterical. I couldn't do that any longer either. I knew it was more than just "ruling the house" because he wanted to be held. Best wishes, and hang in there!!!

I had a 11 yr old in my day care that also would not sleep, part of the problem was he sleeps with mommy. He would only sleep on me after rocking him to sleep. Then the phone would ring or door and it was all over. I could not put him down or it was all over. It seemed worse when he was teething. She would give him these five little pills in his mouth to desolve made for teething and it seemed to help but I can not remember what it was. Her doctor recommended it. Still he was a pain. He is not in my day care nor do I want him back. G. W

Not sure what reflux medication your son is on, but if it's Zantac, it might be helpful to know that its effectiveness commonly wears off - and sometimes within days. Both my son and daughter experienced reflux (my son's much worse, and he still deals with food allergies and intolerances to boot) and both went through a series of Zantac and then quickly progressed to a buffered Omeprazole called Zegerid. I consider it my dream drug!!! Effective and easy (no coordination with meals necessary; more effective when coordinated, but not necessary). I found infantreflux.org and the MARCI Kids website to be GOLDEN resources in helping me through those reflux days. You're spot-on with the dairy aggravating the symptoms of reflux - quite common. (And if you're nursing, kuddos to you because it's also quite common for dairy-sensitive kiddos to have sensitivities to soy as well. Neocate was our only option to supplement our son during my supply issues - talk about $$$!)
And a note about the dairy allergy: even a trace of dairy and my son's system is 'messed up' for at least a week and a half. When I was nursing, it was helpful to find out that casein can stubbornly stick around in my breastmilk for 2-3 weeks after I consumed it. It was only after totally avoiding ALL dairy for weeks (no milk, butter, lactose, whey, lactic acid, anything even resembling something that might be dairy - including probiotics not containing dairy, but cultured on dairy...) that my son began sleeping well! ;D We could also identify other problem foods based on whether or not our son slept well at night. From observing his moods and sleep, we've spotted trouble with gluten, beef, legumes, pickles, pineapple, and mango (of all things) as well.

He is now 3 and doing great on his restricted yet nutrient-rich diet.

Once you are as confident as you can be that your son's reflux symptoms are not causing him pain, I would highly recommend the Baby Whisperer forums. If my daughter were not nursing still so much at night, she would be "pat/shushed" or "picked-up-put-down" like we did with her big brother. My son has taken really good naps and slept relatively well at night since he was 6 mo old. (Now watch him take a short nap today now that I've said that...) ;D

Best wishes for your family to get some peaceful shut-eye! Ask for help if you need it, allow the unimportant things to go to the back burner for a while, and remember you're not alone!

edited to add: Medications can be such a tough issue, but please be sure to ask questions about any medicine your baby's doctor might prescribe BEFORE you have it filled. My son was prescribed several things (one of which even had dairy in it, can you believe it?!) for his reflux, and Zegerid was the ONLY one I was comfortable enough giving him. He was given a prescription to address delayed gastric emptying without any test for it; and I just wasn't comfortable with the risk-benefit situation that medication would have presented in terms of not-too-uncommon yet very serious side effects. After discussing it with the pediatrician, I decided to wait and see if they would be necessary before giving them and, fortunately, they were not. Doctors really do mean well and want to blast away anything that might cause your babe discomfort, but sometimes they can be (in my opinion) a little overzealous with the prescription pad and write things "just in case it might help." So it's our job as Mamas to do our best to give informed consent, not just consent. ;D HTH!

It seems like you're getting a lot of advice to give medicine...but to me, it sounds like a normal sleep regression that happens when babies are between 3 and 4 months of age because they're more aware of their surroundings, and again at 6 months of age because of growth spurts and/or teething.
What times is he sleeping? At 6 months, it's normal for babies to get up between 6 and 7, take their first nap around 8 or 9, take their second nap around 1, and some even take a third nap around 4, then bedtime between 6 and 8 (most babies fall between 6 and 7, though). If he's overtired, he's in a vicious cycle where he wants to sleep but can't, because he's so tired his body won't let him - it's fighting him to stay awake. It helped me to really pay attention to my daughter's sleepy signs and start the nap/bedtime routine about 1/2 hour before she was really tired.
CIO doesn't work for every baby; I would think if he is screaming for an hour and still not sleeping that it's not working and something else needs to be done.

I don't know if this is what you sons problem is or not, but when my kids are ready to transition down to one less nap, they tend to do the same thing yours is doing. When my daughter (a few months a go) started taking just one nap a day, she went from taking 2 30-45 minute naps and started sleeping 2-3 hours for one nap and she sleeps a long time at night too. For some reason the transitions with my children also seem to coincide with teething or growing, so if they go to bed at night and wake up crying (like they're in pain) then I put them to bed with Tylenol or Motrin so they sleep better longer for a little while till they seem to be feeling better.
Good luck

Your baby maybe teething, or he may have an ear infection,have him checked by his doctor. I will be praying for your baby.

S. K Whitehead

You might have him checked out for Celiac Disease. I have a friend whos child had similiar issues and after the child was diagnosed and they adjusted her food intake the child got better. Below is a link that might explain to you a little about Celiac Disease.

http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/celiac/#4

I am so sorry for your little one! It's so hard to see your baby suffer and they can't tell you what the problem is! My daughter developed a milk protein allergy as an infant. She would scream non-stop and spit up right after eating. Our doctor told us to use Alimentum, a hypoallergenic baby formula. It worked almost immediately. You mentioned you cut out dairy, but soy products can also be a problem if your baby has a protein allergy. My son, whom we adopted when he was 22 mos. old also has an allergy to the protein in soy milk and cow's milk. He can only drink Rice milk.

I posted recently with a very similar issue. My daughter, like your son, was sleeping perfectly from 2-4 months of age until it reverted. Not sure what meds your son is taking, but it is possible you may want to ask to try a different one. I assume from your post you are breastfeeding? I am also, but we decided to start a formula bottle at night. We tried Enfamil, and saw no change, but when we tried Similac, it has really helped. I bf all day and do the one bottle of Similac about an hour before bed. We also use teething tablets and a lullaby CD. For naps, we have to put her down just about every 2 hours (even though she is 6 months old). Some kids just need a LOT of sleep. That has helped her. I have become more tuned in to her getting overtired. I hate that it means a lack of playdates for my older child, but the baby really needs this right now. Also be sure you have a solid night time routine that you stick to. Best of luck to you. I know how hard it is. Know you are not alone.

I am a mother to a 16 yr old and 13 yr old girls. My 13 year old had the same thing when she was about 2 months to 9 months, she was not a breast baby, but you would feed her 6 oz and she would spit up 4 oz! It was horrible, we found that even though she was a 11 lb baby her sfencter on top of her stomach had not fully formed. so we gave her reglan daily. And we would put her to bed in her car seat and set it in her crib, it would keep her upright and not lay down were the acid would come back up! I know sounds crazy, but she would sleep and so would I! I know that was 13 years agao, and she still has to take meds and sleeps elivated most nights. Good Luck!

This does not sound like a sleep issue. It's most likely either digestive or allergy related. My son was so allergic to dairy that he threw up everything he ate. He also had horrible, horrible reflux.

I would work with your pediatrician. He might not be tolerating something you are eating. Has he been constipated? That can make reflux worse. I have friends that have allowed their refluxy baby to sleep sitting up in the carseat as they were more comfortable.

Also, I remember that as my son grew we had to adjust his reflux medication accordingly. Is his dose correct? Have you tried another medication?

I was unable to breastfeed for a variety of reasons so we discovered early on that he was severely allergic to dairy and could not tolerate soy (which he now is able to eat).

Again, I would work with your pediatrician. If things do not improve you might want to consider consulting an allergist.

I've not had the same experiences as you are having regarding the reflux, but the sleep issues I have. Have you tried giving him any teething tablets or Tylenol? I know that when my son was around5/5.5 months, he started waking up multiple times at night. I couldn't figure it out why he was doing this. I gave him some teething tablets on a suggestion and he slept through the night! I would try that and then go from there.

Good luck!

My sweet boy had horrible reflux pain until the doctor switched him from zantac to prevacid. The minute this medicine kicked in, he was a different child. He is now 7 months old and completely off the meds and doing great. I also bought The Sleep Book by Dr. Sears. He has different ideas for sleeping arrangments, but mostly, it offered the support I needed to keep going during those rough nights. We are still parents in the middle of the night, even though sometimes we can barely function.

I know it is hard. Please email me if you want to talk.

S.

Unfortunatly this is not a message with a solution, but one to let you know you are not alone. We are dealing with a similar problem. I have a 6 month and 1 week old little boy. He was always a great sleeper as well, and he too had refulx and I had to cut out all dairy and caffeine because of the MASSIVE spit up problem. Starting about 5 months, his sleep patterns were NEVER consistent. Sometimes he would wake up several times at night, sometimes he would sleep through; and naps were always a guess. Cry it out does not work for our son either - he just gets more frustrated.

There was no solution that worked for us as we could never pin point the problem. Although I think the biggest problem was teething, and once he turned 6 months we could start the motrin, and I think that helped a little on the really bad nights.

Either way - time passing was the only fix for us. He started sitting up really well and the spit up stopped; his bottom teeth broke thruogh so he started sleeping a little better; etc.

I have come to figure out - no matter if it is something I like or I do not like about his schedule, he will only do it for a couple of weeks. So... I just wait that out with hope. :)

Anyway - no solution here, jsut empathy. good luck!

Hi S.,

There are several factors that can be involved with your child. He may have allergies or he may not be producing enough digestive enzymes. I am a Chiropractor and at my office I do nutritional testing and allergy testing. By using Applied Kinesiology (muscle testing) we can determine your childs allergies or deficiencies. With that I can prescribe the correct nutrition. I also have a Cold Therapeutic Laser that we can use to help eliminate the allergies. If you would like more information please visit my website at www.sullivanchiropractic.com or call me at ###-###-####. Thank you!

Dr. Sandra S.

The crying could make the reflux worse. I would try to check out if he is having digestive problems due to casein which is a protein in milk products or gluten which is a protein that is found in Wheat, Rye ,Barley, and Oatmeal. My son had a problem with Gluten that came through my breast milk. It took us three years to diagnose his problem (celiac ) . But now that he is on a Gluten Free diet Sleep is much better. He also had reflux. I am not sure if you were just seeing his pediatrician but you may want to see a pediatric GI doctor. It may be as simple as adjusting his current medication or changing the medication. Or even just a diet change for you and him.
Good Luck I know that this is a very frustrating situation for you.