Preemie - Shakopee,MN

My daughters always had trouble with gas and pooping when they were real little. I asked my mother and she told me to add a tablespoon of cornsyrup to a full bottle. It sounds weird and my pediatrician told me it was an old wives tale but it worked for us.

I do not have experience with a preemie, but my son never wanted to lay down flat to sleep. For a few months we found that we could get him to sleep for longer periods of time if we swaddled him and then laid him in his bouncy chair to sleep. We continued this during the night the longest and worked on getting him in his crib during the day for naps. I hope this helps you out, I know getting no sleep can be a really trying, frustrating thing.

No experience with premies here BUT most definately have been there done that with the gas. Try "gripe watter" we got ours at the health food store (you mix a recomended drop or two in the bottles) but walgreens sells it in their infant/baby section. I did not know about it with our first two and with our third our chiropractor told us about it because we were at our wits end. IT WORKS!!
Good luck!
A.

D.,

I had twin premies, born at 34 weeks. Both of mine were gassy and did not sleep well. Turned out they both had reflux and why it was bad, is that laying down aggrevated it tremendously. I was nursing, but also suppletmented. We tried Nutramegin, but it did not work. It was the reflux. Try keeping him upright after feeding, either by holding, or in a bouncey or swing for 15 - 20 minutes after feeding. Also, ask your pedi if it could be reflux. Is he spitting up a lot, but still gaining weight? They can do a test for it and medication can help. It took about 5 months to get the correct med and dosage for my son. After that, he was a totally different child. Also, do you nurse? It is much easier for a baby to digest breast milk then formula. Just a few suggestions. Hope they help.

I have never had a preemie but, Try bundling him and putting him in a carseat in his crib. This will keep him wrapped and warm and a sence of being held. Does he have reflux at all my daughter and son both had it and did not tollerate lying down because of it. Anything is worth a try. Congrats however on your new bundle.

Hi,
I also live in Franklin. And I have a 14 month old she was born at 32 weeks. She would only sleep 4 hours at a time. I would use alot of white noise. Fan, a bear that has the sound of being in the womb, And a very dark room. She wanted to sleep in her crib right away.

Hi D.,

I agree about trying a different formula. It is not uncommon for a baby (let alone a premie) to have a problem digesting soy. The formula already mentioned (nutramagin) is the only one I know of that is pre-mixed and I have friends that have used it successfully. I would think that just addressing the gas itself may not really solve the problem.

Good luck!
R.

First of all congrats on the birth of your baby. As baby grows he will sleep longer. When you lay him down do you swaddle him. Being he was born so early he may like the warmth of being swaddled so make sure hes dressed warm enough and wrap him in a blanket tightly or use the swaddle me. He likes the closeness. Do you put him in a swing or use a bouncy chair for him to sleep?? For me with all of my kids the swing was my life saver so that way I didn't have to hold them to sleep all the time. Don't get me wrong I love cuddling them but I didn't want them to depend on me solely to fall asleep. Something you can offer for gas is gripe water. If you would like to talk more you can feel free to add me to msn or email me at ____@____.com

Hi D.,
My son was born at 27 weeks as well. We didn't have a lot of problems with feeding/gas, but the sleeping was an issue. He simply wanted to be held all the time. Where does your son sleep at night? One thing that helped us was having him sleep in our room in a co-sleeper attached to the bed. I think that babies sleep better when they're close to their parents. Then around 9mo. we transitioned him to his own roon, and now at 17mo. he is a great sleeper. It all takes time. He has plenty of white noise from a radio playing classical music and an air purifier. And we did let him cry it out a bit at 9mo. It didn't take long to work. But at your son's age, he may just need the closeness. Do you and your husband wear him in a sling or baby bjorn carrier around the house? That may help with letting him sleep while you get things done. I know you're tired. It is wonderful that your husband can be home with him- this winter is going to be a critical time for him in terms of staying healthy and growing. Feel free to email me if you have anymore questions: ____@____.com in there!
L.

Hi D.,
3 of my 4 children were preemies. 2 slept all the time in the beginning. but my 1yr old was awake alot at that time. Being that they are early they are not quite ready to be out of the womb. Why is he on soy formula if you don't mind my asking. You might want to try cosleeping for a few months till he is a little older. My daughter slept with me most of the time for the 1st 6 months. As she got older I started putting her in her bed during the day for naps and then slowly worked her into her own bed at night. Now she prefers to sleep in her bed over ours. You may need to switch to nutramagin( i think thats how it is spelt) it is partially digested proteins so that it makes it easier on the baby's stomach. I would talk to your pediatrician about that. It is kind of expensive but it really makes a difference. Preemies are already born with a immature digestive system and boys usually take longer to develope than girls. I hope this helps you out.
J.

I didn't have a preemie, but I wanted to add that the car seat thing was helpful to us as well. Our daughter slept in her car seat, swaddled, with the seat in the pack-n-play in our room for about 2 months and it worked great! She did take an occasional nap in her crib. She moved to her crib pretty easily without her carseat, so we were lucky.
I also wanted to say just hang in there. It's so stressful becoming a new mommy, let alone the stress of a preemie, working and keeping a home. And especially if there are sleep issues, that can just add to the stress (for baby and parents). So, take care of yourself too!
C.

My preemie was 2mos. early and came home after a 15 day stay in the special care nursery. She was the opposite of yours she was NEVER awake. I was shocked at how much she slept and how little she did it kinda surprised me I guess. I would have to wake her up in the middle of the night to feed her or she would never eat or wake up. I've never heard of any baby not sleeping for atleast most of the night and some long naps during the day I'd ask your pediatrician.

Hi D.,
I am mother to 4 girls, two of them are twins and were preemies. I had similar problems with them sleeping. I never figured it out and none of them slept through the night until they were 2 but about the gassy problem....My oldest daughter had that problem and the doctor told me to put Caro syrup in her bottle and it solved the problem. A tsp in a 4 oz bottle. I don't know if they have a similar product out now that's actually made for this problem but it sure did work. I was concerned about the fact that it was so much sugar for her but it didn't seem to have any ill effect. I'd ask your pediatrician if you could try it.