Well, we went to the doctor today to find out if Ellie has reflux, and she does... She is borderline "bad" reflux which means she would need to be treated by medication. I would like to avoid that if possible so we are trying a few at home tactics. She wants us to put her to sleep on her side, sit her up for 30 minutes after feedings, burp her frequently, and put 1 tsp of rice cereal in her bottle twice a day. If this doesn't seem to help, we go with the medicine.
She told us that the sleep thing was a journey. She may sleep through the night for a little while before hitting another growth spurt. I need to start sleeping when she sleeps. I try to do too many things while she is asleep like laundry, wrapping Christmas presents, write thank-you notes, check email, blog stalk ;-), etc... January will be the month of napping for me... maybe!
Thank you all for your comments, emails, and calls with advice! We greatly appreciate it. I am just glad MANY others have been down this road and are able to offer their two cents! I know every baby is different, but it doesn't hurt to try what works for some.
Happy Holidays!
Kate! I'm so sorry that she has reflux. I cannot imagine the stress. But she is so stinkin' cute, I can hardly stand it! Merry Christmas
ReplyDeleteOh we traveled down the reflux road. . . NOT FUN. We were on Zantac and then Prevacid. We also were up to 4 tbls of rice cereal in the bottle and he still managed to projectile vomit his entire bottle 70% of the time. But, they do outgrow it.... hang in there friend. Let me know if I can help at all!!
ReplyDeleteDon't worry about the medicine... trust me, it just makes life easier. Both of mine had bad reflux and were on medicine until they were 1, and it was no big deal. If it makes them more comfortable, and gets you less tense, it is worth every dime!
ReplyDeleteI have to tell you that Zantac made my life so much easier! I really would just go straight to the medicine. Kate has been on it since she was like 2 months old and we haven't looked back. It doesn't hurt her to have it, even if she doesn't need it all the time. We never had to do the rice in the bottle... I sure do hope sweet Ellie starts feeling better! (and you, too!)
ReplyDeleteSuch a cute picture! I'm very glad we didn't have reflux problems, because we had sleeping problems, and both would have driven us more crazy (because the sleep thing does make you crazy). Everybody will ask you how they are sleeping, and some people will make you feel like you are doing something wrong if they aren't sleeping through the night by "x" weeks of age, but I found out that more babies than not don't sleep well, and the ones that do just have lucky parents!!! For example, my 13 month old was up at midnight last night... for the rest of the night. He may go a couple days or week sleeping all night, and then up at night for a couple days or a week. We started cereal at 3 1/2 months just to see if it would help him sleep better, and it did. But anything, and I do mean anything, interrupts his sleep pattern and it can take a while to get him straightened out again. Growth spurt, teething, being away from home, changes in the things in his bed, etc... It does get better, but for a while I was pulling my hair out and stressing so much about why he wouldn't sleep, and when I finally came to terms with just having to get up a lot, I felt better, even though we weren't sleeping more.
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