julie wrote:

Hello all!

I have been blessed with 2 beautiful boys who unfortunately suffer from Acid Reflux.

This condition makes sleeptime quit challenging for them.  My oldest who is now 5 yrs old has outgrown it, but my 6 month old is still dealing with it....poor thing!

It can get frustrating for a mother who has practically no time for herself....if you are in the same boat as me, I'd love to hear from you.  It helps to know that I'm not the only one going through this :)

TTYS!

 

Jewels

Hi Julie,

you are not the only one going through this. My son had 'silent' acid reflux, which kicked in at about 3-4 weeks, and had screaming fits all the time, from pain, and quickly stopped sleeping in his bassinet/crib altogether. The only way I could give him any sleep was by holding him in my arms to sleep for ALL naps during the day, and co-sleeping beside me in my inclined bed for the night (thankfully he did it), in safe conditions, and basically using breast feeding in bed to soothe him back to sleep, whenever he'd wake up (which was 1-2 hours, for the first 4 month, at which point we sleep-trained him.) We are first-time parents and this was a complete nightmare for us, we didn't know what was wrong with him, and couldn't help him... we also didn't have a good doctor until 3 months (we started out with midwives, who were completely useless in this regard to us, as they simply dismissed us as anxious parents; they simply had no expertise in this at all; there is a whole other issue I had with the midwife delivery, and post-partum care for the baby.) Once we finally had a good doctor, she put him on medication (Prevacid, fast-dissolve tabs that are easy for the baby to chew), he got relief, but still wouldn't sleep on his own until we sleep-trained him. (We felt it was safe enough to do at 4 months for him, and it was; I can send you a detailed sleep-training plan by email if you want; email me here: t_ouvarova@hotmail.com)

Most people with healthy 'average' babies don't really understand what it's like to live with a new baby who just won't sleep, and especially due to suffering from acid reflux; I literally did not leave the apartment for weeks at a time, in order to give him any comfort and sleep, which is so important for them to get... it takes a huge toll on you, not just physically (lack of sleep - I'd get 2-4 hours of sleep in total per day, broken up, for the first 4 months) but emotionally as well. I can't imagine how hard it must be for you with 2 children going through the same thing... you are not alone; feel free to contact me for more support if you wish.

Tatiana