So for the last 40 hours or more my son has been really fussy. We thought it was remnents of the immunization shots that he had on friday, but as it turns out, we now think his 3 months growth spurt has come a little early.
Last night after work, I came home to an EXHAUSTED mommy, that doesnt understand why he hasnt slept at all. I knew it was coming, but unfortunately I had to go shovel my parents walkway for them, get groceries as there was no food in the house, get money to my fiancee's massage therapist, as she had no money on her last time to pay her, then after driving home through traffic, I got home. And there definetly was no 1950's moment where my wife would be waiting with a martini glass, and I would pat the boy on the head and we would go have dinner...
I got home and all she wanted was a big hug, and she told me she still had nothing to eat all day, and havent slept all night and day. I tried to save the day saying go to have a quick bite, then go get some sleep, I will take care of our son for the night. And to be honest I had been thinking about it all day, due to his fussiness I didnt really get to hang out with him too much on sunday, which is normally a daddy day, where I get to hang out with him alot, he just wanted to basically nurse all day long. So I missed him.
So we were all set, my fiancee made herself some eggs, while I changed him and prepared for us to hang out for the night, and with some convincing due to the fact that she wanted to stay with him, she needed to sleep, so she went to be around 6:30-7. So from then on, I made myself some dinner with talking to my son, he's really quite the talker. Then we went to sit down, I got him some dinner too, tonite was a formula night. He doesnt have formula very often, but tonite was a must.
After changing him yet again, he downed his bottle of formula no problem, was burping great, and I thought awesome, I will be able to get him to go to sleep. This way, my fiancee can sleep the night and wake up at like 2 in the morning to feed him, and not just go down for a nap. So I swaddled him, and he downed a second bottle of formula (1 can of of the premixed stuff in total). Then he was still hungry, so I unfroze some breast milk we had stored, still burping great, all is good his eyes are looking SO TIRED though, i was worried he was over tired. He finished a bottle of breast milk too.
Im worried he's going to throw up now as thats alot of liquid for the little man to take in at once. I have so far watched about 14 minutes of Celebrity Apprentice that I taped, one of the few shows I watch on my own as my fiancee doesnt like it. But it has been about 2 hours since my fiancee went down. I have tried rocking him in the glider in his room, Ive tried rocking him in the lazy boy, i tried listening to this "Maternal love" CD that grandparents gave us, which has a heartbeat going and some calming music. I try, putting him down in his crib for about 20 minutes and watching his mobile, then I thought that might be too much stimulation so I turned it off, nothing he was just wide awake. Nuthin, he wouldnt fall asleep at all.
So about 10:30 rolls around and finally I just barely get him to sleep from me rocking him in lazyboy, and i put him down in his bassinette in our room, half hour rolls by, I got in to bed, boom he's up. I just dont get it, he hasnt slept in a LONG TIME, and nuthin, so my fiancee gets up now and she takes over. I have to work.
All through the night she is trying different things, I am trying different things, I just dont get it, its like we are brand new parents again taking home this child from the hospital. We have no idea what we are doing, nothing is working, he just isnt sleeping. I think finally this morning at 5:30 he went down to sleep, but I had to wake up to go to work today. It was such a long night I am PRAYING that he is sleeping for my fiancee.
Im wondering if any of you parents out there went through this, if certain things work when your child is going through a growth spurt, or when they are over-tired. Im pretty sure you just have to go through feeding him a ton and dealing with it, im just wondering other peoples experiences and knowledge on the subject.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
wow that sounds like a rough while. I think that for babies this always happens you think you have it down and then they decide to change it. And like everyone you tried every thing you can. The hardest part is what worked last night might not work tonight kinda thing. It is an on going battle that does lessen as they grow but I am not sure that it ever goes away.It just become easier as they grow up and can communicate, and even then sometimes it is still extremely tiring. I guess what I am getting at is, I think you did all that you could because ya never know what will work. One thing you can do is try to bath him that is the only thing I can think of that wasn't mentioned, sometimes the activity of. The bath tires them out when they are still small. Do you have a strict night time routine with him? I know some parents do the bath every night because it can be a big signal for the baby that it is bed time not just a nap time. Like I said it sounds like you did everything you could though :0)
ReplyDeleteJude went through that at about the same age. I just sat with him on my boob all day. I did manage to make myself lunch and ate it while he ate. I was lucky though, he never cluster fed at night. I do nurse Jude in bed, have you tried that? It works great, Candice will be able to doze a bit and Ben can eat. They are tired, but being hungry overrules sleep, he'll sleep eventually........Janay
ReplyDeleteI think during growth spurts babies nurse alot to grow but also to build up the milk supply so maybe keep that in mind, too. It usally only happens for a day or two at a time so I guess just try and sleep it off the few days after:) Usually after growth spurts I find that kids sleep a lot more too. Karissa
ReplyDeleteHey, from what I read you are doing everything you can, but maybe remind your fiancee on the importance of eating and drinking regualarly to keep up the milk supply. Babies nurse frequently or cluster feed when the milk is not fiiling enough, growth spurts, or trying to increase milk supply. GOod luck.
ReplyDeleteThank you for everyones comments! It also didn't help that I ate one of the no no foods that can upset his tummy too. I also tried ovol (as we just got rid of our gripe water) and he did manage to sleep for about 2 hours at that point. He is a big boy though, at 13 lbs and 6 oz, and in the 97% for his height, I sometimes wonder if he is ever going to stop his growth spurt... ;-)
ReplyDeleteI have definitely heard that lack of sleep, and as well poor hydration and stress can cause a problem with milk supply, and I had two of the three yesterday.
He is finally sleeping right now, and I had food, and a good nap with him this morning, so I am hoping for a good night! We will keep you posted!
Yeah I would try breast feeding in bed - that worked great for me too. Also sleep when he (rarely right now) sleeps. I found too when my daughter was not sleeping she would if I held her - so I would sleep on the couch with her tucked into my arm and we would sleep for hours, all cozy and warm together. I didn't do this often because I didn't want her *only* sleeping when I held her but when she was having bad days I figured it was best for both of us. He WILL sleep eventually though so just keep your chin up and always have a hug ready for each other!
ReplyDeletewow...yup have had those moments. I know for us anyways if the baby gets over tired it's not good either. If he has been fed, bum changed has burped then I would suggest sitting with him in a dark room no noise except for shhhhh shhhhh and holding him. Keep repeating the noise and hopefully he will drift off to sleep. Make sure mummy eats and gets sleep when she can and Daddy just try to be there. Sounds like you guys are doing everything you can do and really that's all you can do. Each child is different and you have to figure out each one. Good luck and it gets easier.
ReplyDelete