What am I doing wrong?

[Miss Tazar]

Hi All
My bub is 10 weeks old and sleep is elusive. We are following a play, feed, sleep cycle which works with her getting anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours sleep.
But. my main question is - can anyone tell me why she wakes herself up with a giant whole body spasm and cries very loudly? She is waking herself up and I don't know what is causing the spasms, so I don't know how to manage it / fix it.
Any ideas would be appreciated.
Thanks Roxi

[Mrs Little]

Hi Roxi....

sorry to hear your bubs is not sleeping well.

Maybe you could try the cycle the other way round......feed/wake then sleep....then start again...feedwakesleep.

She may have reflux...if she is waking out of a sleep with a scream......you could try lifting the end of her mattress up a little....so it's on a 45 degree angle...

you could also try sitting her upright when you feed her ( as best you can) and letting her sit upright for 3o mins after a feed.

You can always go to a pead. to see if she has reflux....but most tell you to try mylanta first...if that works then they give you a medication called zantac.

My son had some very similar experinces as your baby....it is really hard on them , as they can't get consistant peaceful sleep because they are in pain.


Some simple suggestions....does she have some wind she needs help to get out...does she have a burp.....is she still hungry...

Hope this helps....pm me if you need.

Mrs Little & Son.

[dannii]

yeah i have the same problem with my DD. She will wake herself up by throwing her arms in the air and then i can't get her back to sleep.!
She will get no sleep at all at times because of this. And will just scream .

In the hospital, the midwife had rugged her up tight, and then placed her semi on her side and strategically placed rolled up blankets either side of her to give the "illusion" she was on her tummy.

It worked!
Its too darn hot to rug her up now. but i usually let her sleep on her tummy.. i know lot of people will shake their head at me!
but its the ONLY time she will sleep!

i watch her carefully especially the first few times i done it.

My Baby monitor that i use has a camera on it, so i see her at ALL times.

i cant be of too much help to you, but i know its a pain, when they keep waking themselves up!!

Good luck

[JanetF]

If you suspect your wee one is in pain a trip to an osteopath could well help her without having any drugs. There are also some homeopathics which have no side effects and are very gentle on babies but great for reflux.

She may just be waking up with a fright because babies sleep changes as their brains mature and they start to sleep more deeply. Sometimes they startle awake from this with a big cry as deep sleep is not good for very small babies and when it first starts happening they can find it scary. It's like a little alarm goes off in their heads and startles them awake. It goes away as they get used to the change in their sleep cycles and sleeping more deeply.

Check out the rest of this site but here's what Sears says about changes in sleep.
http://askdrsears.com/html/7/T070200.asp

One thing we have learned during our years in pediatrics is that babies do what they do because they're designed that way. In the case of infant sleep, research suggests that active sleep protects babies. Suppose your baby sleeps like an adult, meaning predominantly deep sleep. Sounds wonderful! For you, perhaps, but not for baby. Suppose baby had a need for warmth, food, or even unobstructed air, but because he was sleeping so deeply he couldn't arouse to recognize and act on these needs. Baby's well being could be threatened. It appears that babies come wired with sleep patterns that enable them to awaken in response to circumstances that threaten their well being. We believe, and research supports, that frequent stages of active (REM) sleep serve the best physiologic interest of babies during the early months, when their well being is most threatened.