Her quality of sleep at night is horrible. I thought that maybe giving cereal before bed would help to settle the stomach but is this the wrong approach? Trying the hypoallergenic formula, Zantac and elevating the bed but nothing seems to be working..not sure what else to do. She just does not sleepwell..even in the day.
Q: Is it better not to feeed solids before bed to try to get them to sleep better and longer?
Answers (2)
8/18/09 9:24pm
For my daughter the answer was a definite no on the solids before bed but for many refluxers the answer is a definite yes. The best thing to do if you can do it possibly is to come up with a plan and try it for a few days (unless you see a horrible result immediately). Then if you write down what happened you will be able to see patterns. For example, if you do solids before bed for three nights and each night she sleeps a little longer then you'll know it helped.
As a refluxer myself it is very hard for me to determine what causes me to flare. Sometimes it seems to happen for no reason. Sometimes it's hormonal. Sometimes stress, etc. Then you add to the fact that your daughter can't even tell you how she feels and it's really hard to figure out. The more info you can write down and track the better you will be able to figure it out and more info will help the docs too.
Good Luck - Stephanie
8/19/09 6:26am
Hello! I agree with Stephanie. It might help you and the doctor to keep a journal of her sleeping and eating pattern. When my daughter didn't sleep from her reflux, I couldn't remember my phone number much less how often she woke up at night. The exhaustion was so painful. I am sure that I don't have to tell you that! But a list of symptoms and the number of times she woke up really helped me and the doctor to assess how severe her reflux was and how successful the treatment plan was (or wasn't!).
Unfortunately, there is no one size fits all treatment. The good news is, there are many treatment options available. Some babies do better with the cereal or thickener in the bottle, others need a few small meals in between bottles, medication, not medication, etc. It can be very confusing and frustrating to try different treatment plans. I hear over and over again from parents that often the trial and error leads to a better result and calms the reflux. You might not get to sleep all night but how about one waking each night rather than six times?
You have been dealing with this for quite some time so don't hesitate to check back with the doctor and let him/her know you are still seeing some worrisome signs of discomfort.
Most of all, please check in with us and let us know how you are doing!
Jan Gambino
The Reflux Mom
www.refluxmom.com
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By no clue— Last Modified: 12/16/10, First Published: 08/18/09
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thanks for both responses. I have been keeping a diary of her days since she was born so hopefully i can sort things out. When only on milk she seems to do better when she doesn't have anything to close to bed but still not sleeping soundly the whole night. am now trying to give cereal about an hour before bed and see if that helps. Thanks for the insights it was helpful.