Sleep tips for an infant with reflux

[Anonymous]

The Dex wedge is the best - the one the PP commented that goes under the mattress.

I'd talk to your ped about a medication change or even better, get to a GI doc.

Also, try some mylicon to help get the gas out if you can't burp. If they will lay on their backs, do some exercises like bike legs/up down legs, etc. Sometimes that helps with gas.

[Anonymous]

a friend used the tucker sling for both her kids; swears by it: http://www.tuckersling.com/

my son? nothing worked but holding or wearing him against my or my husband's chest (heart to heart) to sleep for the first 6 months. we all got sleep this way. i'm a sahm, so it worked easily for us...guess it'd be different if you woh.

[sybersus]

We've been having our daughter (2 1/2 months old now) sleep in the Fisher-Price rock-n-play for newborns, and it's been a godsend. Ped gave us the okay on this. Good luck OP - hope your little one feels better.

[Anonymous]

I second the fisher price rock and play. It worked like a charm for my ds who had mild reflux. He then transitioned to a crib when he outgrew it. It's inexpensive and folds up flat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hello! My four-month-old baby boy was recently diagnosed with silent gastroesophogeal reflux. One of the major pain points for infants with reflux is sleeping in comfort. He won't let me burp him after he eats (he usually nurses from one side and falls asleep) and when I put him on his back in the crib...he wakes up and cries in pain. Lately, I have tried putting him on his side, which seems like a comfortable position to him, however, he eventually rolls on his back and wakes up.

Does anyone have tips for getting a baby with reflux to sleep well? A friend of my MIL recommended the "nap nanny", but this product was recalled in 2010...it works like a sleep positioner and sleep positioners pose a risk of SIDS.

Thank you in advance for any advice you can offer!

FWIW, not all of the nap nannies were recalled - I think only the ones without the D rings under the cover - and then there was guidance for making sure you use the rings properly. the injuries/death resulted from people using them in a crib - the babies flipped out and wedged head between nap nanny and crib. We are using one now (on the floor) and it works well for DS. When he was smaller he liked the FP rock and play sleeper but for some reason that lost its allure. The nap nanny seems more comfortable. A

[Anonymous]

Thank you again for all the great suggestions! Unfortunately, we are now dealing with reflux and RSV. Poor baby wheezes and has a terrible cough from the RSV. Really hoping we can get him well again so we only have to deal with his reflux.

[Anonymous]

DD slept in the baby bjorn bouncer until she was about 4 months old. We swaddled her, put her in the bouncer, and covered her in another blanket. It was the only positioning she could sleep in where she did not gurgle.

[Anonymous]

We put a pillow under the head of the mattress in the crib, and then rolled up a few towels to create a wide "U" shape towards the middle of the mattress. We then covered those towels with a blanket that we tucked in at the sides, so that they would stay in place. This helped our baby to sleep with head elevated, but without slipping down the mattress. Ours suffered from severe (corrosive) reflux.

OP, I second the suggestion of making a GI appointment. Children's has a good practice. This board has many other suggestions as well. As specialists, they are better equipped to diagnose and treat the problem. Good luck - it will get better soon!

[Anonymous]

ugh, RSV is a nightmare OP. You have my sympathies

[Anonymous]

Give your child a digestive enzyme with her formula or breast milk and it will digest instead of come back out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you again for all the great suggestions! Unfortunately, we are now dealing with reflux and RSV. Poor baby wheezes and has a terrible cough from the RSV. Really hoping we can get him well again so we only have to deal with his reflux.

There are 2 fantastic homeopathic remedies for this that will END the wheezing in hours. Go to your local healthfood store and go to the Boiron Homeopathics display. Buy: 1. Drosera Rotundifolia and 2. Spongia Toasta I've been studying homeopathy for a year now. I've been using these homeopathics on my children for years now. They work beautifully.

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone. We have tried raising one end of the mattress in a number of different ways...nothing worked. Even when he didn't slide, he didn't like being on the raised end of his bed.

Not sure what to do next...he doesn't like the swing and after reviewing the tucker sling and RESQ wedge...these are expensive items that I am not sure I want to buy unless I know they will help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks everyone. We have tried raising one end of the mattress in a number of different ways...nothing worked. Even when he didn't slide, he didn't like being on the raised end of his bed.

Not sure what to do next...he doesn't like the swing and after reviewing the tucker sling and RESQ wedge...these are expensive items that I am not sure I want to buy unless I know they will help.

Some simpler things to try. Make a towel roll and put it in a U under a fitted mattress sheet so that it makes a little horseshoe for your DS. Then put him in the horseshoe with his head on the middle of the U and his feet coming out the open end. The point is to have his head higher than his stomach and not have any loose materials that could pose a suffocation risk to the baby.

We also have a boppy pillow and cover it with a receiving blanket (big one with the corners tucked under the pillow) and put him in the pillow the same was as above. If you are worried about the suffocation risk, you can leave the receiving blanket off, but we find that the blanket helps when ours still occasionally spits up. The blanket them goes into the daily kids' laundry.

[Anonymous]

I wanted to reiterate the Baby Bjorn bouncer



It was a lifesaver. She slept right next to my bed. I think she felt really secure in it, and it was the only thing that gave her enough of an angle to keep the reflux at bay. She would sleep almost the entire night in it.

[Anonymous]

ask your ped about having baby sleep on stomach. also, I held my baby upright for 30 min after each feeding. Yeah, in the middle of the night it sucked, but it did help a lot.