9 month old with recent sleep issues

amother

Sun, Sep 14 2014, 2:37 pm

Help! I thought I finally had a reasonable schedule with my DC. About 9 months old and about since we started solids a few months back we were only having 1 waking a night and quick back to sleep for a few hours. Last week DC wasn't feeling well so was waking every 2 hours and wouldn't go back until I nursed for a really long time, longer than even day feedings! I'm cracked and in so much pain I wince whenever I need to nurse. And now that DC is feeling better the wakings still occurred last night! Help! I need ideas on how to get back to a schedule, plus any tips for my poor chest. I bled a little into my nursing pad-eek! It hurts so badly- I haven't hurt like this for a real long time. And I am so exhausted! DH helps a ton and can't possibly help more!

sweetpotato

Mon, Sep 15 2014, 12:39 pm

For your nipples, if lanolin isn't helping, talk to a lactation consultant, doctor or La Leche League consultant about getting a prescription for "All Purpose Nipple Ointment" (http://www.nbci.ca/index.php?option=com_content&id=76:all-purpose-nipple-ointment-apno&Itemid=17)

It's a mixture of an anti inflammatory and anti bacterial ointment and it works wonders. You have to get it filled at a pharmacy that does compounding.

mandr

Mon, Sep 15 2014, 2:36 pm

It sounds like your baby is teething. Otherwise, frequent nursing shouldn't be causing you that kind of pain or soreness. I personally only enforce training methods if I know without a doubt that my baby is NOT hungry and NOT sick. At 9 mos your baby might also be having a growth spurt now, but that doesn't last more than a few days tops.

amother

Tue, Sep 16 2014, 2:20 am

mandr wrote:

DC wasn't feeling well last week so could it still be causing multiple nighttime wake ups? Frequent nursing hasn't caused me problems before. But now it does. DC just starts and doesn't want to stop and screams when I try to!

mandr

Tue, Sep 16 2014, 10:14 am

It really sounds like teething to me. My baby had the same thing. After having been sick for a few days with an ear infection and then pneumonia, his teething took over. After having been on Tylenol and Motrin rouind the clock, suddenly he was now feeling all the pain. Some babies can't stand sucking while teething, but other babies love it and find it so comforting. It sounds like yours is the latter (like mine). He'd suck and suck and because he wasn't yet aware of how his new teeth were positioned, he'd graze the edge of my nipple and cause soreness. It goes away, don't worry. Even after nursing 10 minutes (his normal is about 5), he'd yell if I pulled him off because at that point he wasn't even getting anything anymore. So then I'd give him the paci with a quick seamless transfer between nipple and paci and then he'd be fine.

Try Highland's teething tablets. It soothes the gums and it helps deal with irritability and wakefulness. They're homeopathic so you can give him a few times a day.

amother

Tue, Sep 16 2014, 11:30 am

mandr wrote:

My experience is so similar! Sucking way longer than usual, screaming when I tried to delatch....
But my DC hates the paci. Hasn't used it in months. I might try Motrin/ Tylenol tonight as it might be teething pain...
Thanks!