Puking better, sleeping worse?

[aubrey's mom]

My 3.5 month old GERDling is a puker and is on 10 mg of Nexium 3 x a day. She rarely bfs well and I can't pump enough, so I'm supplementing and have just switched to gentlease. Not sure if the meds are kicking in, or the gentlease is helping (and I'm afraid to jinx this by typing it), but her puking is improving to a few small ones per feed instead of 8-10 larger ones per feed. She is MUCH more interested in eating and always cries when her bottle's gone even thought she's just had 6 oz. She is waking earlier and more frequently at night, but still coughing/gasping in the night in her Tucker sling. Not sure if maybe her increased interest in eating is causing more night waking or if my thinking she's better is just wishful...

[Mary]

I'm glad to hear that she's more interested in feeding/is puking less! That being said, nighttime can be rough even for kids whose reflux is improved during the day. It could be because the tummy is more full at night (I read recently that emptying can slow at night), it could be because her meds are wearing off at night and she needs a little something before bedtime/during the night...or it could even be that she's awakening at night to eat just because she's hungry (and those night feedings are causing some reflux because her meds have worn off).

How many times per night is she waking up?
When she wakes up, how do you get her back to sleep?
Do the coughing/choking episodes occur after you've given a nighttime bottle, or are these episodes what awaken her in the first place?

Do you give any meds just before bedtime/during the night?

[aubrey's mom]

Waking about 5-6 x per night, I try the pacifier a few times, then bf (night time is the only time she'll bf for more than a few minutes), the coughing episodes are what wakes her up, if I feed her, they start again about 3-4 hours later. She takes 10 mg of Nexium around 8 am, 4:30 pm and 9 pm (20 min prior to every other feeding). I also give 3 ml of Mylanta 1-2x in the evenings if she's having a bad day. The last couple days/nights have been bad and I'm starting to notice a runny nose. Maybe she's caught her sister's cold and that's making everything worse. I wonder if I should try to eliminate her 9:00 feeding and see if she'll sleep better.

Do you give any meds just before bedtime/during the night?

[Mommy2Sammy]

I'm wondering if perhaps she's eating a little too much. How often do you feed her? My son is almost 6 months old and he rarely drinks 6oz at a feeding. Sometimes smaller, more frequent feedings can help reduce the issues of reflux because when their tummies are fuller they are much more likely to reflux. I noticed with Sam that smaller, more frequent feedings can help with that.

Does the Tucker sling keep her at a 30 degree angel at night? With very little pressure on her tummy?

Just some ideas, I don't know a whole lot but I've learned a bit from some of my son's experiences.

Melissa

[aubrey's mom]

I feed her 5-6 oz every 3-4 hours. I do think smaller feedings may help, but then I get so confused as to whether she's getting cranky b/c she's hungry or sleepy. She also ALWAYS cries at the end of her bottle so its hard to cut her off after 4 oz. Yesterday our GI suggested adding additional formula powder and rice cereal to her bottles to try to fill her up with less volume. He also suggested starting solids now. How much do you feed your son and how often? Nights seem to be better one day and worse the next. I cannot figure out why exactly. We did start trying nutramagin yesterday and so far it seems to be better.