vigorous squirming and grunting at night

[Leebee03]

Fir the past couple of weeks my 6 week old daughter thrashes around and grunts constantly within 5-30 mins after we put her in her next to me crib at nights. It is really distressing to listen to so my partner or I often pick her up to sleep on one of us as safely as we can (which we don’t like doing), a wee google suggests it’s their digestive system but she seems worse than what I’ve read and it totally fine once she is lying on one of us and also through the day. We think she has reflux do have been giving her omeprazole for the past week but it hasn’t made any difference. Has anyone had any experience if this? Is this just normal and we need to leave her struggling Otis there anything else we can do to help her? We gave her crib at an angle already. I also keep her upright for 30mins after feeds. Thanks in advance xx

[Gempuddleduck]

Hiya, I think our baby has this too! He’s 3 and a half weeks and is showing all the signs of silent reflux. Have you googled it? Xx

[Gempuddleduck in reply to Gempuddleduck]

do you think it’s worth seeing GP?

[Leebee03 in reply to Gempuddleduck]

thanks for your reply. We spoke to go last week who prescribed the omeprazole but don’t give any advice on helping them to sleep at night 😩xx

[Rain415]

Hi Leebee, might be worth talking to gp If worried. But mine did this when he was younger and turns out he just hated being in the cot and not on me/partner his favourite bed. X

[Millbanks]

Hi lovely,

Sorry to hear how stressful this is.

I made a few recordings of my baby at night because I couldn’t believe how loud and grunty and thrashy he could be and actually be asleep. I spent forever trying to figure out if he was awake.

I would say your babe sounds normal - especially if the omeprazole hasn’t had an effect yet.

I was told by so many people that he’s grown out of it, and he did. I found it hard to believe and of course it feels like forever when you’re in the thick of it.

If she’s eating / gaining weight and healthy otherwise it’s possibly just how she is. If you’re worried speak to your midwife or health visitor xx

[Leebee03]

thanks Millbank. Sounds like your baby was similar. We made some recordings too- as you say, it’s just so unbelievable they can make so much noise. We had HC yesterday and she’s gaining weight well so seems to be healthy enough. Think we will just need to try and leave her thrashing around as much as we can until she gets upset. Good to hear your little one grew out of it. Do you remember how many weeks your wee boy was (I know they’re all different but just to get an idea)? Xx

[M_fox]

speak to your health visitor to be sure. My wee one did this and still does at 6 months but after all this time though not as bad.. think it’s just their way of settling into a sleep. I was warned by my HV to not angle the cot as it could cause SIDS, i fact she said not to have her in anything other than a flat surface until she could hold her own head at 3/4 months. Good luck x

[Leebee03 in reply to M_fox]

oh wow, I hope she won’t be like this til 6 months 🙈 I hope you’ve gotten used to it and can get some sleep. Our HV doesn’t really give us any advice or guidance at all but I don’t think the angled cot is having any benefit so will put it back flat to be on the safe side. Thanks for replying 😊 xx

[Shopper85]

I experienced this its perfectly normal and its your baby stretching growing learning how to breathe in rhythm and lying in a firm cot which is safer for them but not exactly the comfiest. Mine sounded like a mix between a chimpanze and gremlin but again it's all normal and they'll stop soon

[Leebee03 in reply to Shopper85]

thanks for your reply and it’s comforting to hear you experienced it too. It seems to be something no one ever talks about. Haha, that’s a good description! Xx

[Idril in reply to Shopper85]

May I ask when is "soon"?? Same issue here! Hard to get any sleep too! Thanks!!

[Shopper85 in reply to Idril]

After 2 months

[Idril in reply to Shopper85]

Oh I really hope ! Thanks!

[Rollercoastersmiles]

hey! I feel like I could have written this message. My 6 week old also thrashes around after being put down. Super distressing! I find that he seems to settle after a while so almost just have to stick it out for a bit. He’s also quite reflux-y but when discussed with health visitor, she didn’t seem concerned. I’ll mention it to the GP though (thanks for the tip). I’ve also read that this should settle when he’s a bit more active and he should grow out of it! Cannot wait for that to happen!!

[Leebee03 in reply to Rollercoastersmiles]

so sorry to hear you are going through this too. It’s horrible to see them like that. Glad your little one seems to settle down a bit. My wee one does sometimes for a bit but other nights, like tonight, it’s all night. Do speak to your up about the reflux. Having spoken to a lot of mums, they may try and give you gaviscon in the first instance. The majority of mums said this didn’t help and just constipated their baby, so we decided to skip that, but you may prefer to try it first. The omeprazole is s bit awkward, as you need to dissolve half a tablet which takes a while and turns into powder blobs which are hard to get out of syringe. A tip we were given was to use the syringe from calpol which has a different opening which allows more out. Definitely looking forward to when their systems are more developed and they can get a peaceful sleep! Xx