Things have taken a serious turn for the worse and I suspect the cause is E2′s move onto solid foods. Ever since we started them on Thursday, she’s had bad nights (read: I’ve had very bad nights) in which she’s gotten me up several times each night to feed her. When she’s not letting me get to bed until 1.30-2.00, and I have to be up again by 9ish for E1, and I’m up for 2-3-4 hours during the night, that doesn’t leave much time for sleep! And she’s 7 months old — we shouldn’t still be having newborn nights!
Last night was the worst. I went to bed at 1.30am, thinking that if I could get 7 hours in a row then — hey! — maybe I’d even try to get some exercise in before I get the girls up. But she had me up at 2.50am and then again at 6am. By 7am, I’d only clocked up 3 hours’ sleep and was beside myself. I managed to get a little bit more sleep, but not much, and what I did get was broken by E1 calling for me through the monitor.
My guess is that E2 is having trouble digesting her new foods. She’s always been difficult, gastro-intestinally speaking, so I guess that makes sense. I can’t imagine she’s waking up because she’s hungry — she’s getting as much as she ever did plus her new solid meal. But the timing of her wakings and the way she breaks out into full cry indicates to me that she’s having painful farts again. Painful farts mean a wide-awake baby. A wide-awake baby means a half-awake, groggy, grumpy, cursing-at-the-world mummy.
I don’t know what to do. My gut reaction is stop the solids, but she can’t be breastfed forever. I’m absolutely certain the doctor will offer nothing more than a pat on the head, a patronising smile, and advice that she will outgrow it in time. I don’t know what to do, but I need to do something so I get more sleep and I need to do it today.
Today’s prayer is for strength and reserves of patience.
Stumble it!
I’ll say prayers for strength and patience for you today, and for a settled stomach/guts for E2, and for understanding and compassion from E1. I’ll also see if I can find any other things that you might not have tried yet to help soothe E2′s insides
I’m so sorry you’re going through this and I wish I were closer and could offer to help!
Thank you, Abigail!!! I really appreciate it. If you do find any other possible causes, I’d love to know.
Better night last night — got 5 hours in a row!!! I felt high as a kite today!
[...] choice as a first food and had worked well for E1. She loved it, but it immediately resulted in some terrible nights due to painful guts keeping her (and me) up to all hours. So, I quickly moved on to mashed avocado, [...]