Bye Bye Easy Street

So I lucked out for about three and a half months with a super easy baby and great sleeper. He’s still an easy baby, but the great sleeping, not so much anymore. At first I thought it was because he was sick, then I thought growth spurt, now I just don’t know.

Jett recently started waking up in the middle of the night anywhere from 1 – 3 a.m but usually closer to 3. I tried putting in the pacifier, changing his diaper, and re-swaddling all before feeding him. He was going 11-12+ hours sleeping for 2 straight months so I knew he didn’t really need the food. Most nights I was right….until a few nights ago, he would take 8 oz.  He did this 3 nights in a row and we were up for about 3 hours total figuring things out and getting settled. Last night I gave him 2 oz of chamomile tea (per the doctor’s suggestion, which I will get to in a minute) and that worked. Tonight he has already been up twice and he went to bed only TWO HOURS ago. What is going on?!?!?!

So back to the tea….

Jett has had problems with eating from the get go. We had latch and supply issues with breastfeeding and he was always starving. Then we switched to formula and one after the other seemed to bother his stomach. After trying pretty much every milk-based formula out there, I decided to try soy. Huge mistake. That was the worst of all. Yesterday was a very hard day. Poor baby was literally screaming and pretty much inconsolable for hours so I took him to the doctor. Chest, ears, throat all clear. Diagnosis colic. I’m not sure I love that diagnosis, but obviously it could be worse.

The doctor switched Baby J to Nutramigen (the hypo-allergenic and SUPER expensive formula). He also gave me some suggestions to help cope with his tummy issues. Mylicon drops 4 x a day, Gripe Water as needed, 2 oz of chamomile tea twice daily, and prescription Levsin drops as needed. He also suggested burping after every ounce, which is definitely not happening. I think the screaming when we take the bottle away probably makes the gas worse than if I don’t burp him as often.

So, that’s where we are now. He did much better today as far as the crying episodes. He seemed very content. I just don’t know why he keeps waking up at night. He eats a ton during the day that it seems nearly impossible for him to be hungry. I’m hoping that maybe the digestive problems just haven’t been completely resolved yet and that is the reason for him getting up. I also don’t understand how a baby develops colic or that it gets worse at four months old. Isn’t it supposed to go away at this point?? Anyone ever hear of something like this and have any ideas what might be going on?