Too Many Causes, Too Little Sleep

by Tamara Wilhite
(Bedford, TX)

My daughter never truly slept through the night until she was over a year old. She often woke up every two to three hours, crying often in sheer pain. Every diagnosis led to progress, or not, but there were so many causes that we never truly got good sleep in.

Cause 1: Breastfed my first born, and had to do it every 2 hours to keep her fed.

Cause 2: My daughter was born with clubbed feet. She had to start casting at age 8 days. It was better than surgery on two tiny feet, but it was uncomfortable for her on the best days. Add in the occasional kicking of the side of the crib or hitting it with a cast when rolling over at night, startling herself awake and us with her screams of surprised terror, and you can see why that was a problem.

Cause 3: A stomach that didn't like formula with added iron. Switched to low iron formula and held off on baby food after she had a gluten and egg allergy. Nothing is worse than the food you give your child leading to digestive pain.

Cause 4: I thought it was smart to make formula in advance and put it in the fridge. Then, when she woke up, I'd "nuke" it in 15 seconds and be good to go. Unfortunately, the center never quite got hot enough (I didn't heat it long enough to be too hot for her). Thus the cold part of the formula made her uncomfortable or even painful.

Solutions:
1. Some women can't breastfeed well. Either not enough milk or not enough mass in it. Trying to feed my daughter that way meant she was never fully full. Switched to formula, and did a little better.

2. Some medical issues, such as the casting, you just have to deal with.

3. Make sure formula is warm enough for the baby.

4. Get down to the food tolerance causes quickly and solve them.