Update.

[rivka]

When I wrote yesterday's post I had forgotten the whole "sleep begets sleep" thing about babies. In fact, last night was a lot better. Colin had one 2.5-hour stretch, one 2-hour stretch, and two one-hour stretches. Which leaves me feeling more or less human in the morning.

I am a better problem-solver when I have slept a little more. It became clear to me at one point last night that he was having some painful issues with gas, and in retrospect that's what was probably wrong most of the previous night. Feeding him moderately and then working on getting rid of the gas (burping, firm backrubs, lying him on his belly on my chest, Mylicon drops although they didn't seem to help) worked a lot better than lots of alternations between comfort nursing and trying to get him to sleep on his back.

Comments

[kate_nepveu]

Our pediatrician said that Mylicon tended not to work in really small infants. After that, we started asking SteelyKid if she wanted her tasty tasty pink placebo, before giving it to her.

I think of you every time I airplane SteelyKid, by the way, including alas last night, though, like Colin, she did end up having a better night than the prior.

Best wishes for the gas being a transitory problem.

[erbie.livejournal.com]

My first was a very gassy baby. Two things helped her.

One was to lay her on her belly across my (or dad's) lap, with her head on one thigh and her legs hanging down off the other side, so her belly had a little pressure against my thigh from the weight of her legs pulling down.

The other thing was to hold her belly down along my forearm, with her head in my hand and her legs and arms dangling down on either side of my arm, butt at the crook of my elbow.

[ailbhe]

My mother says she got great comfort from having babies sleep on their tummies.

She doesn't *recommend* it, because she knows the numbers as well as anyone else, she just wistfully remembers how good it was for wind.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

Just checking

You know about bicycling, right? Pedal the legs back and forth and the little knees up to the tummy. Can sometimes provoke a fart, causing relief.