Infant Reflux and Night Waking: Interview With a Zombie

Look, I know zombies are really in right now. In fact, before I had kids I was in a zombie movie...really! It made RedBox ok? But I'm pretty sure the people I work with are starting to get annoyed with my daily audition for the Walking Dead. 

If you have an infant with reflux or GERD (even silent) the chances are good that regular sleep is a fleeting memory. And what's worse, is that your not sleeping because the babe isn't sleeping, and you feel bad - real bad -  because there's a sad reason for it. Even through the crankiness, all you want to do is take their discomfort away. 

I've found lots of resources that explain WHY there is night waking and WHAT you can try to help. However, when I scour most forums, it seems that even through all of the remedies, good and restorative sleeping is not guaranteed - at any age - for you or the baby.  

So instead of giving you all the tips that are supposed to help (just Google away for these), here are some tips for zombie mommies on what to do when nothing works. 

1. Train Yourself to be an Early Bird: Force yourself to go to the sleep as soon as your baby goes down "for the night." We all know this might not last too long, but I read a while back that getting a few hours in a row, early in the night, will help you physically more than getting the same hours in the early am. I'm sure it depends on the individual, but I do this whenever I can. If you have a spouse or partner, especially if they are night owls, see if they'll monitor the baby during those three hours. Or if you're the night owl, encourage a trade the other way so at least someone is good to go for the overnight long haul.
   
   
2. Give Them Some Space: I abandoned "Cry It Out" (CIO) early on with this one because 1. it's not like he's just being difficult; he's in pain here and 2. waking big brother bear from his deep slumber in the room next door is not preferred. Instead, if the night waking episode does not include screams, rather coos, laughs or babbles, I give some alone time before coming in to the rescue. I look at this more of helping him learn to "Work It Out" and see that if it's not too bad of an episode, it might be nice to find the lovey and cuddle back to sleep. If it goes on too long or escalates then I certainly intervene, but sometimes, just sometimes, they can nod back off to dreamland. 
   
   
3. Do Housework Daily in Smaller Doses: If you let everything, including laundry, pile up, you will have to exert a boat load of mental/physical energy over a long period of time in a day, and realize that the work is still not done. And you won't have a good night's sleep in your future to help recover from laborious stretches of crazy chores. That's why I elect to do more regularly maintenance of household duties to keep my energy levels ok while still getting what needs done, done. I'm a working mom so my time is limited anyway, but for all moms I believe it can help create structure and control in a situation that can be out of control. Also, it ensures you always have clean bibs, burpers, towels and back up clothes clean. It helps go back to #1 because the last thing you want to be doing is housework late at night, just waiting for the babe to awaken!
   
   
4. Coffee

What do you do knowing that sleep is not an option? 

I went from interviewing zombies to playing one in real life.