United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hello,
My son is now 5 months old with a LOBPI. He hasn't had surgery, and is making nice progress in therapy. However, he always wakes up about every 1 1/2 to 2 hours. We have tried everything under the sun to get him to sleep and nothing works. I wonder if his arm is bugging him, but his pediatrician thinks I'm a quack. Im losing my mind...........any ideas?

Thanks.

OK-you may have tried all of this....but you didnt say what you have tried so I'll just tell you what I do and if youve tried it ...well then youve tried it. (i'm a little nuerotic huh)....new mom thats my excuse. I would wrap her up like a sausage in a blanket, rock her back and forth really fast (not so fast she is not safe) and say "shhhhhh" reallly really loud. It worked every time. I had a routine every night- goes like this , bath time, story time , a large dose of formula, sausage, rocking,,,,shhhhhing=sleeping baby. My mom would advise letting the little one cry it out and says that they will go to sleep sooner or later.

First off-has he ever slept longer? Our pediatrician, neurologist ect… have all said at this stage (Trent is 3 months) his arm isn’t painful. I am not sure about 5 months.

If he has never slept longer then I would say it is now a habit at 5 months. ( I am not a new mom- I have a 3 year old as well, which does not make me an expert by any means.) Does he have any other conditions ie.. reflux, food allergies?

Maybe he gets cold. I use the sleep sac so I don’t need to use a blanket, which he was kicking off and making dangerous, which in turn made him cold. Don’t get me wrong, Trent still gets up every night at 3:45, I eventually stopped feeding him about a week ago and just rock him back to sleep for a few minutes, then he sleeps until about 6:00ish I will let him cry it out within the next two weeks-b/c I know he can make it without food.

How many hours is he sleeping during the day?

I hope it helps-just some things to think about.
Anita

My daughter did not sleep through the night for the first 3.5 years of her life! I tried many things; her stamina for crying it out was unbearable to me.
I finally tried something suggested to me, a nikken pet pad. It could be just because it was soft and kind of furry, but the first night she slept on it, she slept through the night!
My son also use to rub a "silky" when he went to sleep (it was a silk night shirt of mine that he quickly took over and it became like his "blanky").

I'm wondering about your son's arm. Emma's arm use to get very cold when she slept and Kath (adult OBPI) has stated that happens to her and it is bothersome.

Good luck!
Peggy

Forgot to say Emma is now 9 years old. She still fights sleep, but once she is asleep, she sleeps well.

The sausage, fast rock adn loud shhhhh works. Thats how both of my kids were put to sleep as young babies.
Once they turned a year- I let them cry it out. I am not a big fan of cereal in the bottle, but some people swear by it. It keeps them fuller, longer. My older son (no injury) slept through the night from day 1. Javier (ROBPI) on the other hand took quite a bit longer. But, I soon figured out that his arm was cold. This was pre-resting hand splint. I got some tubing( looks like a sock w/out toes) and put it on his arm evrynight to keep his arm warm. Lo and behold it works!! Sometimes with kids you have to try a little bit of everything, but once you find something that works you tend to stick with it. If you try the cry it out method. Start with a few minutes at first and add more every other day. Javier is one and I put him to bed at 9pm every night, sleep or not and he is always out like a light within 10 minutes.
Hope you find something fast.

Sincerely, Marlyn

Miss Mae, My daughter was like this until the moment she had primary surgery and then it all stopped and she became a new child. She was most definitely in constant pain. I'm not saying that your baby needs surgery, but I am saying that it's all possible that your baby has pain. Have you gone to a bpi specialist yet?

Neither one of my girls let me rock them to sleep! They were both put in their cribs and just went to sleep. If they did fuss, it wasn't very long and their mobile music soothed them. Now, Sarah is 3 and can't sleep without watching The Incredibles (movie of the month) first! LOL. After about 30 minutes, she is out!

My son (LOBPI, now 11 months) also used to wake a lot. For the first 5-6 months he was "fussy but consoleable." I had to rock him constantly, etc. We did bedtime sleep training at 4 months, and he would go to sleep easily, but still wake often. However, I didn't wean him from night feedings until after his mod quad surgery at 6 months (he didn't need primary). At 6 months he became a much easier happier baby.

My family thinks he was definitely in pain before the surgery. I'm not sure I agree. First, I really can't bear to think that he was in pain all those months! But also, soon after the surgery he started solids and was fully sleeped trained (weaned from night feedings, i.e., well rested).

I know crying it out can be very hard! I don't want to be offensive here, but sometimes people think they have sleep trained (and it didn't work), but if you don't really know all the details, you may be missing a step and then it won't work. I suggest reading Dr. Ferber's book "Solve your child's sleep problems," and Dr. Weisbluth's "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child."

But, I agree to make sure he is warm enough, etc. too! I would caution, though, using extra blankets or pads though because of SIDS.

If you need some support through the sleep training, feel free to contact me: lexipward@hotmail.com. The support can really help!

My daughter non-bpi didn't sleep throught the night for the longest time. My BPI child always and still does sleep like a log, but he is 6 1/2 now.