# Grunting/straining in her sleep



## beatee (Nov 9, 2006)

My 2 and a half week old has had this rather disconcerting/annoying habit since a few days after she was born. During the light phases of her sleep, she makes very loud grunting/straining sounds. At first I would always pick her up, and wake her to comfort/feed her, but last week we realised that if she isn't disturbed she will sleep right through it and go back into a deep, silent sleep. The noises are really horrible, it sounds like an old man with constipation, or perhaps me in labour.... She stretches a lot whilst making them, doesn't seem in distress, but what could it be? I'm sure it's probably normal, but my goodness it makes it completely impossible for us to sleep, and the noises really really set my teeth on edge (don't inspire maternal feelings at all.... more like intense annoyance and mild rage...)

I suppose it may be wind, as I never seem to be able to get her to burp properly after night feeds (probably cos I'm too tired to sit upright for any length of time, but I do try! She doesn't seem to do it when lying tummy to tummy on top of me, but I'm very reluctant to sleep like that as I know someone whose baby died sleeping in that position (I'm sure lots of people on here will say it had nothing to do with the sleeping position but it's hard not to worry when you actually know someone who had it happen, as I'm sure you can imagine). She sleeps either in a moses basket right next to me, or in our bed (which I'm really not comfortable with as I'm so knackered that my reactions are just shot and I keep waking up almost on top of her, so I'm getting even less sleep, and possibly endangering her.

So, any suggestions? Am I being evil and neglectful not waking her up to do something? How the hell are we ever going to get any sleep through this noise? Will it just go away eventually (probably to be replaced with something muchg worse, like an actual upset baby!)


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## MotherofEden (Jan 11, 2007)

my dd (now almost 5 weeks) is a serious grunter. Her bouts usually start early in the morning, and it seems that being propped up (on my belly, often) at an angle helps. we thought she might be a little refluxy. I guess she grunted more consistantly a while ago, but swaddling and sleeping on her side seem to help her sleep more soundly.
Sorry you're not sleeping- I know it can be miserable.


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## koru (Sep 7, 2006)

my 5 week old guy does the same thing. it was much worse in his initial weeks but it's slowly getting better. it is definitely gas with him. he grunts & strains & sometimes even cries out. he won't stop without intervention, though, or fills his pants. he's graduated from grunting all night to only early in the morning. usually at around 5am he wakes for a feeding so i nurse him, burp him real well & put him down on his stomach (i know this is controversial but it works for us).


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## MommyTeesa (Jun 13, 2006)

Same here with my almost 8 wk old. It happens after I move him from our bed (he's asleep after nursing lying down). He's silent when laying in our bed. Sometimes he's so loud I can't get back to sleep and I go sleep in the guest room! For some reason he just doesn't poop at night and sometimes I've tried burping him and picking him up and burping again and again (after he grunts and sometimes gurgles) with no difference, so I just don't know what to do. It's also worse here after the 1st or 2nd feeding. I've also put him on his tummy to finish his sleep if it's after 6 or 7 am and we're awake - he sleeps so well then!!!


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## kewpie-o (Jun 1, 2006)

We've got a grunter here too. I can tell when my 9 week old DD does it (usually in the early morning, but used to be intermittently through the night as well), that she is trying to pass gas or work out a poo. I've read that sometimes babies have a lot of trouble relaxing their sphincter muscle to just "let it all out"







, which is why some of them strain so hard to go. And that also explains why many babies poo their diapers and pass gas while they are latched onto momma - they are totally relaxed at the breast, making it easier to go. So, I guess my only advice is to breastfeed so your little one can relax her muscles....but I'm sure with her sleeping with you, you are nursing her through the night anyway.

I know what you mean about the sleeping situation - I feel like that sometimes too. I used to sleep w/ DD in our reclining chair tummy-to-tummy on my chest, but a few times I woke up with her dangerously close to the edge of the chair or just in a weird position on my lap that made me nervous and wonder if it was a suffocation hazard. Like you, I was just so tired - I don't think I was my normal alert self and I couldn't believe that DD could move that much without me waking up!







:

She sleeps in the bed with us now, but I still feel a little nervous about it because DH is a very restless sleeper.







: And I have woken up to find DD's face buried into my chest (she loves to cuddle)....which is cute and looks comfy, but I don't want to smother her!!!!


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## TirzhaZ (Jun 15, 2007)

DD was a grunter too! She was a gassy little girl







DH and I always waited a minute to see if she would wake up, but she usually just fell right back asleep. I figured it was MORE harmful to wake her to comfort her because then everyone was getting less sleep when she really just needed to grunt and stir a little. I don't know how to help you with the noise and sleeping through it. Maybe you and DH can take turns wearing earplugs? That way one of you can still hear if she is in real distress or is hungry, etc. As far as smooshing her, DH and I found that it really helped in those early weeks to rolld up towels and place them on either side of DD. She had her own little space on our bed and the towels kept her from rolling toward us and vise versa. When she got hungry, I just slipped one of the towels away and nursed laying down. Worked for us. Good luck!


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## katemum (May 14, 2007)

We had the same problem with dd in the first 2 months. I had been practicing abdominal massage during the day and it helped her pass gas and poo. One early morning, in desperation, I massaged her tummy when she was grunting like crazy and it really helped! She slept through it, passed the gas and settled right back down. This worked for a number of weeks(sometimes she pooped and I had to change her diaper, but at least the grunting stopped!).

If you want to try it, the massage stroke is called "I Love You" - it's in the Dr. Sears baby book and you can probably find it online. Basically you need to stay below the belly button, and always end your strokes at the lower left hand part of dc's abdomen - semicircles work too (lower right - up under belly button - lower left).

Good luck.


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## JenLiz (Sep 17, 2006)

my 5 mo dd had the same issue in the early weeks and first couple months. I took dairy out of my diet and it stopped. Now, at almost 6 months she's still gassy but the straining and the pain I think she was in stopped. When i eat dairy again, it starts up again. It took 2 weeks to get out of my system and another week to get out of hers. It's SO hard to not have dairy but I needed more sleep and she was keeping me up for hours with her grunting, plus, i new she wasn't sleeping soundly through it (she would stay asleep too!). Oh, and i do wear ear plugs in one ear - the ear that's not against the pillow. I can hear her fine, it just cuts out her moving around noises that keep me awake.

Ok, we also used a bulster to have her lie on her side which helped. Still do.
Good luck.

EDITED IN: Oh, what's your baby's poop like? Is it frothy and green? Another culprit for us along with dairy is I found I had a fast let down of milk supply adding to the gas issue. See if any of this sounds like you http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/fast-letdown.html


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