Sleep School rocks.
Alexander's difficulties all stemmed from an irritable tummy. Without an upset tummy, sleeping is no problem for him.
For me, learning this was actually something of a relief, since it meant we could do something concrete about it. For Lisa, it was harder to accept because Alex is breastfeeding and his tummy is directly affected by her diet.
So, it was a difficult five days, coming to terms with some very large changes. There wasn't much I could do other than offer reassurance that Lisa is a great mother and that we didn't know any better. Plus, it is entirely possible that part of his trouble was due to his neck being out of alignment, from his birth difficulties (the cord was around his neck). During Sleep School he was seen by a chiropractor, who reckoned the neck problem could be interfering with the nerve impulses going to his bowels. At any rate, he was definitely more relaxed after his neck adjustment.
With the diet, rather than trying things one by one and waiting to see what happened, we just blitzed everything. After all we only had five days together with the nurses. Once we get Alex settled for a month or so, we can start reintroducing things one by one.
After a week of no dairy, no tomato, and no artificially coloured/flavoured soft drink (along with no onion/garlic/chilli/and everything else we had already omitted), Alexander is sleeping like we've never seen him sleep before. Twice already he's slept through the night without needing food. And when he does eat, he feeds much easier, without fussing. He naps during the day for two to three hours at a time. Unbelievable.
Sleep School rocks.
Lisa spent the week with the nicest group of women and the most adorable babies. In the photo below are Riley, Mikaela, Zali, and Alexander (Aisling left the hospital before we took the photo).
Click on the photo for a larger version.