About
Megan Faure
Megan Faure (Bsc OT, OTR) has worked in paediatrics for twelve years both in the USA and South Africa. She is an active member of the South African Institute for Sensory Integration (SAISI) and is the secretary of the Western Cape Association for Infant Mental Health. Having specialised in both sensory integration and neurodevelopmental therapy she has worked with children with learning difficulties and motor problems and in recent years moved onto working specifically with babies with sensory integration difficulties. These infants display extreme fussiness, poor sleep habits and, often, feeding problems. She is a lecturer for SAISI on treatment and theory specialization courses, lectures to professionals on various topics related to infant development and the treatment of infants and regularly gives parent talks on issues concerning development and child rearing. She also writes articles for magazines and has been published in the SAISI periodical. Megan is married with a son (born 1998) and two daughters (born 2000 & 2005), whose upbringing provides her with great joy - plus renewed awareness of the benefits of understanding a baby’s signals, structuring a flexible routine and providing an optimal sensory environment for their development.
Hi Meg,
I desperately need your help. My baby boy is 4 months old and up till now slept very well only waking to feed between 3 and 5 am. Until recently he has started waking up every hour with a shrill scream. I then have to get up to put his dummy in only to be woken up in an hour the same way. I swaddle him, he has his dummy and i have a fan going for white noise so i feel like im doing everything right but it just doesnt seem to help. he recently suffered from a throat infection but it is all cleared up. Ive tried giving him solids thinking it might be due to hunger but he is adamant in not opening his mouth for even a taste.
Please Help
Carrie
Hi Carrie.
Please have a look at our website for 2 articles that I think may help you.
http://www.mybabysense.co.uk/peaceful-nights/articles-of-interest/the-mystery-of-frequent-night-wakings
http://www.mybabysense.co.uk/peaceful-nights/articles-of-interest/sleep-and-your-sick-child
I hope they help.
Hi Meg,
I need your help. My son Hayden is 22 months old, and his baby brother Connor 6 months. I have been using my Baby Sense book with both my children. Hayden was a very easy baby, he was sleeping through from 7 weeks old, I never had a problem with him. 2 weeks ago we had an armed robbery at the house. Me and my husband were at work. It was only the domestic worker with the kids. Luckily Hayden was taking his nap when everything happened. He only woke up when the guys were gone it makes it much easier for me, because I don’t need to explain anything to a 2 year old. In a way I think he did experience all the emotions afterward (all the crying etc.)
He wakes up 3-4 times at night crying, he doesn’t want to sleep in his bed, he comes to our bedroom. I don’t want to get him into a habit of sleeping with us, so at this stage I go and lie with him on his bed. He falls asleep, I leave the room, its not 2 minutes and his back in my room. I moved his room to see if that doesn’t help, it didn’t. I have put his mattress next to my bed, he doesn’t want to sleep there. He still doesn’t talk, so it doesn’t help me asking him what is wrong. I am so tired, it feels like I can’t anymore. Please give me some advice.
Yolande
Hi Yolande
I am so sorry to hear about your robbery. What a terrible thing to have gone through. As you say thankfully your baby boy was napping at the time.
For the issue of your little man roaming and coming to your bed at night I would suggest you read the following article by Ann Richardson.
http://www.mybabysense.co.uk/peaceful-nights/articles-of-interest/toddler-roaming-at-night
I hope this helps.
Antoinette
Hi Yolande
How traumatic! I am so sorry that you had to experience this trauma. Not being there must make you feel very vulnerable for what could have happened to your children. Little ones experience trauma by watching your reaction. For this reason you need to be debriefed, as does your nanny. In addtion you both must not speak about the event as traumatic in his presence. Rather make it matter of fact and talk about the trauma when he is not around. Hayden probably is suffering a degree of trauma due to your reaction.
As far as the sleeping goes, I suggest you allow him to sleep in your bedroom on the floor next to your bed for now. Be firm about boundaries that you do not want him to cross, such as getting into your bed (if this is a habit you want to avoid). But I suggest you respect his need to be close right now and go with the floow a bit. The time will come when he is back in his own bed.
Hi Meg
I need your help please….I have been following the Sleep Sense Book and think it is amazing (Like a Bible for new moms) and every mom should have this book.
My son is 4 months old and weighs 7kg. I recently discovered that he suffers from reflux and not colic as everyone thought. Symptoms include …only happy when upright, wet burps, vomiting, wheezing, arching of back during and after feed, hiccups, crying spells, battle to settle, fussy eater..swallows air and makes this funny noise when eating (Dr. said the epiglottis is still immature), dry cough after feeds and can not handle more than 125ml per feed!
He has been on Infasoy since 9 weeks of age and it made a huge difference. He is more content in between feeds and sleeps much better. Recently the reflux just got worse and I read that it can peak between 4-6 months. Only started him on reflux medication a week ago when it was confirmed that he had reflux. (Still thought he had colic and was just a poor sleeper.) He is on Losec 10mg (1/2 tablet bd ) and mucaine tds.
I just want to know if i am doing the right thing….I hate giving him medicine but I’ve been doing the Losec daily at night (5mg) and the mucaine twice a day. The crying spells stopped and he is easier to put to sleep but the vomiting was still a concern.
I know they have to outgrow the reflux and that we can only treat symptoms but I just want to make his life easier. I tried giving him rice cereal at 16h00 on a spoon, but he gets angry with himself because he does not know how to swallow the cereal. He keeps grabbing the spoon and tries to eat but with no success.
I then decided to put the rice cereal in his bottle (don’t shoot me!!!) . Only 1 teaspoon per bottle of 125ml. He has six bottles a day. It worked like a bomb! The vomiting reduced to only spitting up a little and he only burps once or twice and then he settles. He only has about two sleep in the day of 45mins and for the last week he has been sleeping through. Going down at 7 and waking up between 4/5/6 o’clock.(also elevated his cot)
My concern is with the rice cereal…..don’t want an overweight baby but I think 1 teaspoon of rice cereal per bottle is not too drastic. What would the correct dose of rice cereal per bottle be??? or should i rather use Thick and easy?
I have also been advised to wake my baby up for the 10 o’clock feed because according to some nurse he cannot go without food for more than 8 hours because the acid will build up again.??? I don’t agree with it and don’t believe in waking up a sleeping baby. What do you suggest?
Wow…sorry, this looks like an essay! Just wanted to make sure you had all the info.
Thanks for a brilliant concept… Babysense is a winner!
Hi Ezna
Please look at our website at the following article:
When reflux affects your baby’s sleep
This may help you understand and help you to manage your baby’s reflux.
I will ask Megan also to respond to the rest of your questions.
Hi Meg
My girl is 4 months, also has reflux and more or less the same problems as Ezna. We are on NAN Anti Regurgitation and eating cereal morning at 8 and again 16h00. She is not spitting up the cereal so much.
Also using Losec tabs every now and then.
I live by Sleep sense we have no sleeping problems during the day and my baby has a routine we follow for the last 2 months!!
My problem is she still wake up at 01h00 and 04h00, going to bed at 19h00!
Please can you give me any advice on the reflux and the sleep???
Thank you for amazing products. i have been following the baby sense book religously and i’m convinced that that is the reason why i have had no real issues with sleep. THANK YOU!!
my son is now 15 months old, sleeps reguraly and well. the question i have is this. i’ve noticed that he will not go to sleep outside of his regular sleep zone ie: his cot and room
we’ve tried to take him out with the cot and put him down for a nap at grannies but he refused to go to sleep unless he’s in his room. what can i do so we don’t end up being prisoners to this sleeping pattern forever?
thank you
Hi Cindy
Thank you for your question.
Now that your baby girl is 4 months she may naturally start to drop that 1am feed and you may need to feed her early morning at around 4am.
Here are some tips on coping with early risers
http://www.babysense.co.za/peaceful-nights/articles-of-interest/solutions-for-early-risers
Ann Richardson wrote an excellent article also on Reflux which gives advice on what to do to help your baby feel more comforatble.
http://www.babysense.co.za/peaceful-nights/articles-of-interest/when-reflux-affects-your-babys-sleep
I hope the articles help.
Hi Monika
It sounds like your baby is in a wonderful routine. Well done. Thank you for the lovely feedback. We love to hear when things are going well.
Getting your baby to sleep in an unfamiliar environment can be tricky. Here is an article that Ann Richardson wrote that may have a few tips for you to try.
I hope it helps.
http://www.mybabysense.co.uk/peaceful-nights/articles-of-interest/how-to-get-your-baby-to-sleep-well-in-a-strange-environment
Hi Megan
My baby is four months and i have started her on Nestum Cereal, just in the morning and nights. And she still wakes up 3 times a night for her feeds. A dr told us that we should use rice cereal on baby, is it safe to change now after we have already given her nestum?
Hi Meg,
I am in desparately need your help. My little boy is 15 months old he has the following problems:
He vomits about 2 x a day. I have now stopped giving him a bottle when he goes to sleep at night as about an hour later he coughs a little and the vomits up the bottle.
He also gags on any food chunkier than stage 4 purity and will vomit what he as eaten, but he will eat a biscuit with no problem.
He has never slept through the night, he sleeps in his cot next to our bed, when he wakes up during the night and crys we put him in the bed with us.
please can you assist with above concerns as the vomiting feels like it is never going to go away!
many thanks,
Janis
Hi Meg
I’ve been following your book with all my children, but I’m with my back against the wall with my third one, Meagan - she’s 4 1/2 months old. She started sleeping through the night - from 7pm - 5:30am. This week however, she started waking up 3 to 4 times a night. E.g. she would go to bed at 6pm, wake up at 24:00 or 02:00 for a feed (I’m breastfeeding) and then she struggles to go back to sleep again. Last night she was up from 02:00 to 04:30! She had her injections 7 days ago. Surely it can’t be that anymore? She weighs 8.4 kg at the moment. Was 3.8kg, 58cm at birth. I started her on 1 teaspoon of Nestum poridge at 16:00 in the afternoon two days ago. decided to add one teaspoon in the morning as from today. she drinks about 280 - 300 ml of breastmilk during the daytime, which isn’t much. She does however sleep well during the day. She’s awake 2 1/2 hours between feeds. Sleeps for approx 2 hours at a time. One thing that concerns me is that she would sleep well until 15:00 the afternoon. By bathtime at 17:00, she’s already tired. I would have liked her to go to bed at 19:00 at night, but I can’t stretch her that far if she hasn’t slep from 15:00 onwards. When she slept through the night she took a long afternoon nap, wake up at 17:00, then I would feed her, bath her and feed her again, cuddle a bit and then she would go to bed at 19:00 / 19:30. She has a fan in her room for white noise, so I doubt that the other two children can wake her at night when they have nightmares or cry or something. PLEASE HELP!
Hi Retha
Here are some articles that may help you. Continue to introduce solids as she may be waking due to hunger as her nutritional needs change.
http://www.babysense.co.za/peaceful-nights/articles-of-interest/feeding-sense-for-healthy-sleep
I also think her awake times are a little too long. See these articles for guidelines on how long her awake time should be.
http://www.babysense.co.za/peaceful-nights/articles-of-interest/baby-bedtime-mistakes
http://www.babysense.co.za/peaceful-nights/articles-of-interest/how-much-sleep-does-my-baby-need
http://www.mybabysense.co.uk/peaceful-nights/articles-of-interest/the-impact-of-day-sleep-on-night-sleep
I hope this helps.
Hi Meg,
In an article in Your Baby recently you suggested to a mom that she give her baby Floradix Magnesium to help with wind and to settle her baby. I would like to try it with my son but am not sure how much to give as there are no infant dosage instructions on the product itself. My son is almost 4 months old and on breastmilk for most of the day and then has 2 formula feeds, one at about 17h00 and one just before bedtime at about 19h00. He is sleeping well (he is in our room in a camper cot next to our bed) but is so restles in the early stages of sleep and thrashes about in his cot and regularly passed loud wind and moans quite a bit. Many thanks. Lynn
Hi Lynn
Ann Richarson suggests the following:
I would suggest 3ml at bedtime. It may cause loose stools, so if that occurs, reduce the dose to 2ml.
Pleasure to help.
Hi, how do I subscribe to babysense?
Hi Lindiwe
You can sign up to receive our newsletters for South Africa at the following link:
http://www.babysense.co.za/register
Hello,
Meg is scheduled for a seminar at Cupcake in London tomorrow. I wondered if the seminar is only referring to small babies or including toddlers. I have a 20 mth old who sleeps ok but doesnt settle herself back to sleep easily even if she’s tired. There are a few questions I have and wondered whether I should still come to the seminar or will I be taking time away from mums with babies who need advice more than me? Thanks
Andrea
Hi Meg,
I have a question i would like to ask about my baby girl, how do i go about that? I have bought your book and it is wonderfull, but i would like to know, my baby has been sick from 2 weeks up until 5 months not sleeping and so on. She is allergic to dogs, found that out just before she turned 5 months she was on endless medicine until we found out what caused it. But she is now in that no sleep pattern. We are moving out of my moms house, as she is a breeder and that is making the case impossible to handle. How do I go about getting her to sleep longer hours now. As her eyes has blue rings around them and you can see she is so tierd and cranky. She also does only sleep 15min during the day about 3 times a day. Will it be possible to change her sleeping habbits after such a long time?
Thanks, Cathy.
Hi Andrea
I am just seeing your message now about the talk at Cupcake a few weeks ago. I am not sure if you came to it or not in the end. For future reference we are open to having anyone along to the talks, from parents of tiny new borns to toddlers. Other professionals also come along. It is great for parents to raise their questions during the sessions, as there is always another parent who is going through something similar, or who can offer some ideas, or who might be coming up to that stage.
Megan will be speaking at Cupcake again on the 19th of May this year at 10:30am. Details to be announced on our website shortly. We hope to see you there.
Dear Megan
My name is Chanelle. Im a student in Psychology. My sister told me about Baby Sense when she had her first baby almost 3 years ago, the next new born is now 4weeks old. I’m really impressed with your findings. I need to design a stimulating baby nursery for a baby 0 - 3years old for my assignment in Human Development. I have the baby sense book and would like to know if you could advise me about more info on creating a stimulating enviroment (nursery) for this age group, taking all the developmental stages into consideration? Thanks, Chanelle
Hi Megan,
I am looking for expertise on inutero stimulation, particularly auditory. I am doing research and need to know decibel levels safe for fetuses and scientific studies researching stimulation and over stimulation in utero. Please can you help? Thanks,Kirsty
Hi Megan
We have 3 kids - our eldest is 3.5, our twins are just over 2. All 3 wake up every night, sometimes several times a night. My husband and I are desperate for help. Do you offer consultations or do home visits?
Thanks
Ciara
Hi Ciara
Megan cannot do home visits, but please email antoinette@babysense.com with any queries and I can help you find information on our website that might help you. Or I can help you find someone in your area who might be able to help.
Hello,
My baby is a month old (born at 34wks) he has recently been diagnosed with reflux. We have been prescribed with gaviscon to be added to six of his feeds and ranitidine to be given 3 times a day. Everytime I put him to bed he is very sick whether it is 30mins or 2 hours after a feed (in this time I hold him upright) I have elevated his basket this hasn’t helped either. I dont know what else I can do to help him.at the moment I’m having to stay up all night holding him. dont know how much longer I can carry on doing this. please help
mel
Hi Melanie
Try the advice given in this article.
http://www.babysense.com/articles/when-reflux-affects-your-babys-sleep/
Good Day
Please advise my baby is 8 month and she is on Nan 2 and last month she started cough and i took her to the Doctor and the doctor gave me some medicines but even now still cough i dont knw what to do
I m stinking of changing her to S26 but please doctor advise mi wht to do