Hi everyone. Haven't been around much lately due to working and feeding all day every day. And I need some advice as to what to do about it....
Ds is 4.5 months. He is putting on weight well (well he was last time he was weighed - we don't get out of the house much so the last time was a month ago. He still has michelin man legs and everything though). But his feeding is all over the place.
Every day during "lunch" (the second main feed of the day - usually between 11 and 12.30 am) he feeds a little bit, screams (and won't take the breast again), calms down, feeds a bit more etc for up to 40 minutes. Sometimes he does this in the evenings too, but sometimes he just feeds for 2 or 3 hours solidly instead. He has various snacks in the afternoon, but rarely more than 10 mins at a time without some kind of messing about. He's also still waking 3-5 times a night.
Now I'm working, I can't do it any more. I need some kind of routine to plan around. I've tried:
- making him go longer between feeds (by carrying him constantly) so he feeds better at the next one. (he doesn't feed better, but I think he yaks a bit less this way. hard to be sure though).
- Gina Ford's "making sure he is wide awake till afternoon nap time" bit (sometimes works for the morning, never works in the afternoon). I even tried doing her plan rigidly for 2 days in desperation, but gave up.
- giving him a bottle at lunchtime (or getting someone else to do it). He takes about an ounce, and then screams.
- Finally my new plan is to rock him back to sleep on my chest when he wakes at night (sometimes after a short feed), in the hope that he will start eating less at night and more in the day. This helps me sleep better, but now he has started messing about at breakfast - best feed is the last night one at about 5am (and this is Spain so it's still dark then, and dd doesn't get up till 9). I would use a dummy, but he has refused one since he was about 6 weeks old.
- winding him lots. sometimes this helps, but doesn't stop him from feeding all afternoon and then waking up lots at night anyway.
I don't know what it is - is it worth taking him to the doctor? Any other tips from mums of bad sleepers / mess-abou-feeders?