Please help - 6 week older 'snacker' and sleepy feeder

[popsycal]

DS2 is 6 weks old tomorrow. I fed him very frequently from day 1 since ds1 had severe and prolnged janudice and I wanted to prevent a repet of this.

His latch is fine though he is sometimes lazy and we have to relatch. He has always been s sleepy feeder (even though he is now over 10lbs and was only jaundiced for a few days). In the last few weeks i have been persevering with wake up tecniques so that he gets a full feed. But this now means that by the time he gets the next half of the feed he is tired and fretful. He is very alert and interested in things going on around him.

Because he snacks he isnt getting any decent length naps. Am familiar with both GF and EASY routines and am vaguely following EASY though we only manage a 2-2.5 hour cycle. He has a dummy sbut isn't keen.

dont know what to try next
any advice? cant even go to the shop down the road without DH ringing for me to come back to feed........

[pixiefish]

DD was like that at 6 weeks. Took me ages to be able to leave the house for any length of time tbh. She was ok in the car or walking but that was the only break i got.

[popsycal]

so how did it pan out?
ds1 is really starting to play up when ds2 is tired..goes from alert and smiley to overyired so quickly

[popsycal]

forgot to add - we have tried swaddling and it doesnt seem to make alot of difference

[highlander]

how long do you define 'snacking'? Do you remember to burp every 5 mins? Do your wake-up techniques include cooling your baby?

IMO, and I'm sorry to be so agressive in my tone, these 'routines' are sh*it. They do not take into account increased feeding associated with growth spurts or fussiness associated with developmental changes. The only useful thing I ever found from Tarcy Hogg was her observation on how long babies of different ages can stay awake. I did find that helpful in making sure DS wasn't too tired before I fed him.

Swaddling helped my DS enormously, but I had to use the arm pinning technique as he was a master at wriggling out! Remember to ignore the initial increase in crying, turn your baby on his side and 'waltz' quickly in an exaggerated fashion. You might find that you need to go through 2-3 cycles of crying before your baby finally relaxes. If you're using 'ssssh' or white noise, the volume must match that of your baby's cry. As you become more skilled, a quick swaddle and quick shoogle settles them.

Finally, at 6 weeks most babies go through a period of being very unsettled as they become aware of the big bad world and also a growth spurt. Imposing a routine is really not sympathetic to either of these changes.

DS was the fussy, frequent feeder, short napper from hell, so I symapthise enormously. A million mums will tell you 'it gets better' and I know you're thinking "FFS, WHEN?". Gradually, gradually he'll become less fussy and lead you into a wee routine......... which changes almost every couple of weeks.

You're doing a great job. You're doing a great job. You're doing a great job

(I still need my DH to tell me that every day)

[popsycal]

thank highlander...i to am dubiuo about 'rputnes; so young...didnt do it with ds1. Infact until this last week, i have been veery much 'baby led'. but now that my two year old is starting to play up big time, i thought trying to put a bit of structure in our lives was worth a go for his sake.....i can handle getting by on 2 hours sleep a night but he cant handle being woken constantly and having a cross mammy telling him 'just give me 10 more minutes while your brither stops screaming' for the millionth time

back to your points anyway - no, i am not burping him every 5 minutes. will try that. yes, cooling/stripping him off does work too.

just feel that by the time i have evetually managed to get him fed with all the waking up stuff, and have changed his explosive poo and cleaned up the sick, he is knackered again, overtired and screaming. and so is my toddler
buy hey ho

[AnnieQ]

My dd was a sleepy feeder, and I was advised to keep her cool too. The other things that helped keep her awake for longer feeds were flapping her arm like a chicken (think the Chicken Tonight ads ) and tickling her feet.

[popsycal]

ecuse my typing as i am feeding ds2

[pixiefish]

Does the wilkinet not help popsy? That's what I had to do in the end. It did settle but for the life of me I can't remember when. 2.5 hour cycle is what I had as well though admittedly it was loads easier for me as I only had the one and didn't have to worry about another child.

[popsycal]

he will sleep in the wilkie but i have to put him in asleep. screams blue murder if he goes in awake

[pixiefish]

I had the baby bjorn when dd was tiny and have the ergo now I still need to put her in it to get my housework done as she'll be ok for a while but could then start whingeing.

Have you thought of a different sling? Or what about a wrap so that he can be carried more in a nursing position. Could someone recommend a wrap perhaps- am sure chocy has some for sale and there's a lovely pic there of the position i mean

[highlander]

crikey, didn't know you had another tot - my heart goes out to you.

I have a spare Baby Bjorn that you can try if you want.

[popsycal]

i am trying to find one which i can feed him in. had a great comedy moment yesterday when dh was at work. was trying to cook a very simple dinner for ds1, feed ds2 then ds1, newly potty trained this week, decided to poo himself
nice

[jolly4]

hi popscal my ds went throu that too she is now 9 weeks and apart from me knowing how the evening would be ie permantly on and off boobs from 6.30 til 11.00 she did sleep thou from 11 till 5 or 6 in morn , and she was two hourly fed til about aweek and a half ago and we co- slept was told she,ll never settle in her own bed but she is now in moses basket but they arent babes forever i think it builds there security up too be close ps areyou the school teacher i spoke too when we were pg?my ds also had bad colic too but she has got throu it an us thank goodness it was a nitemare

[highlander]

LOL popsycal! Reminds me of a stage my nephew went through - fascinated by poo and wanted to examine the contents of every nappy. Bleeurgh.

[Kelly1978]

I don't know if it's a solution, but I dealt with this by expressing the milk and giving it in a bottle. It's easier to get a sleepy baby to take milk from a bottle, and it helped a lot to space out the feeds.

[jolly4]

i too think it helps too express and give bottle seems too go longer

[carolou]

Have been going through same with my bf baby but light is at end of tunnel. He has just reached 14 weeks and decided not to wake every hour through night but sleep for 4 straight. All I can say is accept it and try to chill! It does get easier and in the big scheme is only for a short time. Express so you can have a break but don't fret about amounts, if baby is alert when awake and putting on weight, your doing a good job.

[tiktok]

popsycal, life is really, really hard with a newborn and a toddler....and at 6 weeks the baby is still a newborn.

Feeding every 2- 2.5 hours is on the normal spectrum....I do wonder if just going with the flow and not doing wake up techniques woud be easier than trying to fit him into a routine or structure he is clearly not happy with.

Highlander - what's with the burping every five minutes?! That's a new one on me

[popsycal]

Hi again
thanks for all the advice - we are pretty ,uch going with thte flow but have had a bit of a revelation this morning.....I slight;y adjusted my positioning and mad e him much more 'tummy to mummy' as we had got lazy and WOW!!! huge feeds without faslling asleep!!!!

:

[highlander]

tiktok - my HV suggested it and it certainly worked for DS when he was small. But then he was a 'get it down my neck ASAP' kind of feeder, whilst thrashing around etc etc etc.