Can anyone offer any advice? I have a 14 wk DS and I just don't feel as if I know what I'm doing, feeding and sleep-wise. I'm EBF - I'm lucky in that he's always been a great feeder - but he's also hungry all the time and I'm completely exhausted. I'm feeding him every 2 to 3 hours during the day, and during the night, he'll go down at 7pm-ish until around 10.30pm-ish, which is my only real break. After that, he's still waking up at least every 3 hours, but more like 1.5 hrs. We're co-sleeping so that does allow me to feed him more easily and so on but it also means a more restless night.
The other problem is he barely sleeps during the day - maybe a 45 minute nap iin the morning, and maybe one in the afternoon if I'm lucky. Even in the buggy he doesn't sleep. He fights it, seems to wake himself up with a jolt, and starts crying loudly, and that's it, I can't settle him. I've read about this meaning that the baby is overstimulated, so I've tried calming things down well before naptime (not that I'm exactly having a party every day, but you know what I mean, no games, noisy activities etc, making room dark) but it doesn't seem to make any difference. He does suffer slightly with reflux, which means he hates lying down and is often sick long after a feed.
I'm tired of reading bloody books that tell me he should be on a routine by now, feeding every 4 hours, sleeping 1 to 2 hours each am and pm, and sleeping through the night. I seem to be a million miles away from this and can't figure out what to do. It doesn't help that most of the mums I know are FF and have babies who seem to sleep a lot!!
Basically, I don't think I'm doing the best job for him, because I think he's tired a lot of the time, and the lack of sleeping during the day is leading to more interrupted nights I think. I also feel guilty when I see him rubbing his eyes and looking exhausted and think I should be doing more to help him.
Feeding wise, I've tried expressing but haven't really managed to get into a routine with it, as I've found it a real faff to be honest, and combined with a hungry baby, just feel like I'm either constantly feeding or expressing. BUT maybe I need to stick with it. I've also toyed with the idea of mixing BF with FF just to give me a break. Would this work? Maybe this would help him sleep better at night, although I've read this is just a myth??
Please, any tips would be hugely appreciated. Sorry about the long post :(
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Behaviour/development
Losing my confidence with 14 wk old
26 replies
Devonlover · 02/08/2011 12:54
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