15wo feeding CONSTANTLY and not napping - please help!

[Humania]

dd2 (15wo) is ebf and has had reflux since ~3 weeks which is being managed with ranitidine and domperidone. She's also had a couple of sessions of cranial osteopathy so hoping that will help too. She's sick after most feeds - sometimes it doesn't seem to bother her and other times she's very distressed. But despite all this she's a pretty happy baby who's been putting on weight and sleeping through (9pm - 6am ish) since 7 weeks so overall I think we've been dealt a pretty good hand! I've been fairly relaxed about her extremely frequent feeding as I know little and often is better for reflux and she's a pretty big/hungry girl. However I thought by now I might have been able to start spreading the feeds out a little... she would feed constantly if she could. It's pretty much hourly and she'll often fall asleep on the breast but will wake instantly when I put her down and angrily put her fist into her mouth and shout at me for more! I don't think it's a growth spurt as she's always done this. It's just started to make me doubt whether she's getting enough milk... surely a 3 month old baby should be sleeping more than 20 minutes in the whole day? It is completely exhausting and I'm struggling to give 3yo dd1 the attention she needs as I'm always feeding. Please help.

[HandMini]

Humania, I can't really help you on the feeding side of things, but on the "no napping" policy, I can sympathise. My 16 wo DD also has real trouble sleeping in the day, and sometimes goes on just 2 x 20 minute naps a day, very crotchety by the end of the day as a result.

I have just started using a piece of advice which I think is from the No Cry Sleep Solution, which says that as soon as a baby shows signs of waking from a nap, do whatever you can to lull them back to sleep (ie dummy, feed, rocking). This should help train them to do longer naps. Don't know if it will work yet, but I'll keep you posted. I also keep my DD in a sling a lot in order to get things done.

Sympathies to you though, as coping with another DC with such a lively baby must be tough.

[Humania]

Thanks HandMini... agree the sling is a godsend. It's pretty much the only place she'll nap at all!

[HandMini]

Same....it's so tough when you see friend's babies who just seem to drop off with no help at all and then sleep away while they have coffees and chat. I am constantly on my feet jiggling / walking / keeping DD happy and find it so hard to cook and clean. But hoping that as they become more able to sit up and entertain themselves, they may become lower maintenance. Do you have an upright-ish bouncer/chair so that you can put her down without exacerbating the reflux? Baby Bjorn bouncer on the highest setting?

[Humania]

Yep she's pretty happy in the bouncer. I just don't understand how she manages on so little daytime sleep. But I'm really wondering whether it's related to hunger - can anyone comment on the feeding issue? Tiktok? Is this normal for a 15wo?

[Iggly]

The constant feeding might be because she's so tired from not napping. DS had reflux and his feeds were more spaced out - he had 4 naps a day at that age (roughly).

To get him to nap I used the sling for pretty much every one when he was little. Can you do this?