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Infant feeding

BF side-lying/co-sleeping questions

5 replies

nydublingirl · 25/10/2009 19:38

My 10 week old starts the night in her cot (amby/nature's nest hammock) but wakes after 3-4 hours. At that stage I bring her into bed and feed her lying on my side. It's great because I usually fall asleep while feeding so I generally feel rested. However, she wakes several times during the night for a feed and I don't think she needs to actually feed each of those times IYKWIM. I would like to have her go longer between feeds. So a few quick Q if anyone has ideas:

  • when side-lying did you switch sides after each feed or did you make it through the night with lo feeding off one breast only? If I stay with one side I feel by the morning there is nothing in that breast and she is definitely only nibbling, but if I switch then I can't express in AM as both breasts are empty
  • once she is in the bed with us, I wake more frequently, and once I hear/see her rooting for a feed, I put her on the breast. However, as i fall asleep during feeding, I don't know if she feeds a lot or a little. Should I try sitting up to give her a more complete feed?
  • when side-lying she is on her side facing me. Often she sleeps the whole night like this. Is this ok for her? She now can roll from her back to side (feeding urge is a strong motivation) but not onto stomach yet.
  • Any hints to get a good latch in this position?

Hope this makes sense and thanks for help!
OP posts:
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caughtintheact · 25/10/2009 20:08

-I switch sides when ds next wakes up as I fall asleep feeding, so he usually only has 1 side per feed in the night unless he doesn't settle back to sleep, in which case I try the other side.

-sitting up or not- tried it with dd a few times, decided not worth it so haven't this time with ds. are you worried about intake or thinking you might get a longer stretch of sleep if she's fuller? If the latter you just have to experiment I think.

-I don't worry about side lying, but I do watch out to see he doesn't roll onto his tummy which I think is probably the reason why you won't see it recommended anywhere.

-sorry no tips I think it's so dependant on your body, some people need to raise the baby up a bit by putting on a pillow I think? I've never had any problems.

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smugsy · 25/10/2009 20:33

I let mine feed off both when I go up to bed, then put her into her cot when she is asleep. She will then sleep until about 3 or 4 am and I will bring her into bed and just let her feed off whichever nipple she gets to first .
I wouldnt recomend just feeding off one breast through the night, I did this with my first child and did it so often that one breast stopped producing as much milk and was smaller than the other [double blush emoticon]
A good position to feed when lying down is to put the arm your laying on under your head and use the breast that is furthest from the mattress by kind of leaning into her instead of her leaning into you. Then once that boob is empty, kind of roll on to your back a bit and use the other, but youll need to get baby to be on her side that way.
Seems to work for us though.

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ineedalifelaundry · 25/10/2009 20:58
  • I switch sides for each night feed, but that's usually only 2 feeds. I actually go head to toe in the bed when DD's going to be on the edge of the bed, so that she's always in fact in the middle. I find I can sleep just as easily the wrong way round!


  • I gave up sitting up feeds in the night looong ago. As you said, if you can sleep and feed you feel rested. Only be warned- my DD is 14 months and it's a habit I haven't even attempted to break. It's just far too easy on that first cry to haul her into our bed and we all go straight back to sleep. Lovely!


  • agree with caughtintheact re side sleeping. My DD always seemed to find it comfier than lying on her back. But do make sure she doesn't roll on her tummy.


  • I find latching on in this position easiest if baby is quite far down my body, yet pulled in nice and close (ie no gap between us) so she has to pull her head back and open wide to get a mouthful.


HTH
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BertieBotts · 25/10/2009 22:04

I was told by a midwife in hospital that side-sleeping is only not recommended because it is easy for them to roll onto their fronts. If they are sleeping next to you (DS used to use my boob as a pillow when he had finished ) it should be fine. I think if you are co-sleeping you tend to be far more aware (even subconsciously) of their sleeping position anyway.

I didn't worry about whether DS was having a full feed, I just let him feed as much as he wanted. He is still having night feeds at a year though which I am quite laid back about so I suspect we have different outlooks on this - my view is I don't care how often he feeds as long as he doesn't wake me up too much If you want to try and stretch him longer between feeds you could definitely try the sitting up thing. It wasn't for me because I felt it woke me up more.

Getting a good latch - pull him down further than you think. Imagine a person standing up outside looking up at the sky - that is the angle his head/neck needs to be at when he is feeding, so pull him quite far down your body and let him look up to reach the breast. At first I found a finger and thumb just gently behind his skull/jaw helped to position him if he was lost. Over time he learnt to latch himself easily

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4GHASTLYGHOULSandnotout · 25/10/2009 22:11

I switch sides so usually dd4 gets a feed from each side during the night, she sleeps tucked into my body with her head just level with my breast. After 12 months I just don't care where she sleeps just as ling as she sleeps

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