Hours between feeds during day but minutes between (near constant) feeds at night. Any advice?

[mully1982]

My 8 day old has started feeding pretty much constantly throughout the night. He looks for food from about 7pm to about 7am feeding for about 20 mins to 50 mins at each feed and leaving from about 5 mins to 20 mins (if i'm very lucky) between feeds. This seems excessive for such a tiny baby and I'm worried that I'm doing something wrong. Nipples now very sore.

Should I not give it to him? Am I over feeding? It seems like he will never refuse a feed at night so maybe I should be doing something else instead?

During the day he feeds for about half an hour every three or four hours. (which is much nicer!)

Am I doing something wrong at night?? This is really hard. Amy help/advice would be gratefully recieved.

is his weight ok? is he weeing and pooing?with an 8 day old, i would think that he is either upping your supply and you might find you have more milk in a few days and it calms down a bit.

you could offer it more in the day - 3/4 hours for a newborn is quite far apart (although they are all different).

what happens if you latch him off at night - would he sleep? what is happening exactly?

the other thing could be that he is not efficiently transferring the milk from the breast to his tummy so you would need to get your latch checked, although the fact that he seems satisfied during the day suggests he can get the milk.

feeding a lot is normal - he is busy establishing a good supply. it is also comfort, particularly if he is not getting enough closeness during the day. its dark - he wants to be with mum! can you just hold him? or must he latch on?

Newborns don't know difference between day and night. He has got them back to front. It sounds really really hard, and I would not be happy if that was me.

Try to feed more in the day, eg try and feed him 2 hourly in the day even if he doesn't demand it and make sure he has some awake time in the day. Newborns can generally manage to stay awake for 70-90 mins at a time (including a feed).

You need a break in the night, and the weekend is approaching so once you have fed in the night get your OH to cuddle/rock him back to sleep (or otherwise) so you can get a a couple 2 hour stretches.

I even had some bottles of cooled boiled water for DH to use, although some might not agree. To clarify I was always happy to feed after 2-3 hours just not after 30 mins. Put earplugs in to make sure you get some sleep. Its not realistic to go from every 30 mins to every 3 hours in one night, you'll have to change his day and night round gradually.

Hopefully that will turn into 3 hour stretches over the next few nights. If you manage to stretch him at night he will be hungrier the next day and hopefully want to feed more in the day.

Newborns do need to fed around the clock but judging from his daytime behaviour he is capable of a 3 to 4 hour stretch and you need to work on that being at night or you are going to be a walking zombie!

wot MumNWLondon said!

You can't over feed him and he needs it for comfort as much as food. It is a massive transition to go from all snugged up inside to this big wide open place and you are his home.

What about trying to get outside a little in the day time so he can get a bit of light on his face and start to realise the difference?

You could offer him the boob a bit more through the day even if he isn't giving you the cues and see if he will take it.

Also try to get the hang of feeding lying down, that way you don't actually need to be awake to feed him so you can get some rest.

Give your nipples as much fresh air as possible and I used the Lansinoh cream a lot, though lots of people don't think it makes much difference, worth a try.

Thanks for replies. Really useful. First time I've posted on mumsnet so really nice to know people are actually out there and happy to help.

He is weeing and pooing regularly and not losing weight so I'm confident that he;s getting the feed.

Last night was alot better. slept solidly for three hours between feeds. So much nicer!

He started to cry about 5 mins after the first evening feed at about 7pm and it seemed like the night before was gonna be repeated but my OH took him downstairs and got him to sleep. He didn't wake again until 10.30ish and then slept until 3am. Then he slept until 4am and then until 9am.

After two nights of no sleep at all I felt like a new person. We'll see if it lasts...

This might help?
www.kellymom.com/bf/normal/reverse-cycling.html
Great website in general...

Mully - really pleased to hear its a bit better. Getting no sleep at all is not any fun.

Also wanted to suggest that if you wake up before him then a good idea to wake him and feed as soon as you wake up to get an extra day feed in. You can always go back to sleep afterwards!