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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

9wk old BF DS has stopped sleeping...

4 replies

blackcurrants · 28/09/2010 13:27

He'd SO much rather eat, gurgle, wriggle like a demented piglet, be impressively sick, and then eat some more. He doesn't scream when sick, he's a very happy chap in general, so I'm not worried about reflux. It's more than he seems to hit EVERYTHING when he chucks, no matter how carefully I try with muslins!

He used to sleep 3 hours between feeds. At one dreamy point it was 4! Now it's 2 if I'm lucky, and last night the 2am and 4am feeds just ran into each other in a blur of misery. I woke DH at 4, gave him the baby and a dummy, and told him that I couldn't even look at DS until I'd closed my eyes for half an hour.

This is the 6th morning I've woken feeling like I absolutely cannot drag myself out of bed. As I work 3 days a week (and DH works every day) this is a problem. He's breastfed and I've thought longingly of the formula that's supposed to bloat him and make him sleep longer... but I know it probably wouldn't. Knowing my luck he'd drink a bottle down then want to suck at my breast just to nod off.

We use a sidecar cot, I yank him towards me, feed lying down, then ease him back to his own space when he's dropped off. it's worked perfectly for me until this last week, when he basically just didn't fall back to sleep! Now I'm beginning to worry that all my 'cry it out' friends are getting more sleep than me, damnit. I don't want to do any form of controlled crying - I don't really want to do sleep training - but he's sleeping like a newborn again and I can't nap during the day when I'm at work.

He's such a happy baby - almost never cries, all gurgles and kicking legs - and at 4am last night I thought: I need a break from this baby, I hate that I can't have one good night's sleep away from him... and now I feel very guilty for basically wishing I wasn't a mum.
Help! I don't know what help I want, but please tell me that it will pass, I don't need to switch to FF and She Who Must Not Be Named so I can get a decent 3-4 hours' straight sleep before Christmas!

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crikeybadger · 28/09/2010 14:55

Of course it will pass- you know that already, it's just that you're in that sleep deprived demented state at the moment.(and having to work on top of that).
It's rough isn't it.

Could he be having a growth spurt and that is making him feed more frequently?

I do seem to remember my LO doing this, it was as if he'd discovered he could move. Unfortunately he wanted to show off his skills in the middle of the night. Smile

He's still very young but you do sound like you need a break. Can you get to bed super early for a couple of nights to catch up?

Forget sleep training for now, controlled crying is only supposed to be done with babies over the age of one anyway.

Would expressing a bottle help? Mind you, it might just give you something else that you need to do in your day.

sorry- don't seem to have come up with many suggestions but i do sympathise. Good luck.

blackcurrants · 28/09/2010 15:04

you're probably right cb, it might well be a growth spurt - he's certainly eating a heck of a lot, and more often... argh all the other ones were only 2-3 days long! I worry that he's SO active now that he needs to eat like this for the calories and therefore I'll always be feeding him like this... doesn't your BM get fattier or something, when they need it?
[grasping at straws]

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MamaMary · 28/09/2010 15:23

Blackcurrants, my 9-wk old DD is going through EXACTLY the same stage.

Just when I thought she might be beginning to feed more efficiently and sleep for longer stretches - wham - she's constantly hungry and wanting to bf ALL THE TIME. Everytime I think 'she must be full now' after a mammoth feeding session, instead of going to sleep she'll start eating her hands again showing signs of hunger!

Also, like your DS, she has started in the past two days (when this all begun) being sick a lot more. Though very happy, smiley and gurgly.

I'm putting it down to a growth spurt. It reminds me of the 6-wk growth spurt.

blackcurrants · 28/09/2010 15:29

mm it feels so good to know I'm not alone! it does feel like the 6 wk growth spurt but wooah it's not stopping... I worry that being away at work Fri and Mon has prolonged it - usual working mother guilt.
i put him in his chair to shower this morning 0 usually 10 mins of peace - and he was screaming before I'd rinsed my hair! Poor hungry piglet.

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