Do you find BFig MORE draining as they get older, if they are still feeding frequently?

[InkyStamp]

My DD will NOT go more than two hours between feeds. She STILL cluster feeds at night. Basically ffrom 7/7.30 ish until 9 or sometimes 10. Then she is up again at 12/12.30ish and then frequently util 7 (not sure how frequent as we cosleep and I have somehow managed to start feeding her - and swap sides! - without really waking!) Putting her in another room doesnt help as we tried this and I was getting her and feeding her and she would be in our bed in the morning and we would have no recollection of it! Safer all round to keep her with us!

So, now she is 6 months I am finding that it is absolutely draining me. I am shocked at how much utter CRAP I am eating and not putting on weight. I CRAVE sugar and fatty foods. I am drinking gallons of water.

As she is actually feeding and not just comfort sucking I am finding that she is literally draining the energy out of me. I am exhausted on all levels. She will feed for a good 25 mins if I let her. Actual swallowing, not just sucking.

I am putting as much food into her as possible but it doesnt seem to be making a difference. I try holding her off or distracting her but she becomes horribly inconsolable This is horrific for her, me and my other DCs.

Her sleeping, both during the day and the night is shocking and she will ONLY feed to sleep.

She categorically refuses the bottle. Have even gone out and left her with a nanny but got called back as she wouldnt take it and neither of us wanted her so unhappy.

BUT I am tired and drained!

SO, does anyone else find it is more draining feeding them the older they got? Or am I just crap at BFing? :(

i didn't find it more draining, but it certainly didn't get better with ds2.
he was so like your dd! he was still feeding every 45-90 mins at 9 months

we got a copy of the no-cry sleep solution in the end to try and sort out the nights, and as he got older it became easier to distract him and stretch out the day feeds
we ended up introducing a dummy and a comforter to help with the night wakings and to start getting him to self-settle and it did work.
once i was sleeping better at night the days became a lot more manageable

and i don't think you can even think that you're crap at BF. you've demand fed her for 6 months... you're brilliant at BF!!!

9 months??????????

See the thing is, I know I need to sort out the nights as I am so tired, but I am too tired to sort it!

She wont take a dummy either. Stubborn child! (toddler years look good then!! ) Tried a comforter, but she isnt really interested.

I was holding out for solids, but she also refuses a spoon (sensing a theme here, no plastic for this girlie!) so I have to give her finger foods and sneak it in as she bites! We did try BLW but she was so hungry we swapped to finger foods and lumpy mush just to try and feed her more!!

Did you feel really drained with all the feeding though? PLease tell me you were permanently tire too? [hopeful emoticon] (Just so I know I am not alone!!)

AND thank you - am secretly chuffed I made it this far! :)

Inkystamp - I think feeding frequently at night makes you feel pretty drained, have been there (twice). For me co-sleeping meant I survived, but it's not the same as a good night's sleep without a wriggly baby/toddler pressed up against you.

And of course you're not crap at BFing

oh yeah it was hell on earth. tired doesn't even begin to describe it! lol

ds2 was a steadfast dummy refuser, we had tried a lot of times previously. but what i did was just buy some and just keep giving it to him through the day in the hope he would start liking it.
eventually he started accepting it when he was happy (but when he wasn't he just wanted boob) and we gradually worked on getting him to accept it when he wanted comfort as well.

the comforter i just used to snuggle it up between him and me every single time i fed so that he would associate it with feeding and sleeping and eventually he grew attached to that too!

but the no-cry sleep solution book has quite a few ideas of new sleep cues you can create and it doesn't necessarily have to be a physical thing
it worked for us because it was so gentle so it didn't require us to be up for hours during the night shushing and patting and stuff like that