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Infant feeding

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

sleeping baby - to wake or not to wake?

6 replies

vmcd28 · 31/01/2011 12:31

On a "normal" night, ds2 (10w+3) breastfeeds a LOT in the evening, then gets formula-fed at 10pm, then I top him up til he's asleep (around 1130pm), then he wakes at 3or 4am for a breastfeed, then he sleeps again til 7ish. Between these two last feeds he grunts a lot, farts a lot, sometimes cries out in pain from his trapped wind. He is given Infacol before each feed.

Now, here's the thing. I get up with ds2 at 8ish so I can get ds1 organised for school. Ds2 goes into his swing. He happily sits there, and gradually falls asleep at 9am. He sleeps there anywhere between 3 and 5 hours without waking to be fed.

Firstly, should I be waking him up earlier to feed, to get him into some sort of routine? I'm worried he might be turning morning into night...?

Is there anything I can do to encourage this kind of comfortable sleep during the night?
It seems he's more comfortable in the swing, but I don't get why he just isn't hungry for so long. Ive been told that cluster feeds in the evening should mean longer sleep at night but that doesn't happen, and is the reason he's been given formula at bedtime for a week, to settle him for longer.
Yesterday he slept 3 hrs in the swing but went to sleep 3hrs after being fed, so it was 6hrs between feeds!!

OP posts:
MoonUnitAlpha · 31/01/2011 12:36

I think babies get only manage 1 or 2 "long stretches" a day, so if they're doing this in the day they won't be doing it at night. On that basis I never let ds go more than 3 hours between feeds in the day.

Could the bedtime formula be causing the trapped wind?

Seona1973 · 31/01/2011 12:38

I personally would wake a baby to feed if it had been 4 hours since the last feed (only during the day though!)

balloonballs · 31/01/2011 12:41

To be honest I never woke my dd at this age and just fed her when she asked.

The day/night difference I tried to establish by not interacting with her as much during the night feeds and it seemed to work.

That said I only have the one so never had to fit her round a sibling.

vmcd28 · 31/01/2011 13:33

Thanks for the replies!
I woke him today at 4 hrs for a feed, and he's sound asleep again. I'll wake him again if need be, to see if that helps.
Re the trapped wind/formula, nope, this has been happening for a few weeks now. It's every morning, always starts at 4am or later. It's as if he's not able to get rid of it when he's lying down so it accumulates overnight. I spend a while winding him during and after each feed so I don't know if there's much else I can do.
Balloonballs, I did the same with ds1. This time round I feel like I'm napping a lot while ds1 is at school, and I'm hating that day is turning to night. I'm also not sure why the nights used to be fine but they're not now. Maybe all of the unsettled nights are down to the trapped wind...?
Also, when he wakes at night, I lift him, feed him lying down with a nightlight on and don't speak. He falls asleep on the breast, so it's not that he thinks it's playtime or anything, he just needs topped up.

OP posts:
balloonballs · 31/01/2011 13:39

Sorry really didn't mean to imply you were having a party at night, just meant that I tried not to stress about feeding so often at night because I assumed she needed the feed, just like your doing.Smile

vmcd28 · 31/01/2011 14:34

:) I know, I just wanted to clarify that nighttimes r very boring for him :)

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