getting 5wo to go longer between feeds at night

[Bigglewinkle]

My DD is ebf and doing really well with it but I'm finding it difficult to get her to take the 2nd boob to make her go longer btw feeds. She just falls asleep after the first one.
I get her out of her blankets, having waited a bit for her to cry/wake up properly (I don't just rush in and stick a nipple in her mouth). I take a foot out of her sleep suit and tickle her on her foot, hand and under her chin.
I'm considering turning the light on fully for the first boob to get her awake for the 2nd, this is what I do for the dreamfeed with a nappy change too, to get her to fully feed and that gets me a 4h30 break instead of a measly 2h30 btw feeds!! Is there any advice on this? Many thanks

Oh I should have mentioned, neither the GP and paediatrician she has seen is concerned about him developmentally.

That is terrible. can you complain or is it not allowed? Surely someone needs to point out that she's mental'

Hello, me again, the OP. I'm having a wobble about the night feeds again DD is so erratic. The other night was 5 feeds with some feeds only 1.5h after the last. And tonight the feeds have been evening tanking up btw 430 and 630, then she woke at 945, and I gave her a full feed (both boobs) by turning lights on and changing nappy, which got her to 130. This feed I did in the dark and she only did one boob... And she has just woken at 315!! Less than 1.5h btw feeds at night is unsustainable, there must be something I can do?? This feed she only took 5m on one boob. So she can't be that hungry, but at less than 6wo I'm nervous about not feeding her and trying to resettle her to go for longer.
I don't think she's cold or too hot, she hasn't done a poo, so what else could be waking her?
Feeling very low right now :(

Mine was still very erratic at 6 weeks - it's what made me move him from the cot into the bed to co-sleep because I just couldn't function if I was getting up to feed him.

It wasn't long after that that things started to settle down into the routine we're still at at 9 months where he'll feed about 10:30, settle down for 4 or 5 hours, then feed about every 2 hours until we're all properly awake around 7am

I clearly remember feeling like I was at breaking point just before it settled, but just as clearly the first few nights of co-sleeping where just rolling over and shoving a nipple in meant that I got up actually refreshed rather than a zombie.

The first 5 hour stretch left me giddy with joy!

MBJ 3oz a week was the most DD put on a week and luckily we had no problems with HCPs (and we saw a lot of different ones due to moving)

OP DD didn't go more than 2 hours until well after 6 months. Doesn't mean I did anything wrong (she followed/follows exactly the same sleep pattern I did and I was FF).

14 months she still wakes every 2 hours ( we had a good week not so long ago) and she's still dinky, but only feeds twice. I figured a child who walked at 8.5 months was clearly doing alright (she was always alert and happy and more mobile than other babies).

Just by the off chance are you going to your DD at the first squeak at night? You said something about getting her out of the blankets to wake her properly. Babies sleep very noisily and I noticed DD sometimes even makes a loud single cry and then falls back to sleep. Maybe you are waking her up from the light sleep cycle instead of giving her a chance to settle back to sleep?

However all said my DD still does 1.5 hr stretches but luckily only in mornings and evenings. From what I have been told the only way to encourage better sleep at night is to give plenty of sunlight during the day.

Lastly are you catching up on sleep whenever she sleeps?

OP - it is really hard at this stage, I know. 6 weeks is a classic growth spurt and your DD will need extra feeding at this time, it is particularly hard as you may have already began seeing a pattern and then it all seems to fall apart.

Take heart, things do improve, sometimes slowly, but they do. Have you considered lying down to feed your DD for the early hours feeds? I'm assuming she is in your room in her Moses basket? Lying down for those feeds will allow you to doze while feeding and it makes the world of difference.

Have you seen the UNICEF safe co-sleeping guidelines?

Here they are

Hi there, thanks for advice. She woke again at 5 and then again at 6ish...
I have been waiting for a full on cry before feeds (too knackered to leap to see her at 1st squeak!!) And have done lying down feeds and some co-sleeping (but I'm not very good at it - I get back ache lying so rigidly and wake up cranky, so I guess I need more practice!)
The 6w growth spurt is a good point, I will do more co-sleeping over the next few weeks and see if things settle down.