Feeding cues

[gluttom]

My dd is 10 weeks and has a long sleep 8 -1 but is then restless a lot so I end up feeding her every 2 hrs. I get woken up by her restlessness e.g moving head side to side, kicking legs and so just pick her up and feed her and she goes still and I pop her back in crib for a couple of hrs until she is restless again. I don't want her to wake up and cry as then she is sometimes difficult to settle but now she is older baby should I stop this DBS try to encourage her to sleep through the night by waiting for her to cry for food??

If you always feed her when she wakes then she will come to rely on it to go back to sleep. My 14 week old wakes and goes back to sleep without a feed but it is hard to ignore the thrashing but lively when you look at the clock and realise it's 2 hours later! I would water until the first proper cry and then lift her. Not full on screaming so she should still be easy to settle.

DS is 12 weeks and similar. At first I just fed every couple of hours out of habit from when he was newborn. The last few weeks he usually sleeps 5/6 hours, feeds then needs feeding again usually about 3 hours later. If he wakes or is thrashing earlier than those times I wait to see if he really is hungry or just restless.

Last night for example he started chewing his hand (he'd managed to get out of his swaddle) at 1.30am...usually he wouldn't need feeding for another hour or two. So I waited (listening to the irritatingly loud slurping noises!). Within 2 minutes he was asleep again and woke whimpering (not crying) for food 2 hours later

I find that putting my hand on his chest and saying "shh" can stop him thrashing. As does making sure the swaddle actually does its job! I sometimes pick him up to feed and just the pick up relaxes him and he's asleep again.

I think that at this age if they're eating a lot during the day and not in a growth spurt then they don't need feeding every 2 hours at night. So I would advise ignoring the thrashing although its very hard! My sympathies with the broken nights sleep though - last night I woke up 7 times : twice because of DH, twice because of me (nightmares) and 3 times because of DS...

It is well within normal behaviour and needs for a baby to feed as often as this in the night.

Babies as young as this may well need the food and drink that comes with a breastfeed, as well as the comfort and contact.

Usually, the easiest way to cope is to respond to the early 'cues' without waiting for you and the baby to fully wake up. Some babies do toss and turn for a short time and are not actually waking at all, of course, but it is unusual for a baby of only a few months old not to need feeding two or three times in the night.

Tiktok is spot on.

If you always respond to the cues, you will have a very happy baby...I used to watch mine and when he woke and started rooting for me, I just got on with it straight away and he didn't cry at all for the first 6 months. Well he did twice but that was tummy ache I think, went on for a while!

But he never cried in the night or for feeding because he was always with me, and I just fed him as and when he needed it.

Remember to wind her, too, when it feels appropriate, so that doesn't wake her. You are doing everything right.

Mind you he makes up for it now with shouting.

You can't win them all.

Hi Gluttom
I know this is an old thread but my DS is 11 weeks and does the same thing at night. I'm feeding 3 or 4 times from when he goes down to sleep in the evening. How long did it take for your DD to stop being so restless at night and did you continue to feed her in response to her restlessness? Any advice would be gratefully received.