How to get more daytime calories into ebf baby!

[mistressploppy]

I'm really trying to bump up 18wk old DS2's feeds in the day in an effort to improve his nighttime sleep - he likes to feed at night and then isn't at all hungry in the morning! I've been gradually reducing the amount of time he feeds at night but it's hard and I want to make sure he gets plenty of milk in the daytime...BUT...

I have a slight oversupply and feeding too often makes him windy and gripey (and gives him greeny poo). He's not a desperately hungry baby and will happily go 3.5-4hrs between feeds.

How do I increase his intake without causing him to snack and therefore get too much foremilk? A typical day has feeds on waking at roughly 7am, 10.30am, 2pm and then at 4.30, and 6.30 before bed. They are good, big feeds (I think)

I really don't want to wean him as it doesn't seem like an overall 'hungry' problem and I don't think he's ready, and anyway from what I've read it doesn't sound like veg purees will help much!

I'd rather not resort to formula, not sure why though

Thanks for reading

Other than feeding him more in the day there isn't much you can do to force the issue. 4 months is a time when even babies who slept well at night often start waking more. Do you feed him before you go to bed? How often does he wake?

OP, neither formula OR weaning is likely to make him sleep better. I'm afraid it's one of those horrible things! How often is he waking at night?

I know that 4mo is a rough time for sleep - he's always woken a lot at night though, so know that weaning isn't the answer - it's not like this is a new thing! It's just...I was happy to feed him lots at night when he was tiny, but he's getting bigger and I feel he should be stretching out a bit more...

He tends to wake (roughly) at 10pm (when I go to bed), 12, 2, 4, 5.30, 6.30. This has got a bit better as I've been trying to soothe him back to sleep at at least some of those times. If he had his way he'd feed a tiny bit at each waking.

I think I just have to ride it out 'til he's older..

Could you try expressing for 5 mins before a feed so he doesn't get full up on the watery milk (I too have oversupply issues)? It does work but doesn't really help tame your oversupply.

DS only takes one breast at each feeding which helps to 'empty' each side and ensure he gets the nice fatty milk. I was using the same breast for two feeds in a row BUT that was when he was feeding 2 hourly, now he's stretching out to 3 hours between feeds I'm getting a bit full again

Heymammy - using the same boob for a while is a good idea, I was doing that before when the oversupply was worse, might try it again and feed more often.

Thanks!