Baby started feeding more at night than in day, after almost sleeping through. How to change?

[Hattieboomboom]

DD is three months old and I thought we were nearly there with sleeping through the night a week or so ago, as she'd been sleeping from a dreamfeed at about 11 until 5am. However since then she's started taking less during the day and unsurprisingly is waking more at night. The problem is I can't force her to take more in the day as she gets so impatient after the initial let down and fast flow that she just pulls off. So daytime feeds can sometimes take just a couple of minutes. She'll be satisfied for up to a couple of hours though so she must be getting a fair amount still.

Its also difficult to keep her on for longer as I have a 2 year old DS. I've tried feeding her to sleep but even then she gets cross and pulls off if there isn't a decent flow, and only calms down when I pop a dummy in her mouth. Settling her in the evenings is often really hard as I know she's got a virtually empty stomach. She does eventually go into a very deep sleep though, which we even hard to wake her from for the dreamfeed - she often doesn't take much then either. Most of her feeding happens in the early hours which is exhausting.

I want to increase my supply during the day - this would help I think - but I need her to feed more in order to do this. I know I could express but I never get as much and its too time consuming.

Can anyone suggest what might help? Many thanks in advance.

I'm bumping in the hope of an answer! Slightly different as my five week old is doing this. Last night was horrendous!

i would say that your baby is feeding more at night to increase your supply (night is the best time for increasing supply) and also that it is very healthy and normal for a young baby to NOT sleep through the night. it lowers risk of cot death amongst other things and babies need to feed often especially during growth spurts. your night feeds are very important for maintaining supply so what your baby is doing is actually natural and instinctive. do you have a co-sleeper cot? am sure others will be along with suggestions but from my experience what is happening is totally normal if exhausting. it will pass i promise.

cheery your baby is coming up to the 6 weeks growth spurt. they will feed and feed and feed to increase supply and then it settles again (til the next one!)

When do babies have growth spurts?

Common times for growth spurts are during the first few days at home and around 7-10 days, 2-3 weeks, 4-6 weeks, 3 months, 4 months, 6 months and 9 months (more or less). Babies don?t read calendars, however, so your baby may do things differently.

Growth spurts don?t stop after the first year ? most moms notice growth spurts every few months during the toddler years and periodically thereafter on through the teenage years.
How long do growth spurts last?

Growth spurts usually last 2-3 days, but sometimes last a week or so.
What is the best way to handle a growth spurt?

Follow your child?s lead. Baby will automatically get more milk by nursing more frequently, and your milk supply will increase due to the increased nursing. It is not necessary (or advised) to supplement your baby with formula or expressed milk during a growth spurt. Supplementing (and/or scheduling feeds) interferes with the natural supply and demand of milk production and will prevent your body from getting the message to make more milk during the growth spurt.

Some nursing moms feel more hungry or thirsty when baby is going through a growth spurt. Listen to your body ? you may need to eat or drink more during the time that baby is nursing more often.

kellymom.com/bf/normal/growth-spurts/

Thanks. I suspected it may be. She's never slept through (if anything we've set alarms to ensure she wakes enough) but she hit a new record last night. It was almost constant feeding. Hard going!!

yea it is very hard work but it will pass and it is natural and good i promise. can you sleep when she does at all? it is intense isn't it?

I made sure I had a nap in the afternoon (which I should anyway but often don't!) and that made a huge difference. She was still fussy all day but at least I could think straight!

Have you tried expressing to up your supply? When LO has had a couple of sleepless nights, I hand express for the next couple of days to increase my supply. I just keep a bottle handy, and express into it when I get a chance.