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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

Should I stop BF? I just want sleep, also 6 wks pg

13 replies

mygirllolipop · 21/03/2006 10:17

DD3 is one in three weeks. I am 6+1 weeks pg, due in Nov when DD3 will be 19 months.

I do enjoy BF but recently she has cut her first 3 teeth (in the last 2 or 3 weeks) and there's at least one more on the way. She has started biting me during feeds. Bless her she must be in pain with the teeth and she kicks me when lying down for a feed (in the stomach). She wakes every hour at least during the night and just wants comfort (fair enough) but I am utterly shattered with it and wondered if a bottle/dummy or anything would help me get this baby off to sleep in her own cot by herself, then not wake til morning (yes I'm hoping for a miracle!). During the night she will only settle in there's a nipple in her mouth and if I take it out she'll wake within 10 mins at most, screaming.
Also I know it has been done before but how will I fit her on my knee to feed when I have a huge bump?!
I can live with the biting, kicking and logistics of this but I really NEED some sleep, any advice?
TIA

OP posts:

misdee · 21/03/2006 10:20

giving her bottle now wont hep her sleep through. are you giving her calpol to allievate her teething pain at all?

compo · 21/03/2006 10:22

you poor thing Could you try the baby whisperer method of pick up and put down once settled. At first it will take ages but eventually if you persist she will learn to sleep in her cot withoiut any milk in the night. It is meant to take 4 nights

Original poster

mygirllolipop · 21/03/2006 10:24

You name it we've tried it! Calpol, calgel, dentinox, ashton & parsons. Going to get the neurofen (sp?) stuff later to try. Her first two teeth were no bother at all I didn't even know she'd cut them, but these ones are hell! I suppose I'm just not used to her cutting them this early as the eldest two didn't get teeth til they were 13m at the earliest and could entertain themselves instead of thinking about the pain.
I suppose we just need to be strict with a routine but it's so hard!

OP posts:

Original poster

mygirllolipop · 21/03/2006 10:28

Ooooh compo - 4 nights? I'm already sleep deprived so having her sleep thru in 4 nights sounds like bliss. We try to pick her up, soothe her then put her back, but she cries on getting in her cot and wakes up crying within the hour. But if that starts to get longer and eventually stops I can live with that! I suppose I knew thisalready but need somebody to tell me! Or a miracle cure tht wouldn't go amiss either!

OP posts:

bluejelly · 21/03/2006 10:42

I think you will have to get strict. She doesn't need to feed once an hour in the night. You do need your sleep! particularly with your new baby on the way. Get a book and sort it! Even if she was only waking once or twice a night you would feel so much better... good luck xxx

harrisey · 21/03/2006 10:45

You might find the nurofen is better as it is an anti-inflammatory so will help the swelling in her gums, poor dear. You must be totally exhausted.
Were you planning to keep on feeding through the pregnancy and beyond or not? I was never able to feed when I was pg as my nipples could not take it! But I would have liked to. If you were going to go on feeding anyway then maybe you should give it some more time before you decide to stop, let the teeth thing settle down a bit. Lucky you with late teethers though - all of mine had 4 teeth at 6 months and dd1 got her first at 8 weeks!!!
All the best in sorting itout and with your new pregnancy!

collision · 21/03/2006 10:50

OK. Im all for the tough route! She doesnt need to be waking thru the night when she is on solids and having enough food.

I would dose her up for the teething and give her a last feed before you put her down. She needs to go down awake so she can settle herself and go back to sleep herself.

if she screams, leave her for 2 mins and go in and soothe her without picking her up. Leave her for 5 mins and do the same. 7 mins and do the same. She will learn but it does take time.

if you can, ignore her and she will settle.

cece · 21/03/2006 10:57

Always found the Nurofen to be effective, especially at night time. Would you try leaving her to cry rather than going to her in the night?

Original poster

mygirllolipop · 21/03/2006 10:59

Thanks everyone,
Will get neurofen this pm as heard it was anti-inflam.
I am so not strict and don't mind her crying but I can't listen to her screaming, I might get DH to do it.
Another thing is she thinks it's a buffet if I am undressed ie if she sees me in the shower she willcry and make sucking faces at me for a feed! She is starting to learn how to get them out herself too which is a bit embarrassing!

OP posts:

CattyB · 21/03/2006 11:07

Hi mygirllolipop,

Sleep deprivation is really hard esp when pg. My ds3 still isn't sleeping either but he's only just 9m. I have resorted to giving him a bottle about 10pm which is when he usually wakes having gone down sometime between 7 - 8:30 after a BF. I've never given any of my other boys a bottle and it is really against my instincts/ethics to do so BUT it has helped and he is sleeping from 10 til around 4 which is brilliant. I'm still knackered but less so. The other thing I did do with the other two esp if they were out of sorts was to give neurofen and 5ml of benylin childrens night coughs (suitable from 1 year). I would only use this for a few days to help knock them out and to establish a routine for sleeping all night.

Found controlled crying worked eventually with ds1 but ds2 was (and still is) a very stubborn wee boy and it was too hard with him.
Just wondering - Do you get cross when bitten? My ds now has almost 8 teeth and can be quite nippy at times. My nipples seem to be more sensitive now I'm pg again and I find inital latching can be a bit sore too but hopefully that will wear off soon. Don't remember it being a prob last time I was BF and pg.

Original poster

mygirllolipop · 21/03/2006 11:18

Hi catty
I could handle being woken at 4am if that was all she woke from 10 pm! Might try the meds til we've a routine!
I do get cross when I'm bitten because I've heard that they don't like to associate shouting with their milk, so I hoped that by saying 'no' oudly that it would make her stop. No such luck and this could be partially due to my nipples being more sensitive in pg.
I think I'm slowly turning insane with the sleep deprivation/torture!

OP posts:

bobblehead · 21/03/2006 15:58

Hi sorry to butt in, but 10-4 sounds great to me too! Did he only start doing this when you gave a bottle at this time?

suzi2 · 21/03/2006 20:04

All I can suggest is that you hold her hand or something while she's in her cot to encourage her to fall asleep without feeding? Put a bed in by her cot so you can get some shut eye while holding her hand through the bars.

Not sure it would work, but I guess you're grasping at straws here... so perhaps worth a try. Hope you get some sleep too.

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