Calling all nighttime feeders!! Let's all keep us company during those early hours of the morning when we're feeding instead of sleeping!

[Writerwannabe83]

This is a thread for everyone to chat to each other about their experiences of night time feeding, the good, the bad and the ugly!

There are already a few of us who have been chatting about this in another forum for a few months now but we want to migrate over here to meet more sleep deprived parents!!

Log on and post, no whatever silly hour it is, and vent away about how knackered and stressed you are!! There's a good chance someone else is up and feeding crying with exhaustion too!!

Introductions: I have a 7 week old son, first baby and exclusively breastfeed. He's normally a nightmare to settle to sleep, screaming for hours on end, but will go for 5 hour stretches of sleep!

Aww writer sorry you're having such a bad time,hope the cystitis clears up soon.

Sympathies to everyone who had unsettled nights.

I've done a dreamfeed with both of mine and have EBF them both. Perhaps it's not a dreamfeed in the truest sense of the word because both the girls have tended to wake up when they are lifted out the crib - however they always go back down easily after (the only time they have reliably fed to sleep).

For me it works. They have bedtime at 7ish (hopefully!), sleep in the basket/cot until I wake them at 10:30ish and then tend to do anywhere between 4 - 6 hours before waking for another feed. They then normally sleep for another couple of hours. It means I get an evening of peace with DH and still get a decent stretch of sleep at a normal time.

DD2 is 10 weeks and I've only been up with her in the night on more than occasion a handful of times so far. Obviously now I've said this I will have the night from hell tonight!

Both my girls have had long feeds in the middle of the night though, so I tend to be up for about 45 minutes with them. Personally I'd take one longer wake up over lots of broken bits of sleep though.

I had to drop the dreamfeed with DD1 at about 5 months because it stopped working. However it was a relatively painless process and after a few nights we worked ourselves into a new routine. I'll cross that bridge with the baby when I come to it!

Epic post - sorry!

We're not bathing every day at the moment, every other day works for us unless she's very grubby!

Our routine, on bath night, tends to be:

5pm Feed (3oz) and start winding down
6/6.30pm Bath
7pm Feed (3oz) in bedroom with curtains drawn and lights down low
Cuddle until she's sleepy
7.30pm down in cot
Once she's falling asleep I leave her the room and take the monitor with me, she usually only needs checking on once or twice.
10pm nappy change and final feed (5oz)

She'll usually then go until 5am without a feed, but she sometimes wakes up and grizzles a bit in the wee small hours!

I'm drinking bottle after bottle of water to try and prevent the cystitis from fully developing!

DS has just fallen asleep since being awake since 7am - I don't understand why he fights it when he's so clearly tired. He hardly got any decent sleep last night either, poor man.

I think I'd be too scared to Dream a Feed, I wouldn't dare risk waking him up Knowing my luck the Dream Feed would make him super alert and he'd still be wanting to play 2 hours later

I love epic replies personally, I think I might try for a dream feed tonight... mildly nervous now I've made the decision but at least DH has a day off.

writer you have my sympathy with the cystitis, do you have cranberry juice at all?

For some reason all children fight sleep, I'm almost looking forward to the tantrums, at least I know she'll understand a bit better...

I think the issue with fighting sleep is that babies don't understand that they are tired, they know they don't feel "right" so their automatic response is to cry. Frustrating for us though!

My dd doesn't sleep until 10pm earliest. Sometimes naps around 6/7pm but won't stay asleep and is then wide awake, feeds loads etc.. Just doesn't sleep. So never get an evening off...

DS has just had his bath and is now having his pre-bedtime feed. He's been awake for over 4 hours now so I'm hoping once he's in his MB he will settle off to sleep quickly

Ds has been asleep since 8.40 after 6 hours of stress where he wouldn't sleep for more than 10 mins at a time fingers crossed for a good night

Been up settling DS after his first feed (3.5 hour stretch) as he was crying with straining to fart and didn't feed to sleep as usual. He went back off ok after a tummy massage, some gripe water and a cuddle.

Just waiting for him to be completely asleep before I put him down. Hope this isn't the start of an unsettled night.

Feeding Fin just now. He had an epic 35min feed at 6.30,then he slept on my chest from 8pm till he had a 5min feed at 11pm. So farther has been on for 15mins so hopefully I might get a nice long stretch of sleep after this!

Up feeding dd for first time tonight, although she first stirred at 12.15 so feels like I've been up for hours. She pooed and is now having other side so who knows how long she'll be awake for. Was cluster feeding all afternoon and evening so my nips are pretty sore. Five weeks today!

First feed here. Hope you all having quiet nights.

Second tonight first was at just after 11 for 45 mins

Up again here!

Still up ugh!

Hello all, I couldn't believe it when DS woke me up and I saw it was getting light outside! He slept from 23.15-04.45. A whole 5.5 hours!! I think it's the longest he's ever been and compared to the last 2-3 nights it's unbelievable. He's feeding nicely now and it would be lovely if he went straight back to sleep again afterwards.

Hope everyone else's night has been bearable!!

Urgh indeed MrsM - that sounds tough.

We've had a good night so far. She slept from 7:20 to my bedtime, quick feed then 11:15 - 4:40.

I'm feeding her now but have unfortunately been interrupted by a massive poo that necessitated a full outfit change for DD. With all the excitement she's wide awake and grinning, so it might be a while before I manage to get her back down.

I wish she would stop pooing at night. I'm sure my eldest had by this stage and it makes night feeds so much simpler!

You know those nights when you think 'surely it is someone else's turn to wake up and feed you.... Oh no.... Wait,.... It's me again'.

I'm thinking about strangling DD after she was up at 3.30 complaining about her cough but refusing to drink any water.

Morning. All. Up again Fin trumped himself awake!

I didn't realise they stopped pooing at night, Fin hasn't for the last 2 nights and I was worried.

I startled myself awake just before 6 and found I had fallen asleep feeding him. After the initial panic of oh god have I squashed him has he overheated he was fine I moved him to his cot where he promptly woke up and has been awake since

Morning everyone. A 5.5 hour stretch, writer, that's fab! Well DS had a better night. Went down at 8.30. Dream feed at just before 11, grumbled a bit at 12.30 but didn't need another feed until 2. Then down again till 5. I on the other hand seem to have developed full on insomnia and lay wide awake and exhausted from 11 until nearly 2 while DH and DS slumbered peacefully. Grrrrrrr Got a bit more sleep as the night went on though, and DH took DS downstairs at 6.30 and has just brought him back for a feed. Think my body clock has been permanently screwed up by 4 months of random night wakings!

You have my sympathies Shrew! Good that other half took a turn but it sometimes feels like a drop in the ocean, doesn't it? There's something lovely about rest when they are with other half though, you can turn off a bit.

Oh it's nearly the weekend...DH at home for two whole days to help with wee one!! Bliss!

Thanks singsong. The weekends are wonderful, aren't they? I look forward to them more now than when I was working! Also bank holiday on Monday so actually three days of help

Morning all. mrsm hope you are catching up now! We take boy up with us to bed around 10, then I feed to sleep, he's always asleep by 11. Sometimes he naps in the evening but he's not keen at the mo, mainly he want to feed.

He seems to do a good chunk when we do this, last night he slept till 530, then fed, then back to sleep till 830. I'm a bit worried if I put him down earlier he'll be up earlier!

Also he's supposed to sleep in the same room as us, and I don't want an earlier night, DH isn't home till 630 at the earliest, by the time we've caught up and he's played with or bathed the baby we don't end up eating till about 8!