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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

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

977 replies

Writerwannabe83 · 12/05/2014 20:28

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!

OP posts:
PastaandCheese · 26/05/2014 17:40

It had integral breast pads.

Original poster
Writerwannabe83 · 26/05/2014 18:02

DS has been grizzly again for hours. I've just managed to rock him to sleep and put him down but I can hear him stirring...

OP posts:
mrsmugoo · 26/05/2014 19:35

DS refused a nap at 4:30 so has been awake since 2:30 :-/

He's only been feeding 10 mins and he's already basically comfort sucking in his sleep.

PollyP0429 · 26/05/2014 19:46

Terrible wind tonight, poor little girl screamed herself hoarse whilst farting away in my arms. Wouldn't feed either cos it was so bad, gonna try dream feed again at 10...ish. Wish me luck.

Misty could you express your letdown to save for DP to give in bottle? Perhaps then it won't soak you or choke her?

I hope things settle down for everyone soon

Original poster
Writerwannabe83 · 26/05/2014 20:01

DS is still awake here too. The screaming has stopped though so that's a good sign. He also has really bad wind, I'm almost tempted to crack open the Gripe Water. It's awful when they're screaming because of their wind, I find it so upsetting. He's having a feed now and I'm hoping he will drop off afterwards. God it would be heaven if he was asleep by 8.30pm, it would be so nice for me and DH to have an evening to ourselves!!

OP posts:
Misty9 · 26/05/2014 20:18

polly I've started letting it jet into a bottle - I got 1oz over two feeds this afternoon! I figured there's no point wasting it Grin however she isn't liking bottles too much... I hope your dd's wind improves. It's horrible when they're in so much discomfort and there's nothing we can do :(

Dd is asleep on me now and I know I should put her down but I like the cuddles and I can't be arsed to tidy the kitchen. Not sure when to attempt introducing a bedtime routine? With ds he was 22 weeks or so and it worked a dream. She's only five weeks so I'm thinking too early?

Hope all have settled bedtimes and you get that precious evening time writer . I miss mine too

mrsmugoo · 26/05/2014 20:23

DS is always down by 8:30 but I go to bed shortly after or I would miss getting a decent stretch of sleep in as he'll be up by midnight and then be anything from hourly to two hourly for the rest of the night. I miss evenings but I need sleep more than I need shit tv and small talk on the sofa!

Original poster
Writerwannabe83 · 26/05/2014 20:32

I'd love to be able to sleep at 20.30 but I just can't do it - I really struggle to sleep in the day too.

He's in mis MB and having a right wriggle and chattering away to himself. I think it's fair to say he won't be asleep by 20.30 so I'm hoping for 21.00 now Grin

OP posts:
mrsmugoo · 26/05/2014 20:56

I did try a couple of nights to stay up a little longer but honestly I was just tired, and anxious that I was losing out on a precious opportunity to sleep - especially knowing he only does one reliable long stretch a night.

We'll get our evenings back eventually but for now it's what I need to do to maintain sanity. I've just adjusted my body clock.

Cariad007 · 26/05/2014 20:57

Well DS had a reasonable night last night but is doing his usual arsenic hour grizzling now and nothing will stop that. My left boob is massive and hard but he wasn't interested in drinking. He still hasn't pooped either - that'll make it over a week since the last poo and I'm a little worried :(

mrsmugoo · 26/05/2014 20:59

On that note - he went down at 8:30, I've just had dinner brought to me in bed and now it's lights off.

Here's hoping for another 4-5 hour stretch!

Singsongmama · 26/05/2014 21:11

I go to bed with DS, I need evey scrap of sleep! We're just winding down I hope.

Saving let down is a good idea, one oz is great! I'm expressing an oz daily for sippy cup training. DS was a bottle refuser but he is getting the hang of his sippy cup. He grabs it and I tip it. Sometimes he spits it all out but mostly I can hear him drinking it. The look on his face is classic, he definitely knows what's coming! It's the light at the end of the tunnel that maybe one day he'll take a full "meal" without me.

Not sure about when to express though...want plenty in boobs for him but also want to start stocking up the freezer!! Any advice?

Cariad007 · 26/05/2014 21:19

Apparently the mornings are the best time to express but I think it just comes down to doing it whenever you can! I was able to express when DH was home or when my mum was staying with me but now I just don't have the time when it's me and DS by ourselves all day. I guess I could do it when he's sleeping and I wait next to him but I have to hold him down when he flails so that combined with pumping could all go horribly wrong!

PollyP0429 · 26/05/2014 21:23

Singsong try half hour after a feed, should be able to get a decent let down then. Also so long as the milk is the same temp you can mix an older feed in with newer.

Cariad apparently it's ok for baby to go up to 2 weeks without a poo if ebf >_< can't say they look comfortable after so long though.

As for free evenings, I find myself begging DH to come to bed early, mostly cos he's useless without decent sleep and can't sleep in the day

Cariad007 · 26/05/2014 22:01

DS is still screaming. Sigh...

Original poster
Writerwannabe83 · 26/05/2014 22:04

My DS is still awake too - he screamed for ages. Finally managed to rock him to sleep, he was dead to the world in my arms so after 20 minutes I transferred him to his MB and he woke straight up. Now he's screaming again. He's been awake now for over 7 hours and screaming for about 3 of them. I just don't know why he's being like this suddenly Sad

OP posts:
puggywug81 · 26/05/2014 22:20

Evening ladies, Pasta I'm impressed at your ingenuity!Got a windy baby here too, he has only just gone down but his last feed was 8pm so I'm not expecting to get long till the next one.

I express 1 bottles worth each day. If Fin stays asleep after his 1st morning feed I express enough for 1 bottle in 1 go as I find I have more\faster flow in the morning. If not I just express for 5 or 10 mins here and there storing in the fridge till I have enough. Oh either uses it that day or I label and freeze it in ziplock freezer bag.

Oh crap Fin has just farted himself awake! Sad

Cariad007 · 26/05/2014 22:21

That sounds dreadful. If I manage to get DS to sleep I'm just going to keep him in our bed. Poor thing, he's so windy today. I'm trying to feed him to sleep but every few minutes he breaks off and starts screaming. I keep him upright, he does a big burp and then he's okay but by then he's wide awake and it all starts again. I've tried Infacol tonight but it's not working and even gave him Calpol as he seemed to be in pain but that didn't have an effect either :(

Original poster
Writerwannabe83 · 26/05/2014 22:23

I'm not in the kitchen crying my eyes out. He just won't stop screaming, I just can't bear to see him in so much pain. I hadn't considered giving Calpol, I feel wary about it at this age. All I can hear is him screaming and screaming. I can't take it anymore.

OP posts:
PollyP0429 · 26/05/2014 22:36

Writer try to take a deep breath, is OH about anywhere? Get him to take over and have a cup of tea if so. If not, go raid the biscuit tin, or a sluce of bread and butter, concentrate on eating than then try going back. If that doesn't work make a cold drink and when it gets too much come away and have a gulp. Little short distractions. It helped me, I wasn't away for long enough to feel like I was abandoning, but it gave me enough of a break to calm down slightly

puggywug81 · 26/05/2014 22:41

Oh writer sending hugs to you that sounds so upsetting, it's heartbreaking when they scream. Unfortunately I have no advice for you I'm afraid just hand holding.

PollyP0429 · 26/05/2014 23:22

Oh and you can give calpol from 8 weeks writer

Original poster
Writerwannabe83 · 26/05/2014 23:24

Well he had a feed which settled him a little and then we gave him just under 2mls of Calpol. That was almost half an hour ago and he's still awake and grizzling Sad I just don't understand it. He looks absolutely exhausted and has been awake for about 8.5 hours...why won't he just sleep Sad

OP posts:
notadoctor · 26/05/2014 23:27

You poor thing Writer. Is there somewhere you can go to get your breathe where you can't hear baby crying, garden or similar? Just a few minutes quiet might help you. Leave baby with DH - or somewhere safe.

With DD, I used to find that chanting the sane words over and over again while walking around with her used to eventually calm her down. Sometimes it would take hours but just focussing on the words used to help me zone out of the crying. I used to chant, "baby's a daft banana, baby's a daft banana" again and again in as monotonous a voice as possible. Silly but it helped keep me calm while still feeling like I was at least doing something to calm her...

Hang in there. It's so hard hearing them cry. You're doing a fantastic job.

Cariad007 · 26/05/2014 23:33

I hope he gets to sleep soon Writer and that you get a decent kip too. Nobody warns you about this do they? My biggest fears were putting on too much weight in pregnancy and childbirth going horribly wrong. As it was I was back in pre-preg clothes within a couple of weeks and had a birth that went exactly as planned. But I'd happily have hung on to a few kilos in exchange for DS being a bit easier to deal with!

Anyway, he has finally fallen asleep on me so am going to lay him down gently and try to sleep myself as he might be up in 4 hours or he might be up in one hour.