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!

I'm about to put DS down too - he seems quite sleepy so hopefully he will drift off. I'm looking at my clock and thinking I've got to be up again in 3 hours and I would definitely like some more sleep!!

Fx Writer. Hopefully it's the start of somebody settling down for you

We are up for feed #2. Dd2 cry's sometimes when I'm not fast enough mama. It's terrible service if you think about it

Thanks pepper

Well the transfer to MB was unsuccessful and he's now wide awake!

I think that's the downside to him having such a long sleep - he's then up and ready to face the day

DS managed a 3hour stretch from 10pm -1am and has fed every 2hours like clockwork since. He's settled easily after the 3am feed so I am hoping he does the same now - I could do with another hour before I'm up with the toddler!

DS managed a 3hour stretch from 10pm -1am and has fed every 2hours like clockwork since. He's settled easily after the 3am feed so I am hoping he does the same now - I could do with another hour before I'm up with the toddler!

Can I join? I'm on my second baby, Dd is 15 weeks today and ebf. Until 14 weeks she was a great sleeper but we've hit the regression and the past week has been hell. Last night she woke every hour almost on the dot for a feed and was starving each time. Zzzz

Wow. 10pm till 6.30 and she was smiling for her before feed nappy chsnge!

Excellent night here from both DCs thank goodness.

DS went from 7pm - 5am and straight back down after that. I braced myself as DD started complaining down her monitor whilst I was feeding him but had finished by the time DS was done.

We've all just woken up now which is unheard of from the 2 year old.

Hi fruitpastille! I'd consider selling my soul for 10.00 - 6.30am! She'll be full of beans today!!

Writer - don't you hate how they fake being asleep but as soon as you lay them down it is "oh no mummy, I am awake!"

Morning all. Hoping those with the sneaky waker-uppers managed to get them back to sleep. It's amazing how those seemingly fast asleep eyelids PING open when they are laid in bed isn't it!!

So after her 3:30 feed where I had to wake her and cajole her into feeding; DD then slept until 7 and I had to wake her again. She's now just milk-cruising ie having a little as and when she feels like it/remembers but is still asleep!

I obviously spoke out of turn last night DD and you wanted to be attached because you were hungry, sorry.

I am under no illusion that this will continue by the way but I can dream .

Morning Pepper! It's so hard to know what they want, sleepy signals and hungry signals are so similar aren't they?! Have a good day!

DS woke at 4am and nothing was making him go back to sleep. He was still up and full of smiles at 05.45am so I decided to just get up. I had the luxury of a shower, some breakfast and a hot cup of tea whilst DH looked after DS which although was brilliant at the time I'm not absolutely shattered! I can't believe it's so early and I have still been up for over 4 hours I'm taking DS into work today so my colleagues can meet him and my plan is that when I get back I will hopefully get some sleep at some point.

DS is currently fast asleep after having another feed at 7am, I'm so jealous of his life

Writer I have always got up before my DCs / before DH leaves at 7 to shower and dress apart from at weekends. I figure a shower, make up and clothes will make me feel more human than an extra 20 minutes sleep!

Enjoy showing your DS off.

A great night here for a change. Ds slept from 11.30-5.I fed him and he slept right away. It is now 9 and he is still sleeping. My right knocker has lost all feeling. I can make a cricket bat with it because of the hardness.

Mama Ds squeals too if I even dare to actually open my bra to feed him. They have zero patience and act like their last meal was a week ago . the complaining when you put them down after a feed. Ds will be crying to be put down in his bed. The moment I do I see his face scrunching up preparing for a scream. So much for being sleepy..

Those struggling with sore boobs you have my sympathy. 6 weeks on and mine are still a problem. All i can say is that it will get better. The only reason I'm still at it is it's so practical and it has gotten better. Ds has turned into a fine little man albeit chubby and I love that it's all because of my knockers(what a word) :). My toddler is at home today. She was telling me last night that she wouldn't be going to nursery because she had a sore throat and I thought she was just looking for attention. During the night she became hot and had a high fever and the cough sounds like she has sand on her throat. Poor girl. I felt horrible because if I was not so much focusing on the little one I would have noticed that my DD was actually quite sick. This is what I was scared of when deciding to go for number 2 and that's why it took me 4yrs to have another one. Terrible mother is what I have become

pasta - you can tell I'm a first time mom when I think getting out of bed any earlier than 10am is insane

blessed - I'm glad you had a good night but blimey, hard breasts are so, so, uncomfortable aren't they. I always make my husband touch them just to prove how hard they can actually get and he is always surprised! Sometimes I have actually works DS up purely because I need to feed him to relieve my pain!! Ps) I'm pretty sure you aren't a terrible mother

Just checking in - another smooth night for us. DS went down at 8.30pm. He'd a horrendous day with barely any daytime naps because I was out and about and he was refusing to nap in the pushchair. But anyway, he went down fine after the bedtime routine.

I joined me at 9:30 and fed him at 12:30 and 3:30. He was grunting and fussing at 5:30 so I tried to settle him with a hand on his tummy and noticed he was soaked... Oops, nappy overflow. Whole outfit including grobag had to be changed.

I thought this was it for us for the night but after a change of clothes and a feed and a quick cuddle with Daddy who's left early doors this morning he actually fells asleep propped up on my knees and when I moved him into the bed next to me he had his eyes open and after a few soft shushes from me they just dropped closed and he slept from 6-7:40am. It think it's the first time he's ever just nodded off by himself.

Hurrah for sleepy babies!

DD slept 7.30-10.15 in her cot upstairs and then went straight back down after feeding. She was grizzly at 1.30am and I had to get up several times to shush her and pop her dummy back in but she settled after a bit and slept till 5. I'm hoping she'll start extending a little bit longer as I'm currently feeding her at 5 and again at 7 when she wakes again. If she'd make it to 6 I could give her one big feed instead.

Any other formula feeders got tips for this? I make up 5oz to give her at 5am but the amount she takes varies between 3oz and the whole lot. She gets 5oz at her 10pm-ish feed and I don't think she'll take any more as she's usually falling asleep by the end of it.

Blessed I have turned into my own mother since having #2 and if DD says 'my head hurts' or whatever I reply 'oh well, I'm sure if you eat your dinner / brush your teeth / let me do your hair' it will feel better.

I tend to think the true test of illness is whether they can manage a chocolate button...... I'm surprised the NHS don't use a similar diagnostic process.

Writer the change to surviving on minimal sleep happens by osmosis. One day you just wake up and you don't feel so bad and your body has adjusted.

I just hope it can adjust back or we will be those women standing doing the ironing at 6am whilst the teenagers sleep until lunchtime. My older friends like to frighten me and tell me you don't adjust back.......

9 weeks in and I already see 7:30 as a lie in and 6 broken hours sleep a night as pure luxury!

DS was breech and I was so uncomfortable in late pregnancy and didn't sleep well for at least the last 3 months and bemoaned how "tired" I was...pfft, if only I'd known!

I'm the most tired I have ever been. DS has only had a few hours sleep over the last 15 hours....I don't understand it!! Why won't he sleep?? How am I supposed to sleep if he doesn't?

I foresee a very bad night ahead....

Oh writer I hope you get some respite tonight, you really deserve a break.

Oh I sympathise Writer! DS has had 2 "naps" of about 30 minutes each today and I swear I've spent about 8 hours trying to get him to sleep one way or another. I'm exhausted and my DH is away for the night (he left at 5:30am) so I've had no respite today at all.

He's asleep now though and I'm having tea and toast in bed - it's all I could manage to make!

Evening all. Hope the night isn't going too badly for everyone. Well we've had an eventful day on our breastfeeding journey. I've got mastitis, baby has thrush and breastfeeding support confirmed severe tongue tie, previously missed by midwives. My boob is on fire! And I know I need to feed feed feed to clear mastitis, but bloody hell it hurts! Attempting to feed her to sleep currently..

Writer so sorry that your Ds has not been able to sleep. Hoping for better night.
Misty my you have my sympathy. Mastitis is a pain. Hope you get better soon.

I'm off to Centre Parcs tomorrow. I just know I won't be able to get a decent signal on my phone so Lord knows what I'm supposed to do whilst feeding DS.

Massively looking forward to the break and taking DS swimming for the first time.