Night feeders thread part 3 - Up all night feeding? Come join! [title edited by MNHQ]

[mrsmugoo]

Part 3!

Quick recap - DS, 17 weeks, EBF (stubborn little bottle refuser), crap sleeper! Super knackered Mummy, surviving on 1-2 hour sleeps :(

So I am hoping for a better night tonight seeing as bedtime went smoothly. Last night was hideous and I've eaten a twirl, a bounty and a salted caramel brownie today just to get through the day!

He is 16 weeks today and has been on hungry baby formula for about 7 weeks with no difference to the amount he feeds

16 weeks could be 4 month regression?

Ours was between 14-17 weeks of night hell roughly.

16 weeks is classic sleep regression time. Ours hit at 16w3days!

Did you move to hungry baby milk of your own accord, or on advice? I only ask because my health visitor said hungry baby milk is just a gimmick. It doesn't contain more calories, which is often what babies want, it is just harder to digest. Your DS does sound like he's taking a lot, particularly at night. Do you think he's feeding out of habit (at night that is) rather than actual hunger? What does he weigh at the moment?

3 weeks of night hell

So potentially I only have another 2.5 weeks to go of this nightmare

We have just been for a walk to ASDA and back and he is fast asleep in his pram. I have got to take him for his Jabs in 45 minutes which won't be a nice thing to wake up to.

wherehas - then I'm out of ideas Is he climbing up the centile charts with all this milk he's having or is he following his normal line? I'm only asking with regards to whether he needs this amount to maintain his weight, or whether he's just used to having it and it's more routine than hunger - if you know what I mean.

Major cross post with frank

writer

Just to reassure, the sleep regression doesn't always last 3 weeks! The average is 2 weeks, but we got lucky with only 1 week. At least I'm assuming we're through it now, DD has been pretty much back to normal for 4 consecutive nights.

I am getting him weighed this week my hv said I didn't need to get him weighed so frequently after her final visit so I haven't but I will go Thurs, he was above the 95th percentile at about 9 weeks he weighed 13lb 12oz.

We changed him onto this formula as he was drinking so frequently and the HV/Dr said he shouldn't have been drinking that much - it should be more spaced out so we thought we would give it ago! Initially it helped a bit and we were able to go every three hours during the day and night but the last 2 nights have been awful!
Should I take him off hungry formula then?

With the four month regression, what do you do? Just go to him and give him what he wants or try to stick to the original routine?

I was dreading the 4 month regression as he had me up 2-3 times anyway and now its even more

What can I do about his hunger? Is it normal for a baby to drink every bottle when its just routine?
Sorry for all the Q's I just have no idea what I can do, if anything at all!

Was he on the 95th percentile at birth or is it something he has gradually climbed up to?

With regards to the Hungry Baby milk, I suppose it's just a case of asking yourself if it isn't making any difference to his feeding then is there any point in giving it? Does he get constipated on it?

In terms of feeding volumes a general rule is that 5oz per kilogram per 24 hours is enough to keep babies hydrated. I.e a 6kg baby would only need 30oz of milk in 24 hours. Using this formula could you work out what your baby needs versus what he is actually having? However, it is a general way of working out required volumes, it isn't specific and every baby is different.

Has your HV ever suggested you try giving him water instead of milk on some occasions? Especially in this heat.

In terms of the 4 month regression I'm just giving DS what he wants. The regression is in alignment with a developmental stage and when babies are having progressions in their development they naturally want/need more milk, so I'm just going with it.

It may be worth waiting for the sleep regression to pass before making changes to his milk intake - I'm sure you don't want to deal with the stress of doing both at the same time.

He was high quite early, when he was born he was 9lb 7oz and lost 5oz then shot back up once on formula.
no he doesn't seem to get constipated, occasionally he will go one day without a poo but will go the next morning with no problems and it looks normal! I worry now about taking him off it just in case he gets even worse lol...I will have a think on that!
I can work it out on Thurs once he is weighed but currently he has approx. 36oz a day I think!
When would I give water? I guess it needs to be boiled and cooled and only a small amount?
thank you for your help by the way

I think it is advised that formula fed babies have some cooled boiled water in the hot months but only about 2oz per day spread out over the course of the day i think

Check with the HV though. It may be that your DS is getting hot and thirsty hence why he wants more milk.

I have always been led to believe that babies can differentiate between feelings of hunger and thirst just like we can but obviously they can't have just food or just a drink like us.

I know when it is hot DS is always wanting to breast feed much more frequently, including waking at night. He isn't hungry, he just wants the watery foremilk to quench his thirst.

Evening all!

Kate - sorry to hear your LO has been so upset. Teeth tend to hurt much more at night because there's nothing else to distract them from the pain. For your post I was thinking night terrors too though. My DD has had them since she was very teeny (although maybe not as little as 6months). She's 2.8yo now and they're settling a bit. When it happens I just sit and cuddle her until it passes - turning the light on helps sometimes and so does walking onto the lit landing with her. The no cry sleep solution for toddlers has some good suggestions and while your LO is probably too young for the techniques it might help you understand what might be going on in his little brain. Still might be worth talking to a GP just in case though.

Where has - if you want to offer water, you just boil and cool and offer a little bit in a bottle. There's probably no harm in offering it and then if your LO isn't interested then offering milk instead.

My DS has just started rolling! Very excited about the developmental leap but it's made me nervous of co-sleeping so it's making nights a bit tougher. We're still only having on average 2 wake ups a night - at 2ish and 5ish - it's just taking longer to settle than just popping him in next to me. He never gets to sleep past 6.30am though poor thing as DD's first words of the day are always "is he awake?" usually shouted right in his face. Well yes, he is now!

DS has been down since just after 7 - slightly early bedtime due to disaster napping schedule today and a 5pm nap refused.

I have to sleep in our room all night tonight because we have DH's cousin staying the night so I've got myself some ear plugs!

Got my amounts completely wrong lol he is having on average 48oz, that's a lot of milk isn't it!?
I may try the water and speaking to HV too. Thank you for your advice everybody
He slept well today as we went out for a walk he went 4 hour between feed then 3, then didn't nap from 4 ish until he just went down for bed - he was exhausted and couldn't finish his bottle so god knows what I have in store for me tonight! I have put the fan on tonight too so hopefully he wont get too hot!

Good luck to everyone tonight here's hoping for some sleep

wherehas - so he's having enough milk to keep a 10kg baby hydrated - which is the equivalent to a 22lb baby. Like I said though, the 5oz per KG is just a general guide. Just wait and see what his weight is and take it from there

I'm taking DS up to bed now. He's been a bit grizzly this afternoon after his Imms and RV drops, I even gave him some Calpol earlier. He seems to have perked up a little bit now so I'm hoping we won't have a fractious evening. Hopefully he will have a nice feed and drift off. I'm aiming for him to be asleep for 9.30pm but we'll see

Problem I'm having with DS now is that he just will NOT stop sucking! Last night I fell asleep while feeding him and when I woke he was still sucking. I can't believe that he's hungry so it must be for comfort. Any idea how to make him stop? He spits a dummy out unfortunately.

Ever since my DS started to refuse a dummy I started to use a Muslin as his comforter. I rubbed it over my body so it smelt of me and then hand expressed some milk onto it and I would place it next to DS when I lay him in his Crib. He would grab hold of it and rub it against his cheek or start sucking on it and he'd eventually drift off.

However, he now falls asleep by sucking on his fingers which he does very, very noisily!

notadoctor - snap, my toddler DD crashes in to the bedroom at 6:30 screaming "TIME TO WAKE UP BABY" every morning despite my protestations!

Anyone else dreading tonight? DS usually wakes for a feed around 1am and I'm considering staying up until then as it's so physically difficult to get up! Won't though....zzzzzz

DS up here at 02.45am

He is so,so windy, he just won't stop trumping. He was like this the last time he had his Rota a virus drops, he had an upset stomach for days. He is trying to feed now and all I can hear is his belly gurgling and he keeps writhing around in discomfort.

Thank God they don't have the RV drops with their 3rd lots of injections.

"Only" 6 hours which is DS's shortest stretch he does so I know that's very very good for his age and for a bf baby, but still!!??

Hopefully after this feed he will sleep til at least 6.30-7 when DH has to get up.

Is it wrong that I'm excited about the fact I've ordered a new vacuum?? It's a handheld Dyson and I'm really looking forward to it arriving! Oh how my life has changed

Back down after a 4:25 feed - night 6 of super long stretches!!

Grrrr who has replaced my baby?

I was so lucky,he used to sleep from 11pm till 5 or 6am, now we are having multiple wakings again and I'm exhausted! Tonight he went down at 11pm, was up at 11.30,12,3 till 4.30, I've just fed him and now he is asleep on my chest, don't dare move him! Teething sucks and we have his 2nd lot of jabs this morning boo!

Yay mugoo

And double yay Cannot, how exciting you'll be vacuuming flat out out of sheer novelty (...can you come round to mine??)

Hardly any sleep had here and DS has been full of beans since about 3am :( Why does he always do this when I have plans to meet friends.. I could do without looking totally shit for just one day!

I'm exhausted too. I haven't been back to sleep since DS woke at 02.45am. I got so much on my mind that I just can't switch off. So after lying in bed for over 2.5 hours, desperately trying to sleep, I have given up.

cariad - you have my sympathies. Ive got a busy day ahead and dread to think how shattered and shit I'm going to look

puggy - have you managed to get some sleep??

6 wake ups here between 1:10 and 6:10, that's more than hourly

Another busy day here, need to be out the door by 8...not happening!