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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

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

954 replies

mrsmugoo · 08/07/2014 20:45

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!

OP posts:

BirdsDoIt · 14/07/2014 17:33

Hello, haven't been on here for ages because first I was too knackered to post and then DS's sleep actually seemed to be improving - so felt like a bit of a fraud to come back at that point - although he's so inconsistent still - last week I had three nights of one feed per night (so pleased with that), one night of sleeping through (ecstatic)and two nights of feeding every two hours (less than ecstatic). DS is now 13 weeks - so johull as mrsm says, best not to expect too much consistency for a while!!

I've been dipping into this thread occasionally in the small hours and wanted to say, johull, I also expressed and bottle fed for eight weeks due to undiagnosed problems with posterior tongue tie - then had a pretty hellish week of having to feed DS every 3 hours around the clock to make sure the tongue tie didn't reconnect - and at the beginning each feed lasted an hour or more. Did I read your post correctly though that your LO is feeding for three hours at a time?! That's epic. But I found that after about a week the feeds started to get much quicker as DS's latch improved - and presumably his jaw muscles got stronger and my supply improved too (although I was always able to express quite a lot).

mrsm so pleased for you that you've had such a breakthrough on self settling and now on the night feeds! Coincidentally I've been trying the last couple of nights to leave DS for a little bit when he wakes, rather than pouncing and feeding him straight away - and about 50% of the time he does sleep at least for another hour which is brilliant - every little counts!! Read about your DH carefully logging yor DS's wake ups - bless - and wondered if you'd come across the Sleep Timer app? It claims to record noises in the night which you can then listen to and confirm whether it's your baby waking (rather than DH snoring for eg!), so you know how well (or not) your baby is sleeping in the night. I got it today and am logging day time naps and will try it out tonight. Interested to see if there's any pattern in his daytime sleeps (although he still only really stays asleep for naps if he's in the sling or on someone) and how much he actually sleeps every day.

Also intrigued to hear about mucusy poo / drool connection! I've noticed that here too. Hey, the things you find interesting when you have a baby...

BirdsDoIt · 14/07/2014 17:34

Sorry DS is actually 12 weeks - fat fingers.

Original poster

mrsmugoo · 14/07/2014 18:03

Thanks for recommending that app Birds, I'll look into it!

OP posts:

KateTheShrew · 14/07/2014 18:11

Hi johull, my supply did dip a bit as I wasn't able to express often enough to feed DS bm exclusively so he was having some formula. I just reduced the formula gradually (with support of a lovely HV who came out to weigh him regularly). It probably took about 3 weeks to cut out the formula and get my supply back up.

It's definitely ok now though as DS is gaining weight much quicker now he's on the breast and is creeping up the centiles

Honestly, doing the expressing was possibly the hardest few weeks of my life and it made me feel so miserable and anxious, but it was worth it in the end and now feeding him is just something I do without thinking about it or worrying and I would NEVER have believed that would be possible 3 months ago. So hang in there, it sounds like you are doing brilliantly. Do you have good support from your HV or a breastfeeding support group etc? I wouldn't have had the confidence to cut out bottle feeds if it hadn't been for my HV. She was wonderful and came out to see us twice a week when we were first getting back on track.

Wherehasmysleepgone · 14/07/2014 18:18

Evening all, can I ask people what time they put their lo's to bed? We put our boy to sleep between 8-9pm and I wondering whether this contributes to him waking so much?
Last night was hell, he had 4 bottles by 6pm when he usually only has two and this was coupled with the numerous attempts to settle him with dummy which failed, I am shattered and stressed out as his sleep (which was never very good anyway) is getting worse. Im thinking its got a lot to do with teething and the heat!?
I don't know what to do to make it better, whenever he feeds he takes a whole bottle of 6oz so its not a comfort thing....is it??
Since he was born (now 16 weeks) the longest stretch was 6 hours but this happened once and was never seen again

Wherehasmysleepgone · 14/07/2014 18:20

Interestingly he is sound asleep in his buggy and has been napping for 2 hours now which is unlike him, he struggles to sleep longer than 20-30 mins during day!

Writerwannabe83 · 14/07/2014 18:46

Hi wherehas - my DS is 16 weeks too

I bath him at about 8pm and then feed him afterwards before putting him down in his Crib. On a good day he's asleep by 9pm but on a bad day it can take until 10.30pm.

The longest stretch he has ever had overnight is about 7.5 hours.

Some days he has a few short naps, others days he has really long naps (lasting 3-5 hours) and some days he doesn't nap at all.

I have given up trying to 2nd guess what goes through his little baby brain.

BirdsDoIt · 14/07/2014 18:47

kate I totally agree - I never thought that breastfeeding would be as easy as it now is, only 4 weeks after the tongue tie snip - my nipples were totally shredded and it was an exhausting schedule of expressing and bottlefeeding simultaneously - and then returning to breastfeeding every three hours for five days almost broke me, until on day 4 miraculously the pain started to reduce, and now it's going brilliantly, thank goodness.

BirdsDoIt · 14/07/2014 18:59

I do the whole bath time/bed time routine starting around 7pm - feed, bath, baby massage if I feel like it, then another feed - sometimes he goes to sleep at this point. If not we cut our losses and he plays on his playmat/has a cuddle with DH or me, we have dinner, watch a bit of TV, then try again around 10/10.30pm - usually I do a feed on the sofa or on our bed and most of the time that sends him off for the night - if not, a lot of rocking and pacing the floors and singing row row row the boat...

Cariad007 · 14/07/2014 19:05

DS doesn't have a bedtime as he will not stay in his crib and self-settle. Some days he drops off during an 8pm feed and then falls asleep again after the next feed, other days he doesn't sleep till 10 or 11pm. Don't know how to sort it tbh. Have tried putting him in the crib and patting and shushing but nothing works for him.

FrankelandFilly · 14/07/2014 19:10

DD (18 weeks) goes to bed between 6.30-7.30, depending on her last nap. Her bedtime routine is bath, change of clothes, fresh nappy, into sleeping bag, bottle and put in her cot. Sometimes she falls asleep quickly, other times she might take up to half an hour.

I know I probably put her to bed much earlier than most of you do with your babies, but as I'm doing things on my own it's very important to me that I get a couple of hours to myself in the evening before I go to bed.

Writerwannabe83 · 14/07/2014 19:15

Can I ask what people do once their baby has fallen asleep? Do you just pop the baby monitor on whilst they're asleep in their cot/crib and then go downstairs??

Cannotbelieveit · 14/07/2014 19:28

I go to bed when he does writer! Although we are going to get a second camera for our monitor we use for DS1 and I can start at least having an hour a night just me and DH before I go to bed!!

Cariad007 · 14/07/2014 19:30

Writer, I usually end up lying next to him reading or Facebooking because if I leave him he wakes up! Also due to his crib aversion he's always asleep on our bed and now that he can roll over I don't like leaving him alone on it.

Writerwannabe83 · 14/07/2014 19:52

Do you co-sleep with him then Cariad or does he eventually accept that he has to go in his crib?

FrankelandFilly · 14/07/2014 20:03

writer, yes that's what I do! Once she's asleep I put the monitor on and go downstairs to eat my dinner, wash up and then collapse on the sofa! The monitor is very sensitive and I can hear her stirring. I may have to pop back into her room once or twice if she grizzles/cries but not every night.

FrankelandFilly · 14/07/2014 20:03

I sh

FrankelandFilly · 14/07/2014 20:04

I should add that her cot is in my room, so she's only "on her own" for a maximum of 3 hours.

Original poster

mrsmugoo · 14/07/2014 20:12

Writer - I would always stay in the bedroom and quietly have a cup of tea and read for a bit and then sleep too.

Due to a combination of insomnia and DS starting to sleep through to early morning I've started to come back in the living room and have the video monitor on. However we live in an apartment and the bedroom is literally one walk away so I could hear him cry even without a monitor.

I've been sleeping in the spare room, so his wake ups don't disturb me. DH has manned the monitor until he goes to bed usually 1-2 and then when he goes to bed he will come and get me if DS needs a feed after that. However last night I woke up at 3 and brought the monitor in with me - which is a good job as DH totally didn't hear when he woke up for a feed at 4:30 this morning!

OP posts:

Yorkie78 · 14/07/2014 20:24

The monitor lives by my husband while he makes dinner or watches tv. Don't need it this week though :( I hope this doesn't last long. Snotty baby asleep on cushion on me upstairs. Horrible to see how miserable she is. Good night everyone I hope!

Original poster

mrsmugoo · 14/07/2014 20:26

He's had a set bedtime routine since 8 weeks old. Even if he didn't go straight to sheep after bath, massage, pjs, feed he would know he couldn't come back in the living room to play, it was quiet time in the bedroom until he dropped off. Over time he's got used to a 7pm bath and 7:30 bed. Now I try to reverse engineer his sleeps so he's not had too long a wake time before 7pm (2-2.5 hours is best). Sometimes if it doesn't work out e.g travelling, we flex bath time by half an hour either way.

OP posts:

Cariad007 · 14/07/2014 20:44

Writer Usually we can transfer him into the crib after he's in a deep sleep and he'll sleep in it for a couple of hours but after I take him into my bed to feed him we usually both fall asleep and end up cosleeping.

Weirdly my insomnia is worse when he's in the crib as I'm on tenterhooks waiting for him to stir but if he's in the bed with me I find it easier to drift off. Go figure!

TwentiethCenturyGirl · 14/07/2014 20:45

6:30/7pm bedtime here too. DD is normally knackered and goes off quickly if she doesn't fall asleep feeding. I pop her in the cot and then go downstairs until I go to bed. Our monitor is pretty crappy so I do pop my head round the door a couple of time to check she's ok.

Writerwannabe83 · 14/07/2014 21:03

I always just sit with my DS until he falls asleep and then I just stay upstairs with him. I can't remember the last time I saw the lower floors of my house after 8pm

He fell asleep at 20.15pm but then woke up again half an hour later and started crying, I knew it was too good to be true. I calmed him down and then placed him back in his Crib but he's still wriggling around and being grizzly.

He's such a tired little man, just wish he'd go to sleep.

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