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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

Night Feeders Part 5. Calling all women who find themselves feeding when they'd rather be sleeping!!

770 replies

Writerwannabe83 · 01/10/2014 21:07

This is a thread for anyone who wants support when things seem tough - especially for the women whose babies don't like sleep!!

We'll do the usual introductions:

I'm a first time mom to my 6 month old, EBF son. It's been a rocky few months, lots of ups and downs but we've finally reached a point where he's asleep by 7.30pm and only waking once during the night.

He very rarely naps in the day - and when he does it's only when he's in the car or his pushchair. It's very frustrating!!

And the last little thing about us is that we have just started the weaning journey - it's fun but messy!!

OP posts:
Cannotbelieveit · 01/10/2014 23:20

Hello again everyone Grin

Just to recap. I have 2 boys, 18 months and nearly 5 months.

DS2 is ebf and was a brilliant sleeper (8-11 hours overnight with no feeds), he hit 4 months and he started waking/feeding twice a night!

In this time he has done a 10 hour stint again but generally his first sleep is 6-7 hours now. Then feed, then sleep 2-3 hours, then feed than maybe 1-2 hours. Though last night was 6 hours, feed on both sides then thru til 6.40am.

We have really been concentrating on daytime naps in the cot and it's been successful so far, he is getting better at settling himself to sleep in between 5-20 mins

Sorry for the essay!

nyldn · 01/10/2014 23:39

I think I might wind up being a regular on this thread!

DS, 7 weeks, is my first. I exclusively pumped for 3 weeks due to tongue tie, a week on shields and then on the breast at 4 weeks with pumped bottles at night. We're finally on the breast exclusively, but reflux has made feeds difficult.

He isn't sleeping through the night yet, generally feeding 10:30, 2:30-3 and 6:30. he then naps alot until early afternoon. after that no naps all day/evening unless I force it by bouncing him on a yoga ball or a walk in the carrier or pram.

Cannotbelieveit · 02/10/2014 00:57

Up feeding, will offer both sides to try to replicate last night!

Cannotbelieveit · 02/10/2014 01:12

Ok he fell asleep after 1 boob so I'm sure he will be up again!

Original poster
Writerwannabe83 · 02/10/2014 01:58

Welcome nlydn - wow, how hard you worked to give your son the best start in life. I always admire women like you who have the determination in them to get through difficult weeks like you did Flowers

My DS didn't start sleeping through (10pm-6am) until he was 3 months old and even then it only lasted about a month.

Do you give your son anything for his reflux? I was prescribed Gaviscon when my DS was about 5/6 weeks but we chose not to give it (with HV agreeing) as sometimes it can cause more problems than do good. He was putting on weight ok and was a happy baby so we just left him to see if it would improve, which it did. He then started suffering from silent reflux when he was about 5 months old and is on medication for that which has completely solved the problem.

DS is awake now and has been for 50 minutes Confused It's his third wake up in six hours. He's grizzly, irritable, straining, his stomach is growling and he keeps trumping - strangely enough we started giving him solids again yesterday. If this is what weaning is going to do to him then I foresee a very tired mommy Sad

OP posts:
cookielove · 02/10/2014 02:33

Hello

Ds is 7 weeks.

Seem to have worked our way the last week or so into a better night routine.

Fx it last.

AuntieMaggie · 02/10/2014 02:54

DS is 14 weeks and generally sleeps for 4 hours then 2 then another 2 but he's got a cold/cough at the moment and I've been up twice already. Just trying to feed him back to sleep now after shoving saline up his nose and giving him calpol. Top tip - put a dummy in their mouth before putting the saline spray up their nose - he didn't bat an eye lid this time compared to the fights I've had with him previously. still screamed about the calpol though!

Original poster
Writerwannabe83 · 02/10/2014 03:00

Mines still awake. It's been two hours now. All he wants to do is feed, feed and feed and then all he does is cry when he's put down. I tried teething gel which made absolutely no difference so I've just given him some Nurofen. He's lying next to me just moaning and grizzling - it's the most irritating noise!! I can't believe it's 3am and I've only had an hours sleep. Can't see DS falling asleep any time soon Sad

OP posts:
Sammyviv · 02/10/2014 03:19

My DS is 3 weeks old, we have excellent sleeps during the day but nighttimes are a little different. He's been up every 2 hours this evening. And just been sick all over me, delightful! And now he's back on the breast.
It's so annoying that I can't put him down unless he's in that deep sleep state. He's done a lot of grizzling tonight too

Original poster
Writerwannabe83 · 02/10/2014 03:37

Well 2.5 hours after he woke up he seems to have fallen back to sleep. He's really twitchy though and seems quite unsettled so I can't see it lasting long Confused

OP posts:
nyldn · 02/10/2014 03:48

Oh thank writer... it has been hard, but I've been lucky to have a ton of support and had a good supply from the start which definitely kept me from giving up.
we were just given ranitidine yesterday, so fx it worked for him. I feel like I've seen an improvement, j up I'm not sure if I'm creating in my head at this point!
up feeding now - hoping desperately that he'll go back down fairly easily.

Cariad007 · 02/10/2014 05:48

My DS is 7 months, still breastfed though I've introduced solids (or rather, purees) now. After two weeks of starting to sleep through the night he has been v bad this week and started waking up again. Am hoping it's just a blip but it doesn't look positive for our upcoming holiday to australia as the jetlag will prob make it worse. Don't know what's wrong with him but I am exhausted. Am racking my brains to figure out what I've been doing these past few days that I've not done before. The only thing I've started this week is giving him some cow's milk with cereal in the morning but that couldn't cause this. Or could it?

Cannotbelieveit · 02/10/2014 06:52

DS also fed at 3.20 and has been up 40 mins Confused he normally doesn't wake til between 7-7.45 so this was an extra treat this morning!!!!

AuntieMaggie · 02/10/2014 07:20

writer that twitchy sleep is what my ds has been doing during the day this week and I'm putting it down to him being uncomfortable due to teething.

The question is do I take him to baby massage this afternoon? He's still got a bit of a cough but doesn't seem to bad apart from that.

bumpiesonamission · 02/10/2014 07:26

Hey all.

First time mum to Z, 8 months old.Ebf but weaning unsuccessfully and takes the occasional ff.

Never been a great sleeper in the night. Goes to sleep fine but does stay asleep that long.

Last night - 6:40-11:15, woke at 3 and then 6:20. YAWN!

mrsmugoo · 02/10/2014 07:30

Hi ladies

Well I feel like a bit of a fraud now because my 6.5 month old DS is now (touches wood) sleeping through the night.

He was waking up sometime between 2-4 for a feed but I started to reduce the milk I offered him and suddenly he started going through to 6:30am! It's only been three nights but I'm pretty chuffed.

Naps we're settled into two a day now at roughly 9:30 & 2 - for just over an hour each.

He's starting nursery in a month and I'm back to work 3 days a week so it's bloody good timing that it all seems to be coming together.

I'll stay on the thread though because I was an original in this group back when our babies were newborns.

notadoctor · 02/10/2014 07:58

Thanks for the new thread! I have a DS (6months). I have been very lucky with his sleep - he's consistently been waking just once a night (any time between 2am-6am) and then sleeps as late as my DD (almost 3yo) will let him. She's s terrible sleeper though so I reckon it's just luck of the draw!

DS is EBF and has just started weaning. He is moving into his own room next week and I'm a bit nervous about it. Worried he'll be unsettled and a bit emotional for me too!

Suea76 · 02/10/2014 08:03

Hi
First time mum to a LB nearly 9 weeks old now FF due to lots of reasons and feel guilty.
Really good bed time routine always bathed and asleep by 730 but over night is anyone's guess!!! Last night 1030, 1230, 2, 330, 530 and 7.
However night before only 430 and then 7!!

KateTheShrew · 02/10/2014 08:48

Hello everyone.

I have an 8 month old DS (bf plus solids now) who is a pretty bad sleeper at night. He usually feeds once or twice and wakes up at least once more. Last night was pretty typical. Went down at 8, cried and had to be resettled at 9.40, fed at 1.20, DH resettled him again at 5 he was up for the day at 6.30 .

DS and I both have a horrible cold which doesn't help matters...

Sammyviv · 02/10/2014 08:55

Morning ladies
Well DS was awake most hours last night, he's having un restful sleep.
He's been a bit sicky, not sure if it's just excess milk coming up, and it appears to be coming out both ends. How do I know if it's him being poorly or just normal? He has been on the boob ALOT and won't settle till he has boob but falls asleep for maybe 10 mins then he's awake grizzling again. Super tired today so it's getting to me abit Hmm

Original poster
Writerwannabe83 · 02/10/2014 09:01

Morning to all posters, old and new! Smile

suea - I know we don't know the background but please don't feel guilty about you FF. Sometimes things don't pan out the way we wanted to but my guess is you are 100% doing what is best for your baby Flowers

cannot - my DS was only sucking on parsnips and it sent his sleep absolutely haywire!!!! I would think there's a very good chance that the milk on his cereal may be upsetting him. Could you try using some EBM instead? I express about 4oz every now and then so I've got done in the fridge to use when mixing his baby porridge and baby rice etc.

DS is wide awake - little sod. He's spinning round in the bed and I'm hoping that if I just ignore him he will go back to sleep but he looks like he's having far too much fun yanking on the curtains and singing to himself Hmm

OP posts:
Original poster
Writerwannabe83 · 02/10/2014 09:01

Morning to all posters, old and new! Smile

suea - I know we don't know the background but please don't feel guilty about you FF. Sometimes things don't pan out the way we wanted to but my guess is you are 100% doing what is best for your baby Flowers

cannot - my DS was only sucking on parsnips and it sent his sleep absolutely haywire!!!! I would think there's a very good chance that the milk on his cereal may be upsetting him. Could you try using some EBM instead? I express about 4oz every now and then so I've got done in the fridge to use when mixing his baby porridge and baby rice etc.

DS is wide awake - little sod. He's spinning round in the bed and I'm hoping that if I just ignore him he will go back to sleep but he looks like he's having far too much fun yanking on the curtains and singing to himself Hmm

OP posts:
bumpiesonamission · 02/10/2014 09:07

Sam, I always wondered the same. If he's happy in himself then its likely to be normal and certainly sounds normal to me. Try keeping him upright for a while after feeds.

I so remember that time!! This to will pass as a famous mnner once said!

AuntieMaggie · 02/10/2014 09:38

Sorry writer but that bit about your ds made me giggle Smile at least he has character... that's what the mws kept telling me when ds was a monkey in the hospital.

sammy its rare for breastfed babies to have upset tummies and if he's feeding a lot I would say that explains why it's coming out both ends but if you're concerned call your HV. I think they still grow quite a lot at that age so that probably accounts for the feeding.

Sammyviv · 02/10/2014 09:39

Bumpies thank you, I've booked a docs appointment just in case, it's all so much harder to deal with when your tired! Just trying to get him to sleep, he needs to sleep but so do I, thing is I know if I put him in the Moses basket he will wake up so I'd rather stay awake myself and let him sleep on me.
I was just changing him and let go of his head too quick and it thumped the change may! Wow the guilt you feel is horrible! Confused He cried a lot!!