BF 10wk old baby fussing at bedtime feed only

[copperbottom]

Hi

First post on mumsnet

I wondered if anyone had any advice or similar experiences?

My 10wk old DS is fully bf, feeds at roughly 3hr intervals and takes his daytime feeds with pretty much no problem. Night feeds also ok - I dream feed him between 1030 and 11pm, then he'll go for 3hr intervals.

He has a very basic bedtime routine - dad baths him between 6 & 7pm, then I feed him, swaddle him, we have a cuddle and he drops off to sleep quite quickly.

The problem is the bedtime feed is becoming a bit of a nightly battle. For the last week or so when I do the feed he's been taking a few sucks then fusses, arches his back, wails, etc.. I wind him and he sometimes burps, but still won't settle to feed.

Gripe water has usually calmed him - sometimes enough to take the feed, but sometimes not. The odd thing is that even if he doesn't take the feed he still drops off to sleep quickly once swaddled and still sleeps until I lift him for the dream feed..

If it's wind I can't work out why it's only happening at the bedtime feed - any thoughts?

I make the interval between his last feed and the bedtime one 2.5-3hrs - tried reducing this to 2 hrs, thinking he may be really hungry and guzzling too much - no difference.

As he goes to sleep quickly I think he's pretty tired - could being overtired cause the prob?

Thanks

I don't know how useful my input'll be as dd (11wks) has nowhere near such a structured routine, but when she fusses during an evening feed (screaming, arching, clawing) it's usually because she's too tired to eat - a bit of bouncing / walking / slinging usually helps her nap for 10min or so and wake up calm enough to eat. Either that or it'll help her drop right off and sleep till her 10-11ish feed.

I wonder if you're right and ds is tired out after his exciting bath?

(and welcome btw )

hiya - how long before bathtime do you feed him? also - how long is bathtime/ wind down time with your dh?

i am with mrs b , your bub could be over tired/ over stimulated. either that or is he ready to drop a feed?

It is common for babies to be fussy in the evenings - DS was but then he had colic so just screamed! There's some useful info here:

www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/fussy-evening.html

would second the suggestion that he may be tired as well.

Hi

Thanks for the good advice so far

Dal21 - the last feed before bathtime is usually 2.5/3hrs before. Bathtime itself is quite short - 10mins at most

Today he's napped really well - definately slept for longer/better than usual.

I thought, great - good sleeps in day and bring bedtime forward a little and hopefully it'll sort it..

So just to keep me on my toes the little monkey has played up at both the teatime and bedtime feed this time...

Bedtime was about 3/4 hr earlier than usual - but he was definately tired and though he's not taken much milk he seems to have gone down to sleep - hopefully for long enough to recharge his feeding batteries

So we battle on! I'll take a look at the kellymom link now (thanks for that!)