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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

is successful breastfeeding and sleeping through the night just not possible?

28 replies

Caz10 · 21/02/2008 20:36

i will preface all of this by saying that dd is teensy and there are concerns over her slow weight gain...so the answers might not be aplicable to her, but i am just curious!

because of her weight i have obviously been reading up and taking advice to make sure my supply and her latch are as good as possible.

i feed on demand, or 3 hourly if she has not "demanded" before 3hrs are up
been on domperidone
wear her in a sling - haven't mastered feeding in it but am trying!
tried feeding in the bath, top off etc
always offer both sides, never limit feeds
bfc has seen and "approved" latch, watched us feed etc

from about 5wks dd (now 10wks) has slept for a relatively long time at night. she used to feed 9pm-ish, then 12ish, then not wake again until 5/6am

now she is cluster feeding from 5pm-midnight, but still sleeps until anywhere between 5-7am.

i am very reluctant to co-sleep for various reasons, which is the only other "tactic" i can think of to increase her milk intake. but she does sleep in our room, right next to the bed.

anyway to get to the point (eventually!) i'm wondering if all bf babies feed during the night and it is wrong for dd not to be doing this? tbh i think i'm actually getting LESS sleep now than i did when was feeding every 2/3hrs during the night, because then i was napping during the day, going to bed earlier etc. now she is awake all day unless out walking in pram or sling, dh, parents etc are all back at work and life has gone back to normal to a certain extent, and we are up cluster feeding until 12. but it nice to then get an uninterrupted stretch! we did try waking her at 3ish for a while, but she would hardly feed.

my breasts are full in the morning but not painfully so, and they now seem quite soft at all other times, which i'm hoping means my supply is becoming more established.

today she fed at 5.45, 8, 10.30, 1, 3, 5 - that is quite typical. she is def not a "snacker", but feeds for about 30 mins each side, and is always content after feeds.

thanks!

OP posts:

foxythesnowman · 21/02/2008 20:43

Sounds like the situation I was in. At 6 weeks she was sleeping a good 6 hour stretch at night but "failing to thrive" as the HV put it. I went for the co-sleeping option so she now, at 7 months, has more bf at night than in the day (that's just something I have to deal with at some point).

She wasn't failing to thrive, she was just finding 'her' weight - not putting on the pound a week the HV seemed to insist upon. Anyway, that's another rant.

My GP gave me some good advice, which was to express after every feed and build up a 'top-up' of hind milk for the evening. So she'd get a good bottle later on in the day too.

Not sure if this ramble is of any help whatsoever to you.

ska · 21/02/2008 20:45

i know you don't want to co-sleep but that is what I ended up doing with my 4 week prem baby. She slept on top of the duvet between the 2 of us and i slept topless and she simply helped herself all night! did it for around 2 weeks i think and it worked beautifully as i got much needed sleep and also she seemed better able to latch on without my fussing (first baby and horrendous pregnancy, birth etc so i was a bit fearful!). Others may have different advice but it really worked for me.
good luck, she won't starve and you ill sleep again

moondog · 21/02/2008 20:46

GP that isn't necessarily good advice because the more the baby sucks,the more milk you will make thus supply and demand even out nicely.
Expressing does not make the same demand on the breast so be careful or it may go tits up (although i agree that an occasional bottle of EBM is a great help.)

ArrietyClock · 21/02/2008 20:56

We too had a slow weight gain 'problem', and fed three hourly (or before). However I was of the view (as was the HV) that provided dd had fed well thorough the day, come night time we should both get some sleep. And we didn't have the cluster feeding running up to bed time either.

If she's generally happy, healthy and alert I, personally, wouldn't change things. There's more to a baby than just it's weight (as my nice GP said). But then I don't know your baby and how much her lack of weight gain is an actual problem versus the HV's getting twitchy because it seems to be what they do best! (I could join Foxy in a weight gain rant, but I won't).

love2sleep · 21/02/2008 20:58

Hi,
I'm not quite sure why you need a "tactic to increase her milk intake". It sounds to me like she and you are both doing brilliantly and she is taking exactly what she needs from you.
And to answer your initial question. Breastfeeding and sleeping through are definitely compatible. DS1 was bf but was one of those magic babies who slept 12 hr every night from 10 weeks. I just wish I could persuade DS2 to do half as well at 10 months!

foxythesnowman · 21/02/2008 21:00

Ah well, it worked for us.

I expressed after she was finished, so yes, it probably meant I was making more milk than she would have taken but that wasn't a problem.

sweetkitty · 21/02/2008 21:00

She sounds a bit like my DD1, she was never a hungry baby, I had to remember to feed her every 3 hours she never cried for food. She was a speed feeder as well 10 minutes one side and would latch herself off. But she did gain weight and reached all her milestones (9th centile all the way). She slept 11-8 at 6 weeks and 8-8 at 12 weeks but we did cosleep but she didn't wake for a feed.

I think she is clusterfeeding in the evening to prepare herself for a good stretch of sleep.

pistachio · 21/02/2008 21:04

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

AnnainNZ · 21/02/2008 21:11

To answer OP's question, no, not all bf babies need to feed at night. Dd (15 wks) usually sleeps through from around 8pm to 6am, about 5 nights a week. The other nights she wakes for one feed about 3am. She first slept through at about 8 wks but it's only recently she's been doing it on a regular basis.

She still has an extra feed or two in the evening which I think fills her up for the night.

jes74 · 21/02/2008 22:50

I agree that not all babies need to feed at night as well, my ds3 is 12 weeks and for the past 3 weeks tends to sleep from 11 or 12 through to anywhere between 6-8 usually its a 7 hr sleep after cluster feeding through the evening, dd woke twice for feeding up till around 5 months and ds2 slept from 8 wks between 7 and nine hours, all babies are different. Ds1 was bottle fed from 6 wks slept through the night but spent all day feeding and projectile vomiting then feeding and generally struggled with bottles that by night was worn out as was i - the joys of being my first and having a crap midwife who left me thinking i would never be able to bf.

sharonv · 22/02/2008 00:22

Mines is 9 weeks and feeds exactly as you have described. 2/3 hours through the day then he feeds consantly from 8ish till about midnight then he is out for the count till 6/7am. been doing this for about 2 weeks and he seems quite happy with it and gaining weight ok. my boobs are like rocks in he morning occasionally have to express a bit if he sleeps in (occasionally till 9am - bliss!)

PuppyMonkey · 22/02/2008 11:32

Caz - I didn't bf but my three sisters all did very successfully and their kids slept through the night (from 11pm to 6am ish) from about four weeks or sommat ridiculous.

Whereas me with me blinking ff baby didn't get a full night's kip like that til about five months!

Haylo · 22/02/2008 11:57

My DD weighed 8.3 at birth, but lost quite a lot in the first week and took another two to get back up to her birth weight, then quite slow weight gain of 2-4 ozs per week. l had mastitus 3 times, antibiotics and then thrush which all made feeding difficult and painful
. l fed on demand and she was definitely tanking up during the evening before having a stretch of sleep from 10-4/5 from 8 weeks. l tried waking her for a dream feed but she wasn't interested. l have a 2.6 year DS so l was grateful for the sleep anyway. But we did try co sleeping in the the afternoon, DD fed as she wanted for a couple of hours and DS and myself got a sleep.

Now at 7 months she is fine, in fact she was always fine just small. All the other indicators of her health suggested she was happy, healthy and content. Its my second though so l feel much more confident with knowing my baby and speaking to my HV about her weight etc.. suggestion have you tried your local baby cafe, ours has HVs present always who you can chat to in a non-weight clinic environment where you feel pressured to hurry up and dress your baby for the next in que.

Original poster

Caz10 · 22/02/2008 19:05

Thanks all! I think we can safely enjoy our sleep for the time being then?!! (phew) ("knackered smiley")!

pistachio the "worryingly low" weight gain is a whole other saga, I think she is fine! She DID drop weight at one point, really not sure why, but has gained 4.5oz per week in the past 2 weeks, so I am feeling a bit happier about it. HV on the other hand makes me come away feeling that DD is on the brink of death, but that's another story....

i really appreciate everyone's responses.

OP posts:

ProfessorGrammaticus · 22/02/2008 19:11

No they don't all feed at night. My first fed 5 times between 6.30am and 7pm, then once in the night, from about 3 weeks. My second also fed five times in the day, twice at night, also from 3 weeks or so. Both slept 7.30pm to 7am from 12 weeks. Yes, yes, I know I was lucky, but I wanted to answer your question

Both were full term, over 7lbs and fully breast fed. I didn't express.

Original poster

Caz10 · 22/02/2008 21:59

oooh ProfessorGrammaticus can I have one of yours?! we are still in cluster feeding hell....5pm until midnight....it's a looooooooooong evening!

OP posts:

ProfessorGrammaticus · 22/02/2008 22:36

Yes you will find you are over the sleep deprived bit now - they are 9 and 7 !! I'll pop one in the post, just watch out for the endless SpongeBob SquarePants repeats and you'll be fine.

I'm not meaning to gloat (and it is true!), just to reassure you that it is possible for a breastfed baby to sleep for long periods. My pillock of a HV had me setting an alarm for 2am with my PFB, when I didn't know any better. Never forgiven her for that...

Original poster

Caz10 · 22/02/2008 22:42

oh been there! it was 3am in our house. granted though, dd is a tiddler so maybe it was warranted.

OP posts:

ProfessorGrammaticus · 22/02/2008 22:45

Yes I wouldn't say it's never appropriate - just that for my DS who was full term and a good weight (and gaining well) it was bolleaux. You still feeding then?! Hope you get some kip soon!

EllieG · 22/02/2008 22:45

What is 'cluster feeding'? It sounds very tiring.

ProfessorGrammaticus · 22/02/2008 22:47

It's when they never seem to stop! Usually early/mid evening, poor Caz seems to have a marathon - let's hope It's A Phase.

EllieG · 22/02/2008 22:51

oh. I don't like the sound of that at all. Have image of being serene lovely madonna-like bf Mum, and that doesn't really fit with it....

BoysOnToast · 22/02/2008 22:54

no!

with latest baby, i co-slept and as he was 3rd baby in 2 and half years, was old hand at bf'ing laying down... and tbh, i slept all night every night and he slept and fed on and off all night and i never felt a thing.

so no, i slept all night, he fed and slept all night, no worries, nae problems.

Original poster

Caz10 · 22/02/2008 23:15

ellieg - sorry, it is VERY tiring! def hoping it is A Phase too....actually DD has started to nod off as i am typing...it's 11.15...progress?!

boysontoast i just can't seem to master feeding lying down...keeping on trying though, as at this rate it will save my life!

OP posts:

foxythesnowman · 23/02/2008 12:46

Caz, I do think the sleeping through contributed to the slow weight gain with my lo. Like yours she didn't demand feeding. Which is why I found co-sleeping so helpful. It does sound like you are confident and not worried which is brilliant!

I had a crappy HV who got the hump when I refused her advice to "Top up with Aptimil". Had to go to the GP (who told me "as a mother, I know she is fine, as a GP my training says I need to refer) then to the hospital where the Paed Consultant took one look at her and said, surprise surprise "she's fine". She was big at birth (2 weeks late) and was finding her 'drop-down' weight as the Consultant put it.

Stick to your guns, find a sympathetic GP who has some knowledge of BF and by-pass the HV.

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