alternate waking/feeding patterns-can anyone advise

[Sophie1106]

sounds a bit weird but i have noticed that my 5 wk old dd is feeding loads one day and not sleeping hardly at all (even though i can see her yawning)and the next day sleeping more and hardly eating much until the evening.the night feed pattern tends to alternate aswell-she wakes generally at 2/3am and then alternates between waking at 4.30/5.30 after a day where she didnt eat so much and usually 6.30 on a day where she did. problems with this are on the days where she feeds a lot she gets tired and cranky in the evenings and the opposite when she's sleeping she gets overhungry on the evenings and it's difficult to calm her. should i make a point of waking her on sleepy days ?but more difficult i find to make her sleep on hungry days however? I have noticed lately that she is more needy for comfort than i first thought and although I have bought a sling should i let her try to sleep in it during the day rather than making her go down in her moses basket(doesnt really go down in it during the day very well unless v. tired)although i do leave her for 5-10 mins to settle she still cries for comfort i find that it's v difficult to gauge how much she's eating also and she may feed 30-45 mins and still be hungry 5 mins later and although she falls asleep during feeds i try to keep her awake knowing this will happen but when she starts to yawn i put her down to sleep and she doesn't. sorry for all questions-can you tell i'm one hand typin whilst bfing?! an y advice you would care to give would be much appreciated!!

You may not want to hear this, but sounds like you have a normal baby there. They are a bit unpredictable to start with (and not much more predictable to continue with, if my 4.5month old is anything to go by). Many babies get tired and cranky in the evenings.

It sounds like you are doing sensible things. Have you tried introducing a bedtime, with a routine (can be quite simple at this stage)?

yes we have but today it's not been possible to do bath etc as she has been feeding since 3pm and still wants to feed now. should i make her bath and bedtime regardless do you think?

Personally, I wouldn't force it, but if you spot an opportunity to break off from feeding and do something else (a bit like a distraction!), then go for it. We have done a top and tail rather than bath on occasion, just to give him the idea but not to labour it.

I can't help thinking in these first months any routines are for the parents' sanity rather than particularly for the baby!

I agree-it could all go out the window at some point but I find it's nice to have an hour or 2 to yourself if it's possible- I wouldn't force it either but she does seem to go down after all the feeding at about 9pm and then feeds again at 11am and we do only tend to get one waking in the night for food.I have to say the alternate waking/feeding thing hasn't happened for a couple of days now. She seems to be developing a routine of sortsin terms of how often she feeds and when approximately. I think really the biggest problem at the moment is the breastfeeding fussiness in the evening. She cluster feeds from about 4pm onwards then she's hungry but then cries when i put her to the breast usually from around 7pm and onwards. I know it's a different topic now but do you have any idea what that could be? I thought maybe she's just had enough but she still shows signs of hunger. Cuddles don't seem to do it either. Thanks for help so far it's been great.