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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

4 days old and only waking once at night.

19 replies

Scubes · 12/04/2010 14:29

So with first baby we would wake her every 3 hrs during night to feed her after a dream feed at 10pm.... don't ask me why but I read it somewhere so did it!!

This time I have so far cluster feed in evening at 6 and 8 then babe has slept for 5 hours and woken about 2.30- 3am for a feed. We were so surprised that she had not woken before then. I admit we're only 2 days into this happening but I am surprised that she is managing to get through on just one feed a night.

She is exclusively BF. Just wondered if this pattern is ok? I appreciate it might not last and we should be grateful for sleep we're getting but my breasts are HUGE and getting engorged which is making feeding painful.

Thoughts ladies....?

OP posts:
lukewarmcupoftea · 12/04/2010 14:34

Sounds absolutely and utterly fine, provided she is not a teeny tiny baby with any problems.

Congratulations, and enjoy the rest!

rubyslippers · 12/04/2010 14:37

it probably won't last!

if you are engorged then i would wake her to feed TBH

the more she feeds the better your supply will be (or at least express so you are comfortable)

is she feeding a lot in the day?

some babies cluster feed and do have a longer stretch of sleep

is she having some "awake" time in the day and is she weeing and pooing ok?

Original poster
Scubes · 12/04/2010 14:48

She feeds every 3 hrs during the morning starting at 7am and then cluster feed at 4, 6 and 8pm.

She doesn't wake up crying in the night either, just lip smacking. During day we have to wake her to feed her bt she is generally having good periods of being awake and being asleep during day.

She seems to be weeing and pooing ok although poo is very very runny.

Re the engorgment - wont my breasts adapt to her feeding demands?

OP posts:
rubyslippers · 12/04/2010 14:51

your supply and breasts will adjust to her demands but if you don;t feed a lot/enough etc that you can be at risk of mastitis/blocked ducts

is your milk in?

that is maybe why you are very engorged as well?

runny poo is ok - should look like chicken korma (but smell like weetabix )

zebedeethezebra · 12/04/2010 15:23

Sounds good to me!

Stokey · 12/04/2010 15:29

Take care - my baby slept really well & never demanded feeding & ended up losing more than 10% of her body weight in first week so we got readmitted to hospital.

After that, i woke her at 4 in the morning for next 6 wks to make sure she didn't lose weight. guess demand feeding doesn;t work if you're baby doesn't demand!

supergreenuk · 12/04/2010 15:41

They are all so different. Mine didn't wake up during the night and the midwife told us to wake her at least twice in the night to ensure she gets enough.

Beegey · 12/04/2010 18:28

I would also wake such a young baby for a feed if they have gone for longer than say, 4/5 hours. I was still in hosp when my DD was that age and the midwives told me to wake her to feed regularly (she was a healthy weight, 6lb 10)

Congratulations!

lukewarmcupoftea · 12/04/2010 20:14

But as you say, OP, she is actually waking after 5 hours for a feed, so doesn't sound like an overly sleepy baby who isn't feeding enough. I would think that 3 hourly feeds ( and waking in the day to do this sounds good to me) plus one longer stretch of 5 or 6 hours is absolutely fine for establishing a good supply. And the engorgement is normal at this stage, it should settle down by itself (and if not, there's plenty you can do to reduce supply later).

Original poster
Scubes · 13/04/2010 09:24

Thanks Lukewarm, last night I did end up waking her for a feed due to her having diarrhea, I was worried she would get dehydrated.

Despite waking her twice she was not interested in feeding!!!!

Seeing midwife today so will discuss with her and get her weighed to see how she is getting on.

OP posts:
zebedeethezebra · 13/04/2010 10:16

Waking once in a night is fine. I wouldn't wake her up any more overnight Scubes so long as she is feeding well during the day. If she doesn't want to feed then she is clearly not hungry.

Its normal for babies to lose some weight in the first week, then usually they should put it back on over the next week or two.

confusedfirsttimemum · 13/04/2010 10:28

My DD was like this, and always a chubby 75th centile girl. Then the four month sleep regression hit...

Unless there are any weight concerns, I'd say enjoy it whilst it lasts!

hairymelons · 13/04/2010 10:34

Oh my, you lucky thing!
Can you express a bit to relieve the engorgement? Will keep your supply up too in case she suddenly gets ravenous next week!
Could put the EBM it in the freezer for later on too, its always handy to have.

lukewarmcupoftea · 13/04/2010 15:46

What did the midwife say?

Original poster
Scubes · 13/04/2010 17:13

Midwife just left, baby only lost tiny amount of weight which as you say Zebedeethezebra is entirely normal. She is not dehydrated and is a healthy little lady.

Have hand expressed a little before each feed today and think engorgement is settling down... now to solve the hideous cracked, bleeding nipples!!!

Not sure about full on expressing and storing at the moment hairymelons as doesn't milk change quite rapidly at the start so if I freeze it how long should I keep it? Did this with first lo but not until later and then husband gave it as dreamfeed.

OP posts:
lukewarmcupoftea · 13/04/2010 19:29

Sounds good (the weight, not the nipples!), you must be relieved. Now you can enjoy a little bit of sleep hopefully!

hairymelons · 13/04/2010 21:58

Ooh not sure about that, good point. I only starting expressing a bit later too and used it within a couple of days. I just think it would break my heart to chuck it away!
Glad she's doing well anyway. Hope the nipples heal quickly, ouch ouch ouch.

Original poster
Scubes · 14/04/2010 09:03

Have decided I need to express a bit off cos I can't cope with the pain - wuss!

Agree with you it is heart breaking to get rid of it so will try and find out how long we can keep it. Don't want to intro bottle just yet but not sure how long we should keep it frozen for in these early days. I know later on you can keep it for a while.

She did same last night, fed at 9pm then not until 3am. Happy as larry bless her although DH moaning about being woken up in night...oh dear he has clearly forgotten what it's all about!

OP posts:
lukewarmcupoftea · 14/04/2010 11:29

I think you can keep it frozen for the same amount of time regardless of how old baby is when you express (I think up to 3 months? something like that?) - its just that the composition changes so much that your little one might not like the taste when they come to drink it further down the line (a bit like cream vs. milk I guess). Saying that, with DD1 I expressed and froze from about 2 weeks, and didn't have a problem reusing any of the stuff later (couldn't be bothered to do expressing with DD2). If you're expressing anyway, you might as well save it.

Ahem, your DH might have a shock in store later on... DD2 was a perfect little sleeper, like yours, but then from 3.5 months onwards.... I shall say no more, don't want to shatter your dreams! Glad things are going well

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