Describe your night feeds to me please.

[HeadFairy]

I don't mean the actual feed, more like what you do. Do you turn on all the lights or tip toe around in the dark? Do you get up at all? Where do you feed? Do you eat/drink anything?

DD is still doing 2 night feeds and I usually get up for the first one. I used to tip toe around in the dark, but a) I'm terrified of falling down the stairs - I've done that once while pg and I'm still suffering and b) I'm a big old scardy cat and don't like the dark.

I usually sit in the living room and watch a bit of telly because otherwise the overwhelming urge to fall asleep is a killer and I end up pulling dd off the boob too early.

I used to have little midnight feasts, cups of tea and toast and peanut butter, but now I'm a fatty I'm trying to lose weight so nore more snacking.

I usually change dd's nappy too because she wriggles so much in the night it's usually halfway down her bum and leaking like the Titanic in the morning if I don't.

My friend was amazed I actually get up to do the feed, what do you do?

I used to sit up on the end of bed when DD was wee and feed her - I was clutching at straws that if i was conscious she would get a 'proper' feed and therefore sleep longer.The whole performance took about an hour each time, I kid you not (what with winding and seconds ).

Ha! If I knew then what I know now I would just safely co-sleep from the start, which is what we do now (DD now 11 months, still a night feeder, I collect her from the cot at 5am[on a good night!] and take her in with us. Don't know about DD but I am asleep again in seconds...

I don't even really remember going to get her, sometimes (but I do make sure there is no crap lying about on the floor at bedtime).

Much better sleep being had by all nowadays, I don't even regard it as a broken night anymore. And I have hardly ever changed her nappy at night , I reckon it would disturb her sleep patterns, so in the interests of her nocturnal brain development [grin no scientific evidence for this obviously, but it's my story and I'm sticking to it!] I leave that end well alone!

(Obviously poos notwithstanding, but these have been v.v. rare since she was teeny tiny).

I grab DD out of her cot, feed her laying down and go back to sleep. Works well while DH is away but when he's here I have to roll us both over to the opposite side to him so he doesn't squish her!
She doesn't get changed unless she's pooped.
I love waking up with her next to me

I once woke up with DS1 on the breast, which meant I went to cot, got him, lay down and attached him all while still asleep.

Never really understood why people turn on lights etc, doesn't that just encourage the baby to wake up more and think the day has started?

I wouldn't worry about nappy changes too much. When DS1 was in SCBU the nurses said to change him at set times for feeds etc, if he was a asleep and we knew he'd pooed just to leave him. (although to be fair he only went 3 hours between tube feeds)

I just make sure now i put plenty of cream on when i do his bedtime nappy....and pray for no poos!!

This all makes me realise how much easier it's got for us! DD went through a phase of feeding for an hour at a time, several times a night. She was a very slow weight gainer (dropped from 98th to below 2nd centiles) so I felt I had to do the maximum. I watched so much rubbish - every episode of 'Merlin', which is dire, for a start! Thank goodness she now only feeds for ten minutes at the most (even if that's quite frequently). I go into her room and keep the landing light on. She's 9 months.

After being so knackered that I dropped the baby (on sofa) I now bed share. We have a lava lamp on in the room all night which gives off a dim orange light (I can't yet latch DD on without seeing what I am doing). When she wakes I feed her lying down, and if she asks for a nappy change (screams/kicks and pops off the nipple) I'll change her nappy which involves taking her through to next room where there is light on - usually this doesn't wake her up to much.

When I used to get up to feed I used to eat cake in a vain hope that the sugar rush would keep me awake/ stop me crying through exhaustion - now I just keep a bottle of water at the nappy change station and have a slug when changing nappy.

I can strongly recommend lying down to feed - it is much less knackering/soul destroying to lie down and try to fall asleep while she feeds, rather than to try and sit up and stay awake while she feeds (I used to be so tired I hallucinated - seriously!)

It's very interesting reading all your replies... I've been trying the whole lying down to feed thing over the last couple of days because I've got a chest infection and I need to sleep some more, but I think dd actually sleeps really badly in bed with me. She's been so tired all day today, had a three hour nap and a 2 hour nap which is unheard of with her. She's also waking up really early (for her).

I've also found it really hard to get a decent latch lying down. Is there some magic trick? She seems to only take a small bit of nipple in her mouth which really hurts.

I used to do all night feeds lying down in bed - when DD v small she co-slept, then into her own cot after the first couple of months, but still in our room. I changed her nappy after every feed until some kind soul pointed out it was only necessary if dirty, not wet.
Can't help with any latching tips though, it just worked ok for us.

Latching tip that worked for me was that baby needs to be lower down your body than you would think - she needs to have her head tiped back a fair way and tipping her head back and rooting upwards rather than forwards IYSWIM. The main thing though is practice - I posted on here a few days ago asking how to feed lying down and now I'm mostly fine. It's worth practicing during the day so you can see what you are doing.

Smoosh nipple into gob, go back to sleep.

I don't think I could survive night feeds without co-sleeping.

My baby is 4 weeks and feeds once or twice a night. When she wakes I bring her from her moses basket into my bed and feed her sitting up in bed. I usually just put the ensuite light on so as not to disturb DP and so I can see. I don't do her nappy. When she's fed I put her back in her moses basket and she settles herself back to sleep.
I don't co sleep as our bed isn't really big enough.

YOUR NOT ALONE - I SIT IN LIVING ROOM AND WATCH TV TOO! And it seems to be working for us...

My DD is 7 weeks old. To start with I fed her in bed during the night, sitting up. I'd usually read a book or magazine. Found that it was harder to get a comfy position and my back hurt. This meant that I was moving about alot and having to move DD around alot too. I also found it harder to stay awake during long feeds.

For past couple of weeks I have been taking DD into living room where I watch tv or read. Easier to latch on and get comfy. Have lights on as normal. Have always had lights on during night feeds and DD always falls asleep with no problems like this. She will usually fall asleep on the breast, but will stir when I walk through the house to put her in her basket. My DD is great during the night even when she is wide awake, if she is yawning she will usually manage to settle herself in her basket. I just look for cues that she is ready for bed and 90% of the time, she will settle herself, even if I still have the light on to read when I go back into bed. She will chatter and move around but not cry, then fall asleep.

Re; eating/drinking, I normally have some diluting sugar free juice, and will sometimes have a snack. Find that I crave sugar during the night so will sometimes have a biscuit - not the best, I know, but sometimes urge is very very strong! If my DH is up with us we usually have a cup of tea, though this can delay how long we are up for if DD is only wanting a quick feed.

Re; nappy change, I always change nappy half way through feed, simply because DD falls asleep after 5 minutes, so a mid-feed nappy change is used to waken her up a bit so that she can take more feed. I have thought about eliminating the during the night nappy change but worry in case she is uncomfy?

Its great reading what other people do. Just do whatever you find most comfy - if thats sitting on the couch then do it. Try different ways and see what suits you and your baby.

DH passes DD (15w) to me, I turn on the fairy lights with the remote control and feed DD. If she's wet I change her on the bed. When she's fed I pass her back to DH who puts her back in her cot. Then we all go back to sleep