9weeks, 2 hourly short night feeds, - when will he go longer?? help!

[littlemissindecisive]

Title says it all really. Have been bf on demand for 9 weeks, but the 2 hourly nightfeeds are beginning to wear me down.

Any tips? Was considering giving a dummy to see if he just wanted to 'chew' rather than feed. Some feeds are literally minutes and then he'szonked straight back to sleep. But worry that the dummy is going to create more problems in the long run.

DS gets put to bed awake so I was hoping that the fact that he can settle himself would mean he'd not wake just for comfort (not that i want to be mean and deny him and cuddles etc).

I have tried all the usual techiniques to get him to feed longer but he's not aving it. Last night he woke a 11.30 - bottle from DH, then 2.30, 4.30, 5.30, 6.30 and is now back to sleep at 7.30am.

Is it an age-thing? I thought by now he's go longer - which he can do during the day

Not expecting him to sleep through at all but just thought he'd feed longer and sleep a little longer by now.

Even in the day he'll not feed more that 10mins but his weight gain is fab

It's even affecting my spelling

Oh really sympathise. My LO was like that, it's a killer isn't it?

It sounds like he is not filling himself up maybe or is falling asleep mid feed. I really can't remember when it changed for us but it does get better.

Could you co-sleep for a bit, see if that helps?

A dummy at 9 weeks is probably OK IMO but you might find it's you he wants not the dummy!

Mine is 8 weeks and would like to be similar. 11.30 bottle from daddy, 3am feed and then wants feeding again at 5 but I stuff the dummy in about 300 times before giving in at 6, then we get up and he feeds again at 7. Last night I thought we had a breakthrough as he had 11.30 bottle then 4.15, settled at 5.15 after a poo and then DH's supersonic sneezing frightened the life out of him at 6.30 and woke him up and he has been down again since 7.30 and is about to stir again.

Have you tried not feeding him every time he wakes up but cuddling him instead? My friend's son was exactly the same, driving his mum to near insanity with sleep deprivation, until she stopped feeding him every time he woke up and instead just cuddled him back to sleep. She found out that he wasn't hungry (though would feed if offered, but only for a couple of minutes so obviously not starving) but just wanted comfort. You could try that at the more frequent morning wake ups.

i started giving a bottle of expressed milk nearly double the recommended amount at bedtime and he dropped a feed straight away. I just think some babies need more. I also started feeding every 2 hours during the day as someone told me that the more they get during the day the less they will need at night. Then when he got into habit of feeding less at night i started feeding on demand again.

DS is now 12 weeks and he will have both breasts, expressed and sometimes even a bit of formula before bed! But he has now started sleeping through. DS is not particularly big but does get through a fair amount of milk! Maybe trying to increase feeds in day will decrease those in night.

Have you also tried leaving him for a few minutes to allow him to settle himself back to sleep before going to him?

try the dummy coz sometimes it will fall anyway out of their mouth,it has worked for me,if he cries try to give him a few minutes and give the dummy and see if he settle back to sleep,,my daughter has the dummy from when she was 2 weeks,coz after my c section with no other help other than my husband,we had to come up with a plan,,

DD is 9weeks,,usually she eats every 2-3 hours during the day,my breastfeeding was not so perfect so i pump and we also give her formula,,she used to go to bed at 9 then during the night when she cries i would wake up every hour to feed her,she would drink a bit then to sleep again but she would not sleep well,just groaning,then one night she just slept though and i noticed she didnt groan,so now she will sleep at 9,wakes up 3-4,,or 5-5 depending on how earlt or late i put her to bed,,then again at six,,

so what i do now is at her 4-5 waking,i dont give her milk,i change her diaper and she goes back to bed,then wakes up at 7 and this has been working for all of us,she is sleeping though the night,,thank God,

thanks everyone. how obvious to try not feeding you see how sleep deprived i am...stmbling in and feeding every time!!!!

silly me - will give it a whirl tonight!