October 2014 // thread 4 // a lot of night feed chatting!

[sazzlehopes]

Welcome everyone. You're doing a good job by the way. Remember that.

So the evening cluster feeding does end? Because I'm beginning to find it a bit wearing, and also to worry that it's a symptom of the way I feed her- but in the evening really frequent feeds are the only way to stop her grizzling. She can be distracted by other things, but only briefly. Will she just calm down a bit at some point?

Marking my place! Thanks for the new thread Sazzle!

I feel the same tatty - I can't help thinking he's not getting what he needs and that's why he's back and forth all night and cross. My boobs are all sad and soft.

thanks fedup. I'll give that a try in a sec- he's asleep at the moment. We seem to be in a bit of a cycle of him crying and me waltzing round the house with him for 15 mins, followed by him sleeping for half an hour.....then repeat. Poor little man and poor me if it carries on all night

Sorehead try probiotics after antibiotics it'll really settle wee tums.

Most UK women give up BF around the 6 week mark because of that feeling that your milk isn't sufficient - because babies get really fussy during the 6 week growth spurt. Fussing and frenzied feeding is the only way babies have to up your supply - its them making milk not a sign you need to supplement. This too will pass! As everyone is saying once out the other side its much easier

thanks for the reminder about probiotics Yellow got some in the healthfood store today. Mixed with cool boiled water on a 5ml spoon, he loved the taste! :)
General question, how do you get your LO to go down for the night? Are any babies self settling yet? I find getting bubba B to sleep really tough.

Mine is always fed to sleep. I try to put him down drowsy but it really doesn't work for me :(

yellow do you give probiotics straight to baby or through BM? I took them after my thrush antibs but have no idea if went through BM

How did you change Pip's timetable Goats??
I'd love the little Bumboo to not sleep for 4hours from 4-8pm!!

Sore, google how to make your baby fart. I've been there. You can do big circles with their feet held over their hips.

I can't imagine cluster feeding coming to an end or how I would recognise it. At the moment there is no way if I did a 7/8 pm breastfeed that he would sleep for hours afterwards. He might nap for 30 but would want a feed afterwards straightway so I suppose until he is through this point there is no point trying to put him down early. It's his 150ml formula at 9.30 pm which knocks him out for a gd few hrs.

I also feed to sleep, though last night after her final feed I realised i still had to change her nappy so that woke her up. She was still drowsy but seemed quite contented so chanced my arm putting her in her Moses basket - I stroked her forehead a few times and got into bed and she fell asleep pretty quickly, couldn't believe my luck. She's 8 weeks (but 9 weeks adjusted, can you say that when they're overdue?) so maybe she's just getting a bit more confident to drop off on her own?

Yes the relentless cluster feeding in the evenings does tail off, I don't think I would have seen the light at the end of the tunnel if it wasn't for this thread tbh!

missus - massive distraction. As soon as she started to faff/sleep with a nipple in her mouth, I took her off and did mega play. Had to keep it up for ages the first night, I was exhausted and had used every play thing in the house.

What she was doing until last weekend was cluster feed from 3 or 4pm until basically 11pm, with mr getting maybe half an hour off while boyfriend dealt with her shouting. My aim is feed at 5pm, bath at 7, feed then bed, feed at 10 or 11. I started shifting things around on Tuesday night and now we're at feed at 5, bath at 7, feed then sleep - currently she'll only fall asleep on me, with any transfer only lasting 20 minutes or so, she's slept on me for 2hours on a couple of nights so I know she's tired enough. Once she wakes up there's no food option, just play until 10 when I take her to bed and feed her again.

I just think it's luck that she's happy to be distracted for lots of time when she wouldn't have been before. As the week has gone on she's fallen asleep after the post bath feed more easily (no sling needed), and stayed asleep longer each time. I'm happy to have her sleep on me while we eat for now - once we're up to the right amount of sleep I'll start working on transferring her. I don't mind providing comfort in cuddles just so long ad she's not chewing my nipple off!

She wakes up pretty much every time I transfer her into the sleepyhead, but Irub her back aand she goes to sleep. She's done a couple of drift offs totally alone when I put her in bed just for a safe place to put hear down, but that was ages ago.

Also her feeding has changed - she does much more tongue flicking, so maybe she's just got better at getting hold of the good stuff!

I think anything you try takes time. I think it's at least a week for something to be established. We are settling R in his bed and it's gradually getting easier every might. I was starting at 7 after bath with a feed them bed. Night one wasn't siccsedful until 9.15 on Monday, tonight I think it was around 8.15. Aiming for 7.30 so I can have some sort of an evening! R is 10 weeks (7.5 adjusted) so think it's about the right time for is to establish a bed time routine!

The dummy solved our cluster feeding / screaming evenings.

Also allowed DD to learn to self-settle to sleep.

The dummy resolves grumbles when she is tried and ready to sleep and also gives me an extra hour or so if needed when she wakes.

The dummy transformed her into a delightful, cooing, happy and contented bundle of gorgeousness.

It took 7 weeks of perseverance because she has been spitting it out and refusing for the whole time we were trying to get her to have a dummy. But the dummy is indeed "The Answer".

She won't take a dummy, but is desperately trying to suck her thumb, so I try and help a bit with that.

Thanks Goats! Like you The Bumboo will also only fall asleep on me then I transfer, he might sleep 20mins then wakes up. I thought maybe he was cold, but obvs not.
I will try keeping him awake from 4pm as this recent routine of his (sleeping 4-8) just makes him grumpy as hell later.

I seriously am clueless with all this.

We also use the dummy. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Depends on his mood. When it does work I really wish it would stay in longer!

So here I am sitting in the dark on our bed, with a hiccupping Bumboo trying to climb into the small of my neck whilst a naked snoring husband lies passed out next to me. If you'd asked me a year ago I would never have for seen how my Sat nights would changed

We're getting a lot of screaming/ hoarse crying, especially when trying to burp her. No idea what's causing her this pain

Dream feed fail, she pooed, is wide awake and screaming every time DH tries to burp her. Think he's a bit too forceful for this time of night. Oh well, how the rest of you did better!!

Similar evenings here too, hoping it is a short growth spurt.

We've had two 120ml bottles since 10.30pm. I'm hoping now he's gone down (again) I might get a nice 4.5hr chunk before next feed.

He's meant to like his sleep like me!

We went out for the afternoon, Dylan slept the whole time (too warm maybe?) But woke around 3:45 so I fed him on the car. He didn't take much as I think he was a bit distracted by the surroundings, puked into my bra which was lovely. We got home and he was on the boob pretty much til 9:30!! Frustrating thing was he was falling asleep and waking himself up by trying to get his thumb in his mouth. He us failing at that constantly, so annoying!!

Baby Badger has had a troublesome tummy all day with lots of wind and many, many green poos, possibly after too much foremilk in the expressed bottles she got last night and this afternoon. She cried almost nonstop from 9pm through til about 3:15am. I joined in at about 3am until DP resurfaced just now after falling asleep at 8:30pm (). If he gets her to stay asleep in the Moses basket everything will be forgiven.

Just had his longest sleep ever!

He cluster fed from about 6 - 9 (with a break for his bath which he seemed to like). Took him up at 10, another hour of fussy feeding but then he slept 11-3.40! That might be it for the night :( but the stretch of sleep was amazing! Annoyingly I woke at 1.30 from habit but wasn't awake long I don't think.

Hope DH gets her down Badger, good luck.