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no sleep when breastfeeding

8 replies

BlahBlahYackedySmackedy · 17/09/2014 21:36

DD2 is 7months this week and has not slept for longer than 2 hours before waking to be fed in months. She is breast fed and i think sometimes it is just for comfort than hunger. Dont get me wrong, I love giving her the comfort and time, but i am becoming extremely sleep deprived. I really want to continue breastfeeding for a little longer but am getting tempted to try formula to see if she will sleep longer. The problem is she does not like the bottle, or formula (aptamil).
Does anyone have any advice? I literally cannot think straight i am that tired and it is turning me into a grumpy inpatient mummy with DD1 especially.

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Hedgehogging · 17/09/2014 21:52

Hmmm, I know every baby is different but every 2 hours at 7 months seems pretty intense! You poor thing.

Will she take a soother? My DD is reluctant about them but will take it for a quick suck in the night and go back off to sleep (some of the time at least)- I tried it when we were going through a sleep regression phase of waking every 1.5 hours and "feeding" for about 5 minutes before falling asleep again so I knew at least some of the feeds were for comfort.

I'm not sure that formula will necessarily guarantee a longer block of sleep so maybe trying some non-food related solutions- does she have a blankie or a teddy you could carry around down your top for a bit so she can have a cuddle of it instead of boob?

Also maybe you could try using a Ewan the sheep white noise/music generator as a weaning tool at night- have it playing while you feed her and keep it going when she goes back in cot, gradually reduce the length of the feeds and just cuddle her with the sounds on instead, then eventually maybe the sound itself will be enough to re-settle her if she's mooching.

Having said all of this she may well still need some feeds at night but even if you could decide on no feeds before 3 or 4 hours have passed etc that might be a start!

BlahBlahYackedySmackedy · 18/09/2014 20:35

Thanks for your reply hedgehogging. She won't take a pacifier (and i really have tried!! Even tried being sneaky when she's dozy, but no..) and she has no comfort toy as such - just me! Hmm
I like the ewan the sheep idea. I may give that a go tonight. I'm desperate enough to try anything!
I think she still does need a feed, as she is not eating lots in terms of solid food yet - i am blw and she eats whats she can/wants. I am happy to do night feeds, but not to be woken constantly every night. Last night i tried patting and stroking her back to sleep. At 11pm it worked fine after 30mins crying. I thought winner and went back to bed happy, especially when she woke again at 1am. So i fed her. At 3am she screamed and screamed for a whole hour despite cuddles and patting. I eventually broke at 4am in tears myself. She sucked for approximately a minute before falling asleep. Sad it was starting to feel like controlled crying which I'm not a fan of. Today i have put formula in a bottle and let her play with it in the hope she'll get used to it. I hope she will as I'm going back to work in 3 months and she'll have to take it then - but thats a thread for later!! Grin
I sound like I'm moaning. I'm not and i love her to bits. I just NEEEED sleep!

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hollie84 · 18/09/2014 20:39

I would start with bedtime first - if she can't settle without a feed at bedtime she won't be able to settle without a feed in the night.

DoYouThinkSheSawUs · 18/09/2014 20:40

Just a thought - but could she be uncomfortable due to starting solids? Maybe a food intolerance or something?

You have my sympathy - dd1 rarely slept more than 2 hours in a row until she was 2.5. Years that is, not months..... Turned out to be a combination of dairy intolerance and hypersensitivity to sound meaning I was always overstimulating her by eg having radio 4 on lots, or taking her out to noisy baby classes....

DoYouThinkSheSawUs · 18/09/2014 20:43

Oh and you don't necessarily need to have her on formula - dd coped just fine on sippy cup water and solids from 9-10 months, and then breast milk when she was with me. As long as they have 3 good feeds a day that's enough from 9 months :) so morning before work, evening after work, and that 3am feed should do it :)

DoYouThinkSheSawUs · 18/09/2014 20:46

Final point sorry - but the whole "you need to settle them to sleep without feeding first" thing is not always true - dd2 always feeds to sleep at bedtime, but will be shush patted back to sleep until 1am when she needs a feed, then again will be shush patted until next feed at 6am. She's 10 months and still needs that night time feed despite being well into solids. Not unusual :)

Monstermonkeymum · 18/09/2014 21:20

We had the same with our six month old and I nearly cracked. Weaning made no difference. After a particularly awful holiday we decided to try controlled crying to help him learn to self settle even through until that point I had never, ever let him cry. I hoped this would also help us wean away from some of the multiple wakes where I automatically breastfed by default. But we were at breaking point. We had done pick up put down with some sucess earlier but it wasn't working now. Sl we used the holiday as a clean slate and set up a new longer bedtime routine and a routine for naps so it was very clear. We moved to a bottle before bed which took ages but he eventually took and now drinks loads. For the cc I kept the timings very short to start with and sat in my room upset but focused on my stopwatch. We then shush patted and used cc when he woke at night, unless we felt he was genuinely hungry, so at 4 hrs at least to start. He took around three days but naturally dropped to a feed around 11 and one at 4, and up at 7. This was amazing after 5/6 feeds and up at 5.30/6 every morning. Its certainly not for everyone, but it worked for us, even though I swore I would never do it. But his naps are longer, he is better rested and happier and goes tosleep on his own in his cot for all naps and night without crying at all now. And then we snuggle as soon as he wakes in the morning :). Having said that, at the hint of teething or upset, I drop the cc straight away and do whatever I feel he needs but he seems to prefer to sort himself out now. I miss our night cuddles though sadly. Prob no help at all after writing all that, but I appreciate how difficult it is for you!

pinkr · 19/09/2014 20:26

I was you. Dd never slept longer than two hours. I tried many things. Eventually she started eating more, she dropped feeds and it did get better. She's 13months now. .. and she still Wakes about two to three times a night but no longer needs boob just a cuddle and back to sleep. We cosleep when she wakes after midnight. The other night she did her first ever ever sleepthrough. ..11hours. She's yet to repay it. I think some are just bad sleeps

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