Reverse cycling

[ducktale]

Is there anything I can do about this? Ds is 5.5 months and fed all night last night and has barely fed today. It’s been like this for the last week or so and it’s really getting me down. I find myself getting so frustrated that he won’t feed during the day. I have a toddler too so could really do with some energy.

Anyone got any tips/ experience?

How often would you say he is feeding during the day? And how often at night? What was it like before?

All you can really do is try to feed in boring circumstances like in a quiet dimly lit room etc. But also I went through a phase of this at 5 months and nothing really helped except time x

Sorry for the delay in replying. He used to feed every 3 hours or so day and night. Now he’s feeding every 2-3 hours at night and I cannot seem to get him to take a big feed during the day. He had a big feed at 6.30 this morning and I left it till 10.30 to feed him so I knew he should be hungry and he just bobbed on and off. I didn’t feel letdown. I also don’t feel engorged so maybe my supply is low during the day now?! He doesn’t seem frustrated particularly. Agh I just don’t know what’s going on!

SOunds like he is going through a developmental leap. Check the wonder weeks chart (it goes from due date, regardless of birth date as development continues at the same pace) and see if it tallies up with a stormy period.

If so this is a natural part of development and can’t be stopped, you can only go with it, give him comfort, and he will go back to his usual self when the leap is over.

My 11 mo was like this. She was way too distracted and agile during the day. I agree about trying to feed in a dark and quite room (hard with a toddler I know). And saucing the feeding so he's hungry when you put him on.

Thanks all, another occasion for the old “this too shall pass” phrase then .

Yes dare not leave the 2yr old unsupervised for very long tbh, I’ll just have to keep mainlining the coffee.

DS is a similar age and went through a stage of this, twice . He was feeding more at night than during the day no matter what I did. I’d i offered more during the day he’d get upset and get squirm till I stopped. Between his lunch feed at 11.30 he’d be to go to 4.30/5 without a proper feed, but during the night was up every 2 hours or more . Each time is had passed

Yes sounds almost identical @FortheloveofJames , hope it passes soon as it’s pretty annoying, I’m gonna stop getting stressed when he doesn’t want to feed now and just accept it, i was crying to my dh today with both my boobs hanging out, so dignified. Oh tiredness!

@ducktale haha been there, done that. I’m not sure if there’s anyone left that hasn’t seen my nipples at some point. Hope you get some rest soon, clearly when our babies fancy extra milk they’d rather do it when sleepy. DS has recently mastered the skill or throwing his head/whole body back sharply and thinks it’s hilarious. He’d rather practice in than feed. Any Chance you could try a bottle of expressed milk?

@ducktale I'm there too...6 months old yesterday and has been gradually reverse cycling since he was 4.5 months. The worst has been the last 4 weeks as it was compounded by us both getting a crap cold and sore throat. We're well again now but zero improvements in his pattern. He used to sleep through from 3 months, after cluster feeding for 3 hours before bed at 9. Now he is so hard to get to feed..he'll actually turn his head away, squirm, cry or sometimes gum bite my nipple! He then tanks himself full of milk 5 times or more a night.
I've been taking him to bed earlier to survive- I figure if I go with him at 7.30, and we do every 2 hours until 6 or 7 am I can just about survive, but some days i am so daunted by the tiredness...

@FortheloveofJames Do you remember how long it lasted for your DC?

I've just checked the wonder weeks again. My son has always tended to track his birth date rather than due date (he was an ELCS at 38 weeks due to complications), so he should be out of the big leap 5, but not if his sleep is anything to go by!!
If I go by his due date, I've got another two weeks of this...

DC has never slept through, I had one night of 9 hours after he had his 4 months jabs and then never again. I didn’t even enjoy it because he’d been up 8 times the night before that I shot up after about 5 thinking something awful had happened.

I’d say it lasted about 3 weeks each time. I too follow the wonder weeks and do think there’s something in it.

Even now he’s not a great feeder, he squirms and moans untill I let him sit up for a bit or untill I swap sides. And since he got 2 teeth at 5 months he then started biting if he was unhappy . The only time he will feed okay is just before naps and bed, but he’s not fed to sleep, he self settles.

also I pretty sure the wonder weeks go by due date