What does my baby want?

[Penguin34]

This is not an 'I can't take it' kind of thing, more so what can I do for her?

My little one is only 3 weeks.
She goes 3 hours between feeds during the day - 3oz, quite happily, she might sleep the whole 3 hours in her crib, or cuddle or be awake a bit but she seems content.

At night I change her, give her a bottle - 3oz, burp her and she falls asleep and I put her in her cot.
She will always wake up crying after 1 - 1.5hrs, she can't be hungry. I try burping her and cuddle her but she's still crying, sometime on and off for the next 1.5hrs till it's time to change/feed/burp again. I'm lucky if I get an hours sleep at a time.
I'm doing this on my own and I'm finding lack of sleep v hard - I know it's not supposed to be a walk in the park.

What does my beautiful baby want from me??

More frequent feeds? 3 hours is a long gap at that age.

Food. Her stomach is tiny and she's probably hungry. DS went through a phase of needing milk every 1 1/2hours at night for a few days. I nearly sold him 😂

Why can't she be hungry? You need to feed on demand. If you offer it her and she doesn't want it then she just wants to be cuddled more than likely

It sounds like she wants food I'm afraid - newborns tend to cluster feed at night, it's exhausting but she will adjust!

Thinks she's needing more food, what's she weigh? Babies should get 2.5oz of milk for every 1lbs of body weight. You should always offer a her milk if she's upset to ensure that's she not hungry. X

Health visitor told me every 3-4 hours.
She doesn't want more milk 1 hour after having 3oz.

Must just be cuddles then. I'm scared I will fall asleep with her, I'm so tired being up every 1.5hrs in the night

Have you tried offering milk 1hr after the 3oz at night?

She will have a little bit more if I give her another bottle but then doesn't want any more. Feels like I'm just sticking a bottle in where there is another reason but I don't know what it is.

She was 5lb6oz at birth, was 5lb 9oz at 2 weeks, she looks like she's put more on in the last week, starting to fit her 'tiny baby' size a bit better

My daughter had similar problem with grandson. (waking up
crying)

Was advised by Health Visitor that some babies are hungrier than others, and just said try to feed on demand. It wouldnt hurt to try another 1 or 2 oz (after 1 and half hours) to see if that helps.

Some babies just need feeding more than others. I think every
3-4 hours is just a guideline, and can vary from child to child.

Thinks she's needing more food, what's she weigh? Babies should get 2.5oz of milk for every 1lbs of body weight. You should always offer a her milk if she's upset to ensure that's she not hungry. X

So if I round up to 6lb that would be 15oz, so is that in 12hrs or 24hrs? , she's currently having 24oz in 24hrs or there abouts

In the day time there is noise light general day time activities. However at night time it is dark and quiet. It just takes them a while to adjust she's still only small. It gets easier and she will soon get used to sleeping longer at night time. Good luck ☺️

She should be fed on demand not every 3 hours I think (unless specific medical reason). Apart from that I'd guess she want you, she's only tiny. Is she in a cot attached to your bed?

What about a dummy after you've tried offering milk?

I understand it's really tiring - and doing it on your own must be shattering. Sometimes they only take a few ounces for comfort after their main feed, burp after the smaller feed and give her a dummy?

I had these exact thoughts........afraid to say it was hunger/thirst and its really not unusual as others have said to cluster feed/feeding patterns change from day to night at this very young age. We had a spell of hourly feeds too. At that age they need sleep, food, hugs or nappy change and that's about it, but also sometimes just cry & cry for no reason, your not doing anything wrong, just your best xx

In the day time there is noise light general day time activities. However at night time it is dark and quiet. It just takes them a while to adjust she's still only small. It gets easier and she will soon get used to sleeping longer at night time. Good luck ☺️

Thank you x I will try leaving the TV on tonight x

Thank you, some people have said some lovely things, made me cry xx

With regards to a dummy, I didn't want to but I've tried it and she doesn't kee it in her little mouth

Also Id ignore any arbitrary 'this much milk' 'this much sleep' 'this gap between feeds', in my opinion & recent experience (my boy just turned 1year) its all bollocks, your tiny baby is such an individual and will tell you what they need by crying etc, you will get to know them inside out soon. I stressed myself out with all the 'advice' until I just decided to go with what my baby was telling me and things were alot easier. This bit is super hard but I promise it will get easier bit by bit x

Could she have reflux or silent reflux? Have you tried a wedged pillow under her mattress to tilt the mattress up, to
stop milk coming back up. Also holding her upright for a while after a feed might help.

My wee one was like this, and in the end cosleeping was the only thing that saved my sanity. When she woke, I just fed her for a few mins and we both drifted back off to sleep again, neither of us woke fully. It’s called dream feeding,

My baby girl was exactly the same, the HC said babies so this because mummies best milk comes in at night and they can smell it. Also babies don't know the difference between night and day yet. I would try feeding her again. I will prob get slated for these things but If it's cuddles she wants, I used a sling with my baby. Tied her to my Chest and propped myself up with pillows. That way if I fell asleep I knew she would be safe. I also rolled up a towel and put it under the fitted sheet in the Moses basket (around her, like one of this super expensive baby pod things) so she felt secure. They did this in her hospital with her when she had jaundice. When she got a little bit older I took her mattress out the Moses basket and put it on top of my duvet next to me (with pillows under the duvet on the opposite side, to keep her safe) and let her sleep next to me. I know..... making a rod for my own back! But it worked and now she sleeps in her cot fine.

It does get easier, get some strong coffee for urself and try to sleep more in the day when she naps. Forget house work, showering for the next few weeks. Get paper plates so u don't have to do any washing up xoxox

Your HV is talking absolute bollocks...and I say that as a fellow Health Visitor

Your baby is almost certainly hungry. At this age there is little to be gained from trying to implement a feeding routine. Feed little and often, and on demand.

24 hrs x

my LO was 9lbs 5oz and was still only going no more than 2 hours between feeds at that stage..
It may seem like she's constantly feeding and it is very tiring... but it does get better: I promise... at 6 weeks it started getting better and now she's 13 weeks she is nearly sleeping through every night.. believe it or not I actually miss the night feeds already! x

This will pass, try feeding, cuddling, burping and repeat - you never know, she might do 3 hrs tonight! Try and stay positive - you're doing brilliantly xx

Yeah so 15oz per 24hours is what she needs to be gain weight. So she seems to be getting more than enough, so u dnt need to worry about that, she may just be a hungry hungey baby. I think if she had reflux is she would be unsettled most times u lay her down (my ds (10months) had it) he only settled on his tummy. He was in intensive care as he was premature and the nurses even put him on his tummy. So we bought angel care monitor to feel at ease. Babies at that age dnt cry for no reason it could be something simple as her being too hot or cold x

My little one was just like this too. All she wanted was to be held at nighttime. I was then given a great piece of advice - to put something I had worn that had my scent on in the Moses basket with her in the evening. So I rolled up my bed tshirt/nightie that I had worn in bed the night before and snuggled it up next to her. It was the best advice I was given! It worked the first night I did it. Yes, she still woke for feeds but it wasn’t constant like before- as she could still smell me and felt comforted.