Wind or needing another nighttime feed?

[Astrid7]

Hi there,

I'm a first time mum so any help appreciated. My 8 week old DD has usually woken every 2.5-3.5 hours for a feed through the night. Recently, in a bid to get more sleep I cluster fed her on the hour between 7-10pm. Then my husband sat with her downstairs while I slept. She woke at 2am with wind and he managed to settle her. Then I moved her upstairs at 4:30am when she woke for a feed. This was a breakthrough! Last night we tried the same but all went to bed at 10:30pm. DD did the same at 2:30am- writhed around, legs kicking straight up in the air but not actually waking up. I settled her with background noise and gentle tummy tapping (she wouldn't take her dummy).

I had to express at 4am and made a noise which woke DD up slightly. She writhed around again with very similar body movements but also had a lot of lip slapping so I woke her properly for a feed instead of expressing.

So, my question is, does she still actually need that feed at 2 and she's just not managing to wake herself up properly? And it looks like wind but could just be DD trying to wake up? Or can I settle her in her cot next to me and try and go for a longer stint without feeding? How long is too long to go without milk? If I settle her she could last 6-7 hours without a feed which feels weird after getting up so much previously. Normally I wouldn't wait to decipher her signals in the night, I'd have just heard her moving about and got her up for a feed, could I have been waking her up when all she needed was a tummy rub?!

Sorry for rambling post! I'm craving the sleep but don't want DD to be missing feeds in the night. We'd normally have a feed at 12pm-3am-6am, now it's just 10pm-4am? Thanks in advance

I should say DD is exclusively breastfed

If your daughter is waking at 2am, I would be looking to feed rather than to settle with a rub. You may find that by going 6-7 hours at night without feeding, her weight will drop and if you are breastfeeding, so will your milk supply.

@Happygolucky009 her supply won't drop, just that feed will disapear which is fine if baby doesn't need it any more.by 8 weeks my bf baby was down to 1 feed a night, and her weight didn't drop as she was still getting enough throughout the day.

Once your supply is established it doesn't just disapear. We used to alternate bf/formula so me and partner could each put her to bed. on nights i didn't bf, i didn't need to anything,and milk was there next night, took about a week but my body adjusted.

My lo does the same. He throws his legs in the air during his sleep and kind of thrashes around. I never know whether to wake/get him up to feed him or try to get him back over to sleep. It gets worse as the night goes on. From 3am on, he’s so unsettled and I basically don’t sleep. I try the dummy and putting my hand on his chest to settle him but nothing much works.
I give him a dream feed in a bottle around 10pm and he usually wakes around 3am for a feed (with one or 2 partial wakeninga before that when I put his dummy in and he usually goes over)
From that feed on, his legs are up in the air and he’s so unsettled. Sometimes I get him up to feed but often he just falls asleep on the breast very quickly which makes me think he isn’t really hungry and perhaps it’s wind bothering him. My health visitor told me his wind should improve by around 12 weeks but he’s 13 weeks now and it’s getting worse rather than better if anything.
Sorry I’m not much help to you but you’re not the only one going through it. I am exhausted. I average 4 hours sleep a night.

Thanks ladies. I'm going to see if we can get through until the 3am feed, and just keep an eye on DD's weight.
Annie have you tried cutting out diary? I did this and my daughters wind got a lot better. I didn't realise it as it took over 3 weeks to leave my body, it was such a gradual change. I started eating dairy again thinking it had't made much difference and it was just that she was getting older and more able to manage it but DD was back to being in a lot of pain and discomfort for 2 days. The only thing that had changed was my diet, so I'm off diary again and she's a lot more settled after feeds.

I hope you manage to get some more sleep in the next few weeks.

No I haven’t cut out dairy but I maybe should try that to see if it makes a difference. Thanks for the suggestion. I’ve heard it helps a lot of babies so I really should have thought that myself!! I’ll give it a go thanks x

At 8 weeks I would definitely feed but then at 8 months I would also feed.

My opinion is if they're hungry, they will wake. If they settle back down with other methods then they weren't hungry. All 3 of mine would scream blue murder if they didn't get food and I tried to settle them in other ways when they were hungry.

Probably hungry but young babies can also appear unsettled when they're still asleep. My 9 week old thrashes around making noises like a trucker who are a bad taco, a gremlin and a farm animal. She's fast asleep although it's often before a feed or when she's settling back down. It's all part of their sleep cycles.

Blackcat86 that’s a great description! And it sounds just like my little one. I might try to leave him alone to see if he’ll eventually settle by himself. Thanks!