Those on the 3 hour feeding schedule

conradtn

When do you sleep? By the time we finish feeding her and get her settled its 2 hours til the next one. I'm fairly tired at the 2am feeding, but the 5am and even 8am KILL me.  Thankfully I can nap now, but I have to go back to work in 3 weeks.

Coffee is my friend

Throw3ks

We are still in the NICU and on the 3hour schedule. It's so hard. I always tell myself this for my baby. We can do this!! I know you can do this too!!!

carrotcake06

We are on demand, and in the very beginning I didn't let them go more than 3 or 3.5 hrs between feedings and of course less than that if demanded. Feedings take an hour, so you've got less than 2hrs of downtime between them.

As far as sleep, you just don't for a while. I didn't get more than 2 consecutive hours of sleep for at least 2 mo. Now at 3mo actual (practically), it's gotten a bit better and I've had a couple nights where I've had close to 4 consecutive hours. That was glorious but doesn't happen every night.

It's just brutally tiring for a while.

BeachMama7693

On the same schedule as you. I can't get lo to latch so we are waking, taking temp, diaper change, bottle, etc, then pump! It's a long ass process and I only sleep about 3 hours total at night. I have a 2 year old too.

jbranden12

In the beginning when we had to wake her up every 3 hours my DH would take one of the middle of night feedings with a pumped bottle of BM and I would sleep through. The extra sleep helped my supply as much as a pumping session would!

LnR70707

With DS my supply was so low that we just gave formula at night.  I'd still have to pump every 3 hrs, but DH would take the 9pm and midnight feedings, so I'd just pump and crash.  I'd do the 3 and 6 (and any other wakings) and then get about an hour or so nap before DH went to work.  We were able to go to on demand after 2 months with him, and he started sleeping about a 6hr stretch at 11 weeks actual.

With DD I'm nursing (she was term but still needed NICU time) so it is all me, but I've been managing ok with my 2 hr chunks of sleep.  After 2 years of various baby/toddler sleep schedules and 6ish months of waking to pee every 2 hrs....I've just adjusted to less sleep in general.   We were able to move to on demand pretty quickly with her and she just started sleeping 4-6 hrs at time the last few nights.

meliward413

I feel for you, our LO is on demand but it is just about every 3 hours like clockwork overnight (still trying to get him on a better schedule, he sleeps and goes 4 hours during the day). DH helps a lot we each take 1 feed overnight but we stay up late with him and by the time the morning feed is done I feel like I may as well get up so we are on very little sleep.

I finally gave up on pumping almost 2 weeks ago and that helped now I can get 2 straight hours instead of praying for 1 (used to feed then pump then back to sleep). Of course that was a personal decision for me, I don't know what you are doing and I would never tell you to change it.

Hang in there it gets better (so I am told and still hoping!) Accept all the help that is offered!  even if its just having a friend or family member watch your LO for a few hours so you can take a long nap it does wonders!

BTW siggy is not updated, our son was born July 30 at 33 weeks exactly. We brought him home 9/4 and his supposed to be birthday was 9/17

conradtn

I pumped while she was in the NICU because it was easier to maintain a schedule.  They had a pump there I could use, then I had a rented one at home.  However, I produced about enough for 1 bottle a day.  I quit before she came home...it was a tough decision, but it was just too much for so little.  At least I was able to give her some at the beginning when she needed it the most.

atyler727

Definitely alternate feedings with her daddy (assuming he lives with you). That helped a lot. Also after we got closer to my daughter's expected due date we got the ok from her pediatrician to go four hours between feedings at night. It doesn't seem like much but it made a HUGE difference...so check with the pediatrician to see if you can start doing that soon by chance. I also gave up on pumping after 6 weeks (she is 10 weeks now and was born a month early). It was just that much more work and I actually felt happier once I stopped. Now we're just doing formula.

chicagobride_07

DH and I alternate feelings. She is a little older now, but still wakes up twice a night. When I went back to work and my DH had a week long business trip, we hired a night nurse to help out. During maternity leave it was fine, but once I went back to work there was no way I could handle her feeding schedule at night alone without being a zombie.