Evening feedings

emwaiting

Our nights have been very up and down for my 5 wk old. More downs then ups but he is still little and I'm sure he will get the hang of it. My question is some nights I feel like he is on my boob from 8pm until 11pm (or 2am like thus morning). He gets done eating, falls asleep, I put him down and boom back awake. Or if he doesn't fall asleep he is starting to get fussy and wants more. Not sure if it is cluster feeding or just comfort for him. I would sure think he would have a full enough belly but he wakes up so much when I put him down. Thoughts?

wintersong

Mine was the same. I just let him nurse. When I couldn't, dh walked out rocked him.

marijaa333

Same here with a 6 week old. I offer him food a few times, and if he keeps ending the feeding (unlatching, screaming at the breast, or falling asleep), then I swaddle, rock and he's out like a light.  For the most part, he's just too tired at the end of the day to figure out what he wants, which is usually sleep.

smashbaby111

Do you use a pacifier? I was originally not going to use them but our LC suggested that she was sucking for comfort and it worked like a charm. We went through a few different ones to find one that LO liked, and found the MAM ones worked best

wintersong

Baby is only five weeks old, yes? Sounds like normal growth spurt behavior to me. As long as the op is staying sane with the feedings, why not let lo nurse for comfort? It's a legitimate reason to nurse in my book.

emwaiting

Well I think I figured out his issue. He wasn't gaining weight (6oz less then birth weight at 1 month) and that is because I'm not producing enough milk. So he would eat, fall asleep because he would get bored and then I would put him down and he would wake back up because he was stil hungry. I have started supplementing because the dr wants his weight up and he seems like such a happier baby. He sleeps better and is so much more content now. Thanks for the advice.

wintersong

I'm glad baby is happier and you are getting some peace!!

It might be worth looking into why you are having trouble producing. Does baby have a tongue or lip tie?

marijaa333

I second looking into your supply issue. You might try pumping to increase supply, not that there's anything wrong with supplementing (except for the $$$ . 

emwaiting

I was trying to pump after each feeding but after a few days I never saw an increase in my supply . Right nothing wrong with formula besides the $$ and annoying people asking if you are nursing and when you say No they give a disappointed look.

marijaa333

@emwaiting well, you can tell them the most rigorous study ever done found no difference in outcomes except for asthma, where it found that breastfed babies were worse off than formula fed ones!  It is considered to be the most rigorous because they studied sibling pairs, i.e. children from the same family where one was breastfed and the other formula fed, thereby eliminating potential of bias due to socioeconomic factors (like parents' income, level of education etc.)

https://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/sibbreast.htm

emwaiting

Thanks, it's just amazing that people think they have the right to ask what you do with your boobs! Just like when we were trying for over two years to get pregnant with meds and procedures and ppl would ask why we haven't had kids yet. oh people can be frustrating!