Night Feeding Tips PLEASE!

keepfaith9699

Hello everyone, my perfect baby girl just turned 3 weeks old yesterday.  She is eating 4 oz. every 3 hrs. during the day.  She is bottle fed with breast milk (I am exclusively pumping due to latching issues).  At night, she will wake between 1 and 2 am and then again between 4 and 5 am.  Lately, hen she wakes, she automatically cries a hysterical "hungry" cry.  I put her bottle in the warmer and change her while she is in frantics.  I then give her the bottle, she takes 2 oz. and then when I go to burp her she is crying again.  She calms down when she gets the bottle again but when finished feeding, she is still crying (and very worked up).  It then takes me at least an hour to rock, bounce, sway her back to sleep and into her bassinet.  Then, I have to go pump and by the time I'm done pumping I get an hour of sleep before she wakes up again  

Any suggestions?  Would anyone recommend waking her up before she wakes up herself to keep her calm while feeding?  Maybe she won't get so worked up?

amp61470

I was actually going to suggest waking her. Where does she sleep? Is it completely dark? Trying to figure out if it is a fear rather then due to the hunger, especially if she is getting 4 ounces each Feeding. 
Also are you tightly swaddling LO? If not I'd try it. It works wonders. 

tvh1982

My little girl gives a slightly 'heads up' before proper waking so I get to warm the bottle, but if she's very awake I manage to calm her with a pacifier when changing (she doesn't want them otherwise)

But if she's very worked up I feed her first, then mid bottle I change her and then feed her the rest. She then won't be as worked up and falls easier to sleep.

JonandJennifer

What bottle are you using, what size nipple? Do you think you should wake her more often? That's a big stretch for a 3 week old. I would wake for her to eat every two hours and maybe change up her daytime feedings so they are closer together.  

MrsBigTime

Unless she's poopy, I wouldn't change her. 
It would probably be best to try and catch her before she's fully awake before her feeds, but she's also really little still and hasn't quite figured out night time sleeping yet. She will!