ahh day's and nights are messed up!

kathyn21

my DD was up every 2 hours from 8pm-430am to eat. she is supposed to eat 2oz every 3 hours and she  took anywhere from 1 to almost 2oz each time. now i wake her at 730 and she barely takes an 1.5oz. i can't deviate from the every 3 hours right now, so what do i do to get her to realize she needs to be awake during the day and more sleepy at night?

adrielegorburu

How old is your baby?  Is there a reason why you cant deviate from the every 3 hour feeding?  She may be having a growth spurt or wonder week and may be cluster feeding - Most doctors will tell you how much your LO should be eating in a 24 hour period as opposed to each feeding - just like adults our babies appetite can change daily depending on a lot of things - Is she sleeping during the day and awake at night? We never woke DD to eat when we finallyl came home - she woke her self up every 3-4 hours and after a few weeks started to stretch her nightime feedings out herself until she STTN around 3m adjusted..... is she gaining weight OK?

kathyn21

adrielegorburu:

How old is your baby?  Is there a reason why you cant deviate from the every 3 hour feeding?  She may be having a growth spurt or wonder week and may be cluster feeding - Most doctors will tell you how much your LO should be eating in a 24 hour period as opposed to each feeding - just like adults our babies appetite can change daily depending on a lot of things - Is she sleeping during the day and awake at night? We never woke DD to eat when we finallyl came home - she woke her self up every 3-4 hours and after a few weeks started to stretch her nightime feedings out herself until she STTN around 3m adjusted..... is she gaining weight OK?

she is 16 days old actual and 37w 4/7 gestation. doc doesn't want me doing any less than every 3 hours. my pedi wants her eating 2oz every 3 hours. she sleeps during the day, yes very well. and then the last few nights she's been up around 630pm for like an hour or two and then up every 2 hours overnight. and yes so far she is gaining weight. about 4oz every 2 days. but yesterday and so far today she hasnt' been eating very well. 

adrielegorburu

She is just so young - I would think it would be hard to put her on a schedule right now - if she is gaining weight ok then I wouldnt worry too much - If it was me I would offer her a bottle every three hours and let her take as much as she feels she needs and feed her on demand during the night - so long as shes gaining weight and doesnt show signs of any other reason that she would refuse to eat (reflux, allergy etc.) - I think figuring out how much to feed when to feed and what to feed is one of the hardest things about the first few months of motherhood - there is so much information out there and so many different opinions - I've never gotten a good answer when I've asked "how much should she be eating?" - every baby is different - every doctor has a different opinion - what is your mommy instinct telling you? do you feel like shes eating enough? do you feel like she is stopping in the middle of a feed because shes full? I found that my gut feeling usually turned out to be right..... 

nicole0066

We are in a similar situation.  I am fine letting her go longer than the 3 hours but she rarely makes it that long.  Right now she wakes herself up anywhere from 1.5-3 hours between feedings.  It is exhausting but she knows when shes hungry.  

 If you take her weight and multiply it by 2.5 you will get an estimate of how many ounces she should be getting in a day.  Just like us she will have meals where she is more hungry and meals where she wants less.  It seems to balance out in the end especially since she is gaining weight.

 Our little one also seems to sleep better during the day.  She is too young for a schedule but I make sure to play and interact with her the whole time she awake during the day.  I also keep it bright and noisy.  At night we keep it dark and quiet when feeding her .  Hopefully one day I will be able to get a little more sleep at night