Night feedings

BDK807

I wanted to see what worked best for you when it comes/came to night feedings. Currently, both MH and I are waking up and feeding the girls. Since they are struggling with weight gain we are waking them every three hours. It can take 30 to 40 minutes for them to eat an ounce and a half. Then it's another 30 minutes at the least to settle them down. They have been extremely fussy and cry at night. Between all this we are getting maybe 4 hours asleep a night.

I wonder if it would be better to tackle a feeding by myself and alternate with my husband. So we are both getting more sleep. Just not sure how this would work when it takes a hour plus to feed one.

What worked best for you, both waking up or taking turns?

Thanks. Sorry for the long ramble working on little sleep.

Missa_g

When our boys came home from the NICU it was utter survival mode. We slept when they slept, day and night. If your husband has to go to work then obviously that won't work so well. If that's the case I would maybe try going to sleep as soon as he gets home and then sleeping through a feeding while he handles one. Then he goes to sleep and you get up to take the next one. It's all about finding what works for the two of you and it might take some experimenting.

The good news is there will be a point, in the not too distant future, where you no longer have to wake them in the middle of the night and they finish bottles very quickly.

JustcallmeGG2

we were in the same situation as you for the first 2 months.  we would feed, then the babies would scream for a half hour.  i don't know if it was because they had reflux early on or what.  we changed our behavior and all of a sudden it was different.

we keep a lamp on really low (like a 15 watt bulb) and no tv on during night feedings.  we also keep talking to a minimum.  after they are done eating, we lay them on an incline on our chest (not flat) and they usually fall asleep within 5 minutes.  maybe its because of the body heat.  then we are able to put them in their RNP's no problem.

its so hard to do a night feeding by yourself because when you go to burp one, the other one starts crying hysterically.  we both get up every 4 hours.  i am curious to see what other people do.

Reilly626

In the beginning I would go to sleep 7 pm -1-2 am and then take over and my husband went to sleep. We did shifts- doing it together you realize will just exhaust both of you. After they eat rock them in an old fashioned rocking chair and sing to them- they go out! Then to the Rock and Play.  If they continue to struggle you may need a formula change- I wish we did it earlier. We are on Gerber Soothe for crying/colic with no issues! I'm at 2.5 months and I now have sleeping through the night- by that its 5-6 hours. It will get easier- the first 2 months were nuts. Do shifts though- we were both rested!

mars724

how old are they?

we alternated feedings. It was a struggle for both of us, but at least we were both getting a 5-6 hour stretch of sleep every night.

It got better though around 8w I'd say when I adjusted their schedule per the Baby Whisperer. 

It will get better, now they STTN 12 hours w/o any feedings. hang in there! 

Frankelberry

My DH is a night owl and usually stays up until midnight. He would take the first feeding around 11 before he went to bed. I would get up and do the feedings at 2 and 5 a.m. I was on maternity leave so I could nap during the day if needed, but with him doing the first feeding I was at least able to get one longer block of sleep. We are lucky that they are both good sleepers and never had a hard time going back down after eating. We would just lay them in their cribs and they would put themselves back to sleep (no crying). We always kept the lights dim when feeding them and tried not to interact with them too much so maybe that helped.

Hang in there...it does get better. I didn't think I would ever get a full night of sleep again but they both started sleeping through the night at 10 weeks.

BDK807

They are just over two weeks. I do not expect them to be sleeping more than they are now but I just didn't expect the long feeding time. Hoping that they get better at eating soon. I am alreadyconsider switching formula because they are really gassy and seem very uncomfortable. Unfortunately, sleeping during the day is not an option because I have an older DD.

Thanks for the advice. I guess we can try a couple different ways and see what works best for us. But it's nice to know what worked for others.

ShopperKristi

Ugh!  We are dealing with this too!  We started swaddling back up after diaper change (diaper, swaddle, feed) and that helped them stay sleepy and go back down easier!  I think putting them back in sleep sacks after feeding was waking them up again. Good luck Hun, I feel your pain!!