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Hungry or fighting sleep?

BamBam510BamBam510 member
in Babies: 0 - 3 Months

So, DS eats quite a bit, we bf and supplement with formula due to supply issues.  My mil was just watching him while I ran some errands and I had given him a couple ounces of pumped breast milk and gave her a bottle of formula to feed him which was 2 ounces as well.  He had been on my breast about a 1/2 hour earlier so probably got an ounce from that and was spitting up quite a bit, and when I came home mil said he spit up quite a lot after the formula.  She said he started throwing a tantrum crying and rooting around, he wouldn't take his paci, so she just walked around with him talking to him etc. and I guess he finally fell asleep.  She said that the tantrum might have just been him fighting sleep rather than being hungry. 

How am I suppose to know the difference when he's rooting around I figure it means he wants to eat if he won't take his paci.  He gets really fussy at night too and will not take his paci and it'll be within an hr after he's eaten 4 ounces of formula, my dh usually just lets him cry while holding him and will talk to him and usually after a half hour he passes out.   Last night I didn't like hearing him cry so I put him on me and he fell asleep, but then spit up a ton and got the hiccups so I guess he was full? 

How do you determine if he's figthing sleep vs being hungry? 

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Re: Hungry or fighting sleep?

  • kgreekkgreek
    I am having the exact same problem. I feel like I'm over feeding him bc he will spit up a lot and get hiccups. But he always acts hungry and is most comforted on me.. Curious to see answers
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  • k.martellk.martell member

    IMO it may takes time to read their cues.  It took me a few weeks to be able to decipher the "I need to sleep" (body rigid and a constant cry level) cry from the "I need to eat" cry (usually a high to low AAH ah! cry).  I've also discovered that 2 hrs after being awake she's going to need sleep more than food, and anything after 2 hrs is pushing my luck and we may be encroaching on a major sleep deprived meltdown in a matter of minutes.

    I also test with a pacifier, if she keeps it in her mouth more than likely she's needing that pacifier's comfort (or suckling comfort) to help her get ready for sleep.  If she spits it out and continues to cry, it's hunger.  But also, I use feeding to help her get to sleep too.  I put her on my breast and in just a few moments she's out.  I replace my nipple with a pacifier and slowly put her down in her crib.

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  • amykins1283amykins1283 member
    I pretty much had to play it by ear until DS was around 5-6 weeks.  By then I had learned to read his cues pretty well and could tell the difference between "I"m sleepy" and "I'm hungry".  DS also roots around if he has gas or an extra burp so sometimes all it takes to calm him is a dose of gas drops or a few good thumps on the back to get the burp out.  

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