- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Northern California Babies
Reverse cycling - need help!
So the baby does most of his nursing at night these days. I think he likes the peaceful time with mommy, which I understand, but I'm not liking the fact that he is waking every two hours to eat. I'm exhausted, DH is sleeping on the couch, and the baby is outgrowing his co-sleeper so I'll have to move him to his room soon and then the constant wakings will really wear on me. There is no room for a crib or pack n play in our bedroom and I don't want to bed share. Plus, I'd really like DH back in bed with me and he can't sleep with the baby in the room.
I'm not against sleep training and it worked well for DS#1, but don't think it's appropriate here because the little guy really is hungry (vs. DS#1 who wasn't hungry but needed help going back to sleep every 1.5 hours) and isn't getting enough during the day. And I can't seem to get him to eat more during the day because we're running around or he has a toddler playing loudly near him while he's trying to eat and he is so easily distracted. If he's nursed a minute and gets distracted, I can't get him to latch on again he's just done. Similarly, if we're out of the house, he is also super distracted and will only nurse for a couple of minutes and done. I don't know what to do to get him to eat more during the day. Any suggestions/advice?
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Reverse cycling - need help!
I have a nursing cover, but that seems to make it worse since he starts trying to grab at that. The white noise is good when DH is home and I can go into another room with the baby, but if it's just me, I need to be able to hear DS#1.
A nursing necklace has worked for us in the past...she plays with that and it keeps her distracted AT the boob so she stays on longer.
We have one from each of these sites:
Smart Mom Jewelery
The smart mom Jewelery necklaces are kind of rubbery...great for teething too.
Mommy Necklaces
The mommy necklaces are hard..more like real jewelery...these ones are cool too because if you get the loose donut (which Lilly likes more than the locked donut), it moves and makes clicking noises when it rubs against the other "jewels" on the necklace.
A, I'm sorry you are encountering this issue. C started reverse cycling at that same time but I had just gone back to work so we chose other work arounds. He stayed in that pattern for, um, way longer than I would have liked but I chose not to try to break it because I knew he was hungry, and I was not with him all day to alter our nursing pattern. It ended up that DS and I slept seperately from DH for a long time because of our really ingrained nursing pattern. We've only been breaking from it the last six months or so. Thankfully we all survived.
Since you have different options, I hope you find a solution that works for all of you!