BF'ing moms: STTN?

ManiacMcGee · May 2011

I've heard that BF babies tend to sleep in shorter bouts then FF babies. My LO is only 2 weeks old, granted, but these nights of 1-1.5 hours between feedings are really getting to me.

I break down and cry every night around 4am. I don't mind getting up to feed so often, but he won't settle back down to sleep after a feeding anymore and I'm up nearly all the night.

Those of you with older babies: when did they start SSTN or at least 4+ hour stretches.

williaje6 · May 2011

our lo started around three weeks...granted it wasnt consistent...but it is now. last night he went almost seven hours and it was freaking amazing. i feel like i hit the lottery....so hang in there, it definitely willl get easier

MegZRN · May 2011

We just got our first 4 hour stretch last night and 3 hour stretches just started this week. What has helped is a bath/water soak every night then lavender lotion. I also look at the clock when she wakes and don't just assume she is hungry. I give her a couple minutes (of course if she is already at the screaming point, I feed her!) if she is just fussing or moving around a little and half the time she readjusts herself or stretches and goes back to sleep.

It does get better! My LO was eating every 1.5-2 hours until this week. My best advise is take at least one nap a day when your LO sleeps (if possible, there are many days that I don't but I always regret it later), and lots of caffeine :-)

2BMrsYoung · May 2011

My DS will be 3 wks on Tuesday. I use an app on my phone called baby feeding log that allows me to track feedings, diaper changes & the times he sleeps. I noticed last night & a couple of nights ago he did sleep for 3-4 hours before waking up!! Like pp stated, give it time...your LO will get there ;-)

genaruthp · May 2011

I have been there. It does get better.

Josie has started having a good 5-6 hour stretch around midnight on. I noticed a HUGE difference about 10 days ago when we started using the swaddleme blanket. I would say though, like PP said, 3 weeks hit and we have been getting better sleep out of her. I am still tired, but nothing like that first week or so.

HUGS!

smit3807 · May 2011

SouthSideDrea:
Hang in there! We are getting 4 hour stretches regularly enough to feel sane! It gets better!

This! I actually feel reasonably well rested most days.

RunningGal900 · May 2011

We are still at 3 hour stretches, but he started doing that at 2 weeks. Before that it was every 1.5-2 and I was going crazy. Somehow 3 makes you feel like a new person. It gets better!

StarJay · May 2011

My LO and I had some BFing issues, so it took us a little longer than the other ladies to get there (he was an ineffecient nurser and had to eat more often), but even we have made it to 3 hr stretches between night feedings, and just this week, has started giving me one 5 hr stretch!!

I know right now you're exhausted and at wits end, but it DOES get better. Ditto the PP who recommended napping w/ LO. I think I spent week 2 living on the couch with LO, and all we both did was eat and sleep.

jteneback · May 2011

DD started a) going right back to sleep after a feed and b) sleeping 3 hours or more at least once per night about two weeks ago. Hang in there!

sbmp10 · May 2011

I would agree with most pp. DS will be 3 weeks on monday he is 100% BF and we are getting one good 5-6 hour stretch from about 7:30 to 12:30 or 1:30 and then every three hours after that.

I did a lot of research and reading with my first on sleep. Here are the things that I found to be most true. This is just my experience.

A bed time routine which includes a bath gets better sleep.
Weight has something to do with it. DD was 7 lbs 5 oz and didn't sleep longer stretches until almost 6 weeks old. DS was 9 lbs 3 oz and he is doing longer stretches at less then 3 weeks.
Every noise/ wake up does not mean the baby is hungry. I let DS go for a minute (way to young at this point to CIO), if he settles (even if it is only for 15 minutes) I leave him. It stretches the time in between night feedings and eventually they stop waking so frequently and learn to sleep more consistently.
Every baby will STTN when ready. You can not force them. You can help by creating an environment that fosters good sleep but you can not force them to sleep.

SandiaPinaMama · May 2011

MegZRN:
We just got our first 4 hour stretch last night and 3 hour stretches just started this week. What has helped is a bath/water soak every night then lavender lotion. I also look at the clock when she wakes and don't just assume she is hungry. I give her a couple minutes (of course if she is already at the screaming point, I feed her!) if she is just fussing or moving around a little and half the time she readjusts herself or stretches and goes back to sleep.
It does get better! My LO was eating every 1.5-2 hours until this week. My best advise is take at least one nap a day when your LO sleeps (if possible, there are many days that I don't but I always regret it later), and lots of caffeine :-)

This. I was confusing reflux for hunger. Also babies are very loud sleepers. I don't get him until I'm sure he's hungry. LO is 7 weeks. Last week he started sleeping about 5 hours.

lauren0515 · May 2011

My DS has just started going 3-4 hours between feedings this week.

As far as getting them to settle down after a feeding. I had this problem the first couple of weeks. He would wake up and it would take an hour or so to get him down after feeding. Now I nurse in the dark. I have a night light so I can see for latch, etc. Otherwise the room is completely dark and I don't talk to him so he is not stimulated. Once I started doing this he started going right back to sleep after nursing. I keep my laptop beside me so I can get on the internet and surf if I am drowsy or I will watch TV on mute (we nurse in the living room).

GHBEA · May 2011

Olivia was about 3 weeks, she is 8 weeks now and has been sleeping 7 hours. This could be temporary but right now I am loving it.

It will get better and you will get your sleep,

kje120 · May 2011

2BMrsYoung:
My DS will be 3 wks on Tuesday. I use an app on my phone called baby feeding log that allows me to track feedings, diaper changes & the times he sleeps. I noticed last night & a couple of nights ago he did sleep for 3-4 hours before waking up!! Like pp stated, give it time...your LO will get there ;-)

I use that same app to track everything. I was thrilled last night when I looked and saw he gave me a 5 1/2 hour stretch. If he's just making noise I wait to make sure he's actually waking up and hungry and not just moving around. Also, we've been doing a nightly bath with the bedtime bath and using the bedtime lotion.

misssurly · May 2011

We had our first good sleep last night! LO slept from 9-1:30 and then 2-6:30am. She was so ravenous yesterday and fed a lot... I guess she was tanking up for the night. I only had 2 feedings vs. the normal, 4 feedings (every 2 hours).

I really hope she does the same tonight... it was magnificent to finally get more than 2 hours! Those first few weeks are rough but you an do it and it will get better. I sympathize with your 4am feeding, it usually takes an hour to get her back to sleep and all I can think is how little sleep that means for me!

katlizabeth · May 2011

DD is almost 6 weeks and she goes about 4 hours and then she does like 2 hours and 2 hours again. I think this is pretty good compared to ds...I never got sleep with him. He finally sttn (from when I put him down until when he got up for the day) at one year. I didn't sleep more than four hours in a row for like 15 months.

Lisa7310 · May 2011

Within the first week DS was slept 5-7 hour stretches. There was a couple time I forgot to set an alarm and just woke up realizing how much time went by, so I had to wake him. I was loving it, but he was losing weight, so I had to be diligent to wake him at least every 3-4 hours at night. He will still sleep long stretches, I now let him go 5 hours and then I wake him, but I'm sure he would go longer if I let him.

Now DS1 was no where near like this. He was my baby that would get up 5+ times a night and was a big comfort nurser. One thing that I learned from him that I really work with this LO with is keeping him awake during a nursing session. With DS1 I would fall asleep while nursing him and let him fall asleep so he was just snacking, which in turn didn't hold him over for long periods. Now, I make sure this LO stays awake and has nutritive sucking the entire time. He he starts to doze off while eating, I wake him up. If he gets to the point where he isn't waking up as easy or it keeps happening, I put him back in his bed. He usually wakes up then. I'll give him a paci if he seems to want it, otherwise he grunts a little and then falls asleep on his own.

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