EBF moms - how are you sleeping??

hellomommyhood · December 2012

we are still only around a 4 hr stretch... arg! considering adding formula to the last night feeding to hopefully get a bit more zzzz's.

anyone else considering supplementing or have any other tips on how to get a bit more sleep??

RedRose87 · December 2012

We were only getting two hour stretches when I was EBF. During that time i would have killed for four hours.

We started solids at four months for reflux and he started sleeping 6 hour stretches. Some nights we get seven or eight hour stretches. He eats 4oz of veggies with oatmeal for dinner and then breastfeeds an hour later and goes to sleep. He hates formula, he gags if I even try... Not that he takes a bottle anyways.

Some nights when he is sick or teething or gassy he still wakes up a lot but generally it's better than it was.

Eta. I want to add that I am not saying solids helped in and of themselves. I think they helped because it keeps the milk down. The reflux had him waking up screaming and choking. It was awful.

DeniseRN · December 2012

My lo was STTN and EBF until I went back to work at 12 weeks. He usually gives me 5 hour stretch at the beginning and ever 2-3hours after that. He BF at 530am and 4pm and 7pm and takes 20 oz of BM while I'm at work. He also gets 2 servings of solid food

STTN is usually not a tummy thing but is a brain thing.

Bucks County Newlywed 808 · December 2012

I had to stop BF'ing a week ago, but when I was, my "thing" that I swore made him sleep for about 7-8 hours was a "huge" (relatively) bottle of pumped milk and then nursing before bed. Our routine was a 4 ounce or more bottle, plus nursing for about 30 minutes, and that got me 7-8 hours at a time. Stuff 'em like a turkey, I say!

Good luck!

hellomommyhood · December 2012

Bucks County Newlywed 808:
I had to stop BF'ing a week ago, but when I was, my "thing" that I swore made him sleep for about 7-8 hours was a "huge" (relatively) bottle of pumped milk and then nursing before bed. Our routine was a 4 ounce or more bottle, plus nursing for about 30 minutes, and that got me 7-8 hours at a time. Stuff 'em like a turkey, I say! Good luck!

stuff 'em like a turkey - i love it!!!

APendola · December 2012

A four hour stretch is not bad at all. It's normal for babies to get up once or twice a night. Supplementing is not necessarily going to make them sleep longer.

If everything is good at babies' 6 month check-up, you can wean them off the night time feedings. By 6 months, they don't need to eat at night- but they will still like it if it's offered.

I EBF, and my LO gets up twice a night if I bring her to bed with us. If she sleeps on her own, she's up 5 or 6 times.

PD0323 · December 2012

Still up 4 - 5 times a night here! I went to the 4 month app. a few weeks ago and the doc told me to feed her some cereal on a spoon before bed to see if it helps. I thought I wasn't starting solids until 6 months, but now I'm not sure what to do. I know that I want to sleep again!

Everyusernameistaken · December 2012

Lil dude sleeps 6-8 hours in a row...I encourage cluster feeding in the evenings (6:00ish after he wakes up from his last nap, and then again just before bed at 8:30ish). My friend had success extending her LO's sleep with feeding (not in a bottle) rice cereal in the evening.

Good luck

BabyCurrier · December 2012

I was EBFing and only getting 2 to 3 hour stretches until I started supplementing with formula. Now I get 6 to 8 hour stretches.

MrsPez07 · December 2012

Knock on wood...since about 3 mo, he's been sleeping 10 to 11 hours straight. It's almost scary. I get up about once a night w his 3yo brother for bad dreams or wetting the bed though...sigh.
Please don't throw tomatoes at me!

bluemommy · December 2012

LO has been sleeping through the night since 1.5 month. Though I attribute it to his weight. I read that once they hit 11 lbs, metabolically they dont need a motn feeding anymore.

The last thing we do before he falls alseep is nurse. He goes down around 11pm and wakes around 7:30am.

FWIW though-this child never naps(Like not even 30min!). Its exhausting but may also be why he sleeps so well at night.

So nurse, nurse, nurse last and maybe keep them awake a little longer during the day? Just an idea but I dont really know!

meagan.pilkington · December 2012

I've gotten 4-6hr stretches RANDOMLY and usually on days he has NOT had an extra bottle with formula in the evening. Super weird... Also the rice cereal didn't help him sleep longer. Our usual night waking are every 2.5-4 hours. Usually closer to 3. And my LO barely naps during the day either so...

cwm11985 · December 2012

I get a 3 to 4 hour stretch. I'm about to lose my mind. NOTHING works for this kid.

britbratjf · December 2012

Dagny now goes an 8 to 10 hour stretch followed by another 3 to 4 hours. She is EBF. I've tried solids and she isn't that interested yet.

I'm sorry I can offer advice but she literally just started doing this one day two weeks ago on her own. Before she was up usually 3 times per night.

I guess I'm just sharing to show that maybe LO will start doing better on their own. Mine did.

aylafsu88 · December 2012

My LO is usually what I call a decent sleeper. She wakes 1-2X a night so she usually gets a 5 hour and a 3 hour stretch of sleep. The one thing I do is offer the boob a lot more in the evenings, like every 1.5 hours. I think this helps her tank up on calories so she will get her 5 hour sleep stretch. However, the last couple of weeks she has been waking up 4+ times a night and I have not changed a thing.

ETA: I do not do any solids yet.

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