How to flip night feedings

this decaf life · May 2013

I think I've figured out our main sleep problem. DD is up wanting to eat at 11, 2, 5, and right now but will go all day never really wanting to eat.

I offer every 2 to 3 hours during the day but she's EBF and doesn't seem all too interest so I'm thinking she's not eating enough during the day. Any pointers on how to encourage the chane? She's been doing this "4 month wakefulness" for the past 6 weeks and for my sanity i really need more than 2 and a half hour of sleep at a time.

The past 2 nights I've only offered 1 breast at each feeding hoping if she eats less she'll make up for it during the day. She went to sleep for her regular stretches so I don't think it was a big deal not offering the second and I always offer during the day but I don't think she's actually eating.

ohiodoxiemama08 · May 2013

I don't have any personal experience with this but I've been reading a bunch about 4 month wakefulness and a big piece of advice is to feed LOs in a distraction free environment. Some people swear by dimly lit rooms without tv or computer to distract baby. I also have a nursing necklace I wear on occasion that DD can grab onto while she nurses if she seems particularly distracted.

Hope that her wakeful period ends soon for you !

spainy17 · May 2013

I swaddle DD for feeds. Otherwise she won't eat enough during three day and I work evening shift so I need to get food in her during the daylight hours.

bennikki · May 2013

I know you said you exclusively nurse, but we were having the same issue, and we solved it by DH giving him a bottle of expressed milk before bed. I work full time, so he gets bottles during the day, and he nurses great in the morning and after work, but before bed he's a thrashing mess, wouldn't really eat, and therefore he was up two hours later, rinse and repeat all night. It started at about 14 weeks. We stumbled on the bottle thing when I was out for a bday party and DH had to put him down alone. For the last week he downs a five ounce bottle from DH before bed and gives me a 6 to 8 hour stretch. I'm thinking I could maybe keep him latched for 5 minutes total once we entered sleep regression. He just couldn't focus at bed time , but he doesn't have trouble with the bottle.

DCKate · May 2013

Really, try a bottle!

OakTreeMommy · May 2013

Our little one started STTN around the time we started extending the time between feedings to every 4 hours. I read a book that says by 4 months they should be able to go 4 hours between feedings. It took about 2 weeks to make the transition, I started extending his nap-time by putting him back to sleep when he woke up early from his nap. When he would wake up hungry and I'd feed him while he was still sleepy so he'd take a full feed and would stay fuller longer. At night we do our last awake feed around 4, LO goes to bed at six, I do a dream feed around 8 or 9 when we go to bed and now he'll sleep until 6 am and only wake up once around 2 or 3 am to eat.

Schrodinger · May 2013

DD has started to reverse cycle as well, so I feel your pain. At best, she takes 12 oz of BM from a bottle at daycare during the ~12 hours that I am gone. She has never liked the bottle and its been a struggle to get her to 12 oz. She will often do 8 oz and freak out if they try and feed her the third bottle.

That said, we had to bring out the big guns to try and break the cycle. The last few nights I nurse her to sleep, then put her in the co-sleeper until she wakes up to nurse 2-3 hours later. DH then takes her and puts her in her swing in the living room while he sleep on the couch. She will sleep in her swing 5-6 hours before needing to be nursed again. She then goes back in the co-sleeper (and DH comes to bed) until she wakes up for good in the morning.

Our thoughts are that once we know how often she really needs to eat overnight, we can start to sleep train. We want her to get in the habit of minimizing her night feeds. If you have something like a swing (or RNP) that will really knock her out, you could try that. We want to break the swing habit as soon as possible, but at this point I need the sleep. Since we started doing this she has consistently taken the full 12 oz at daycare.

82Sonia · May 2013

I EBF too but I've been giving her a bottle at night after nursing to top her off. It seems to help her sleep longer.

mbredin · May 2013

Since the 4 month wakeful has hit I have been offering her the boob twice per wakeful period. Also I highly recommend the additional bottle of expressed milk. We realized when I went back to work (on evening shift) that while I was making enough milk I couldn't make it fast enough in the evening. I bet that additional milk will get rid of at least the 11pm. You'd be surprised how much they can stock up in the evening. My LO will take over 20 ounces some evenings. Also its a great way for you to get a break.

this decaf life · May 2013

thanks all! I did express like an ounce so I'll try giving her that after feeding tonight to try and top her off! she did a little better napping today so we'll see how tonight goes.

nycitygirl1 · May 2013

We were talking about this at my new parent group and the moderator said to do what you are doing (slowly start to eliminate the feedings at night by offering less and less milk). If you pump, using a bottle is probably the easiest way to do this -- so you can start tracking how much LO is eating at these night time feeds and decrease by an ounce every few days.

We also went through a few weeks where once we eliminated the feeds, our LO still woke up so we'd comfort him (rock, offer paci, etc) and have to get him back to bed without a bottle. It was a PIA but so much better in the long term because we got him to give up 2 middle of the night feeds.

It usually takes a little while for babies to make this transition so stick with it...it will pay off in the long run!

Wild_flower25 · May 2013

Can you try a couple days of nursing her every 2 hours during the day? Also, DD cluster feeds at night before bed. Between 4-7 she eats 2-3 times. I think she's tanking up for the night. Sometimes she asks for it, sometimes not but I do it anyway. I always try to make sure she nurses at least 6 times during the day too.

You may have help creat the habit where she thinks she's supposed to eat that many times at night, so I'd try offering something else to soothe her if she wakes, other than a feeding.

GL!

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