Feedings

Clbragg33 · January 2014

I am currently feedin LO on demand. He will sleep through the day for at least 3 hours sometimes more. At night I feel like he wants to eat every hour. Anyone else experiencing this? I'm wondering if I should wake him and feed him more often through the day, or if maybe he is just looking for something to suck on and I should start giving him a paci?

Any suggestions?

jblank03 · January 2014

I'm kind of in the same boat. However, my LO still isn't back to his birth weight at 2 weeks 3 days (he was tongue tied and lost a pound the first couple of days), so I am actually waking him up at the 3 hour mark to eat if he's sleeping and he still is sometimes doing the every hour/cluster feeding fun some nights. I am going to throw a freaking party when he hits 7 12 and I can let him keep sleeping!! It isn't all night every night, but at least from my experience, waking to feed more often at this stage doesn't seem to prevent the frequency he wants to eat at other times of day.

I've been hesitant to use the paci because I feel like if he needs food (esp since we're so worried about weight), I shouldn't waste the opportunity. However after a couple of 90 minute feeding sessions where I was in tears at 3 am, I did cave and use the paci so I could get some sleep and replenish. I'll be curious to see what others say about this!

Clbragg33 · January 2014

Glad to hear I'm not alone in this. LO is not back to birth weight either so I will usually let him sleep for 4 hours and then wake him up with some interaction and he's hungry. We keep it bright during the day, but I will try more interaction! I too have been avoiding the paci, I can't decide if it's a habit I want to start yet or not. Thanks ladies!

blondie10m · January 2014

I'm waking to feed every two hours during the day in hopes of getting his calories during the day and changing his schedule. Recommended by kellymom. At night my alarm is set to go off at the 4 hour mark but sadly it's never gone off yet but I have gotten a couple 3:30 stretches between feedings. I second the day and night different treatments as well. It seems to be working slowly.

cnwilbur1030 · January 2014

For my babies, I would feed on demand but then also be sure to wake and feed every 3 hrs during the day. Yes they still had cluster feed nights, but they were less frequent when I made sure they ate enough in the day. But that is my babies, not all babies though.

I also tried what PP said about differentiating between day and night.

Jackapatamus · January 2014

At 10 days old , we were not back at birth weight, and our pedi recommended to wake and feed every 2-2 1/2 hours during the day, and 3 at night. For at least 8-12 feedings a day. Even with this, we are still cluster feeding at night, but it's earlier than before (6 o'clock-12 instead of 10-3 am). Which is helpful to me! Check with your pediatrician, about how often/how many feedings a day they would like you to do, especially until he's back to birth weight.

thegosiers · January 2014

@Clbragg33 Unless LO gets too tired from the paci, I wouldn't worry about "introducing this habit." Sucking is soothing, and as long as you stay clued in to feeding cues (or you're waking to feed anyway) then it's NBD.

@jblank03 I suggest checking with your pediatrician on length of feedings (even cluster). After my doc put us on the 2-hour feeding schedule, I looked at him exasperated and said, "but what if he sucks the whole time???" Dr said 20 minutes on each side is all that is needed for baby to get full. The rest is just comfort sucking. Huge relief!

SweetPeaKate · January 2014

Our last night in the hospital and first night home was BRUTAL. DS2 woke up to eat every 30-60 minutes but would really only nurse for a few minutes. Our second day home, I decided that if he wasn't awake to eat, that I would feed him every 2-3 hours…sometimes I let him sleep more, but more often than not we were hitting the 3 hour mark. Since I've been doing this, he's been sleeping 4 hour stretches at night (sometimes more!). The pediatrician was totally on board with me doing this, but he also passed his birth weight in less than a week.

OnBabymaking226 · January 2014

Once DD was back up to her birth weight (she far surpassed it by 2 weeks actually, my little guzzler), our ped said let her sleep as long as she wants at night but wake her up to feed every 3 hours during day if she is sleeping. He said the feedings during the day should encourage longer sleeping at night, and so far we have been very lucky - at night she has been doing one 4-5 hour stretch and then 3 hour stretches for the remainder of the night.

I was hesitant to introduce the paci, but when we saw the LC, even with latch issues, she gave us the go-ahead for the paci and it took about a week, but now it really helps DD when she just wants to suck on something and isn't necessarily hungry. She has no problem spitting it right out if what she wants is to eat.

LexGator · January 2014

DS is 1 month old today, and we are still dealing with this. He naps for long stretches during the day and is up more frequently at night (some nights every hour; some nights, we do get one or two 2-3 hour stretches). I do everything I can to encourage day wakefulness, and while he is slowly becoming more wakeful during the day, he hasn't flipped the switch on day/night yet. I asked our pedi about it, and he said it'll happen naturally. Everything I read says babies usually adjust by 6 weeks or so. DD never slept, day or night, so this is my first experience having a baby who sleeps at all, so I am just trying to rest during the day as best I can do prep for more wakings at night.

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