Question about night feedings

smnewby · January 2016

So my LO is 10 weeks, we ebf, and she is a healthy weight. She can sleep for 8 hr stretches at night and until we got a video monitor thats exactly what we let her do. She is not a "complainer" or communicator and rarely sends us any hunger cues. For example after 8hrs of sleep I will walk into her room and see her awake and content in the crib...but then she feeds like she is ravenous. She never cries in the night so I never ran in and fed her. That being said she will also not wake to feed during the day, if she has been napping or playing we have to watch the clock and be sure to feed her/wake her around the 3hr mark.

Well with the video monitor I have noticed every 3-4hrs she starts sucking her hand or smacking her lips (not loud enough to hear but very obvious on video!). So The last week or so Ive been going in and feeding her and she takes a full feeding during those times!

Since adding the night feeds Ive noticed no difference to her feeding during the day (still takes the same amount in her bottles while i am at work) and no effect on any other aspect of her routine.

Any advice? Should I just turn off the video and enjoy my nights or should I cont to ninja night feed? I would feel horrible if I was starving her during the night and she was just too polite to cry! This is just totally confusing for me because I havent been able to find others with similar experiences with searches online.

Edit for spelling

dramaphile · January 2016

if she's gaining normally and having frequent wet diapers and BMs, she's most likely getting enough to eat. She may be making up for what she doesn't eat at night during the day. My LO is 7 weeks and sleeps 6-8 hours each night, but makes up for the feeds at night by eating more frequently during the day.

Ceridwen77 · January 2016

I'd consider those smacking lips to be hunger cues and I'd feed my baby when she is hungry. Seems pretty straightforward.

queenwog · January 2016

Ceridwen77 said:
I'd consider those smacking lips to be hunger cues and I'd feed my baby when she is hungry. Seems pretty straightforward.

This. Hunger cues come in different forms and they don't always include crying. If she's hungry, get up and feed her.

smnewby · January 2016

Thanks ladies. Thats what I was thinking/feeling I just needed someone to agree with me.

I had called my peds office and the nurse said lo would escallate to crying if she was really hungry. But thats not how my baby behaves during the day so why would she suddenly cry from hunger at night.

dramaphile · January 2016

smnewby said:
Thanks ladies. Thats what I was thinking/feeling I just needed someone to agree with me.

I had called my peds office and the nurse said lo would escallate to crying if she was really hungry. But thats not how my baby behaves during the day so why would she suddenly cry from hunger at night.

I've always heard that BF babies can't overeat, so if she eats when you offer, let her eat.

VexedMommy · January 2016

Have you spoken with her doctor about not crying to communicate hunger? Does she cry or make noises at other times or for other reasons? Is she smiling or making sounds in an attempt to communicate with you or others?

smnewby · January 2016

VexedMommy said:
Have you spoken with her doctor about not crying to communicate hunger? Does she cry or make noises at other times or for other reasons? Is she smiling or making sounds in an attempt to communicate with you or others?

Yeah. I didnt mean to imply she doesnt communicate at all. She is all smiles and giggles and making/mimicing funny faces and furrowed brows and screaming her head off when overly tired. She runs the gammit. Its just when it comes to being hungry she doesnt seem to complain. I baby carried when I was home w her and only once did she smack her lips during the day when hungry. She has never cried from hunger or communicated hunger during the day so we just offer her breast or bottle but she tends to refuse unless it has been 3hrs. However at night that silence/lack of cues regarding her hunger bother me. She never cries and only if I am awake and fixated at the baby monitor after she has been in bed for 5+hrs do I see (with camera zoomed in) smacking of lips or side to side movements of her head. It keeps me up at night staring at the monitor for these little hints she could be hungry.

dramaphile · January 2016

smnewby said:

VexedMommy said:
Have you spoken with her doctor about not crying to communicate hunger? Does she cry or make noises at other times or for other reasons? Is she smiling or making sounds in an attempt to communicate with you or others?
Yeah. I didnt mean to imply she doesnt communicate at all. She is all smiles and giggles and making/mimicing funny faces and furrowed brows and screaming her head off when overly tired. She runs the gammit. Its just when it comes to being hungry she doesnt seem to complain. I baby carried when I was home w her and only once did she smack her lips during the day when hungry. She has never cried from hunger or communicated hunger during the day so we just offer her breast or bottle but she tends to refuse unless it has been 3hrs. However at night that silence/lack of cues regarding her hunger bother me. She never cries and only if I am awake and fixated at the baby monitor after she has been in bed for 5+hrs do I see (with camera zoomed in) smacking of lips or side to side movements of her head. It keeps me up at night staring at the monitor for these little hints she could be hungry.

Maybe try setting an alarm at 5 hours and see if she will do a dream feed? Then you can sleep better because she'll get to eat at about the time she starts showing hunger cues anyway.

Tracyjean22P · January 2016

So I breastfeed and cosleep. My son does not cry for feedings in the middle of the night. He does however lipsmack, eat his fists, and grunt... While doing all of those things his eyes are closed. I usually pick him up, nurse him for about 10 minutes, and then he is out cold again. I'm not sure I would hear him if he was in his crib. I would agree with other posters that she is definitely showing hunger signs, but I also think my baby boy would wake up and cry if he were REALLY hungry. I think because I cosleep... He never escalates which is great because he basically is dream nursing.

smnewby · January 2016

good ideas

When I go in to bf her eyes are still closed. She sleeps, or at least has her eyes closed, through the whole feed. So I guess I have been basically dream feeding her. I just didnt catch the subtle signs without the video monitor. I just wish she would cry or scream if I happened to sleep through them and thats what disturbs me.

I am sure that if we coslept I would be much more in tune to her cues but she actually sleeps best/goes down easiest in her crib. (We tried rock n play, swing, bassinet, snuggle nest and go figure she likes the crib!)

Setting an alarm would be a good idea and just plan on dream feeding at a predictible time so I am not obsessing about the baby monitor all night.

Edit because i fat finger a lot w my phone

taykerslake · January 2016

Arlo doesn't cry unless he's past the point of just hungry and is starving at night. He will grunt and smack his lips for an hour if I don't pick him up and feed him. Then he will start to kick and finally will start to cry. I'm not sure if it's because after a big nap I've just picked him up and fed him right away rather than waiting for specific hunger cues or if he just is a quiet baby at night. Just set an alarm and feed her when you wake up. If she's hungry she will take it, if she's not then she won't.

rubirubi89 · January 2016

I wish my son was subtle about being hungry. He goes from sucking his fist to screaming in minutes. I feel like when he gets older he'll announce he's hungry by throwing a plate at my head.

rachswi · January 2016

@rubirubi89 ditto. This kid has a serious case of hangry. He wakes up screaming when he's hungry.

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