Help-Please! What's going on? - Easy problem or Feeding problem?

[Sharon P]

Hi,

I am not sure if I am posting in the right section or not as I don't know if this an EASY issue or a feeding issue. My DS is 12 weeks old and has been on EASY since he was 3 weeks old. Until recently our days have usually started around 7am (I wake DS at 7.30am if he hasn't already woken) and DS has always in bed by 7pm, sometimes a little earlier. I have been fairly loose with DS feed times during the day. They have varied from 2.5hours to 3.5 hours apart depending on how long he has slept for. I often have to resettle during a sleep cycle, but usually get at least an hour out of him, often 2 hours. If I get him up after a 45min sleep cycle he is a very unhappy bubby shortly after, so I avoid this at all costs. His Activity time has generally only been an hour, as he can been very difficult to settle after that time. I have done a dream feed at 10.30pm and then he has generally woken between 3-4am.

Lately things have begun to change. DS is able to stay awake for longer during some of his Activity sessions, but not all. He tends to only make it an hour after his 7am feed, but then lasts longer after the mid morning or lunchtime feed. In general he will have 2 x 2 hr sleeps in a day and one shorter one (eg. 1.25 hrs) and a possible nap between 4-7. He has started to wake after 45mins more often, but with a few attempts at settling him I can generally get him back to sleep and then he will sleep closer to 2 hours even up to 2.5 hrs in total (when I end up waking him).  Night sleeps have changed too. In the last week he has woken at 4am ,then 5.30am, then 3am, then 4.30 am, then 1am (resettled) and 3.15am (feed), then 2.15am (resettled)  and 3.45am (feed). He is never interested in his 7am feed and I have generally had to wake him at 7.30am to get the day going. He is also not eating well during most of his day feeds and then seems particularly hungry at night.

I have wondered if I should transition him onto a 3.5 EASY as he shows most of the signs, but can not consistently manage the activity time but would happily sleep longer, which I know is not the idea? Also, he isn't 4 months yet. I also worry that he is not eating much during the day and he hasn't hit his growth spurt yet, so if I space the feeds out and he doesn't eat more I will not have adequate supply for when the growth spurt hits.  I have also wondered if I should be starting the day earlier (say 7am) and be more rigid about it. For some reason I wonder if that might help the night wakings?

So, sorry it has taken so long to explain our situation. I just don't know what is going on. Is this a feeding issue or an EASY issue. Should I try to restrict DS lengths of feeds at night to get him eating  more during the day? I have tried that a couple of times and he has still not been interested in his 7am feed. BTW, he is fully breast fed.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Sharon (a very confused Aussie Mum).

[estherofi20]

Hello Sharon,

i changed my DS to a 4hr routine at 12 weeks, precisely 'cause he was waking up early from naps, not hungry at the 3hr mark, and generally everything was becoming a mess, so i did it cold turkey from one day to another, and the first few days were a little rough on the Atimes, but i managed to distract him by walking him around the house which he loves. So my question is, how is your LO eating with a 3hr EASY?

[Sharon P]

Hi Esther,

Thanks so much for your quick response. His eating is a mess. He does feed well first thing in th morning, mid morning is a little better, but not necessarily, then early afternoon and later afternoon he tends to feed better and then before bed is hit or miss again. His dream feed is generally good and at 3-4-5am he eats like there's no tomorrow. I have tried restricting his early morning feed to get a better feed out of him at 7am but it didn't help. I am scared of spacing things out to a 4 hour easy in case I don't end up with enough milk when he hits his growth spurt. Had your DS had his growth spurt yet? If so, how did you manage? I used to have really good supply, but since DS's eating has become erratic I have noticed a huge drop in my supply.

What do you think?

Sharon.
P.S. I'm off to bed now as it's 11.30pm here. So, thanks in advance if you have time to reply.

[estherofi20]

Well Sharon, my DS has allways been formula fed, but i was thinking that if you do change your LO to a 4hr EASY, when he hits a grow spurt you can try to do a cluster feed in the afternoon. Have you tried asking in the breastfeeding forum on how to upper your supply?

[Sharon P]

Hi Ester,

Thanks for your reply. I thought I'd observe and play around with things a little before bombarding you with my next set of questions. I noticed you're a moderator and figure you have so many posts to respond to. Thanks ever so much for being at the end of the computer. It is an amazing support and I really appreciate you time and trouble.

Firstly, I will definitely asking about feeding issues and supply for a growth spurt in the breast feeding forum. From what you have  written I am thinking you may be right about moving onto 4 hours EASY. Eating-wise he is definitely not hungry at the 3 hour mark, so 4 hour EASy makes sense. However, I still wonder if it is the right thing as DS doesn't manage to stay awake for 1.5 hours consistently let alone 2 hours. Should I be stringing him out. I tried that yesterday but then his sleeps were very unsettled and by the end of the day I was dealing with a very overtired bubby, who was even too tired to feed properly before bed.

Also the last 2 nights he has being sleeping longer, waking at 5am and then 5.30am, as compared to the previous 2 nights where he uncharacteristically woke twice. However, I then have trouble feeding him at 7.30am, as he barely or not interested at all in food. Infact, I have had to wake him at 7.30 am most mornings in the last week. I have tried just feeding a little to get him through but it didn't make much difference. I will ask in the breast feeding forum about the feeding issues, but just wondered how I should get DS through for 4 hours, if he hasn't actually feed at the start of the day?

Thanks again,

Sharon.

[estherofi20]

I still wonder if it is the right thing as DS doesn't manage to stay awake for 1.5 hours consistently let alone 2 hours. Should I be stringing him out. I tried that yesterday but then his sleeps were very unsettled and by the end of the day I was dealing with a very overtired bubby, who was even too tired to feed properly before bed.

yes that can be hard to manage for some babies, when my DS was that age he coudln't hold on for the entire 2 hrs, so i allways putted him to sleep earlier, 'cause you deffinetly don't want an overtired LO on your hands. So i used to have a day like this:

8:00 am wake up and feed
8:30 / 9:15 activity
9:15 / 9:30 wind down
9:30 /12:00 sleep
12:00 feed
12:30 / 1:15 activity
1:15 / 1:30 wind down
1:30 / 4:00 sleep
4:00 feed
4:30 / 5:15 activity
5:15 / 5:30 wind down
5:30 / 7:00 "catnap"
7:00 bath and massage
7:30 bottle and book
8:00 bedtime
11pm dream feed

and then he used to wake at 5-6ish for a feed, and i tried to give him as little as he would take.

I know its alot of daytime sleep, but my DS just wasn't hungry at the 3hr mark, so this worked for us for a little while. Then he started waking up at nigths and play and chat for an hr, so that's when i knew it was too much daytime sleep, and i was abble then to extend more his Atime, but you see, he was the one how told me he was ready for more Atime.

but just wondered how I should get DS through for 4 hours, if he hasn't actually feed at the start of the day?

Don't worry, that's why EASY is a flexible routine, if your LO gets hungry a bit earlier, lets say at 3 or 3.5hrs, you feed him.

Thanks for your reply. I thought I'd observe and play around with things a little before bombarding you with my next set of questions. I noticed you're a moderator and figure you have so many posts to respond to. Thanks ever so much for being at the end of the computer. It is an amazing support and I really appreciate you time and trouble.

Awww thank you hun, you are a dear

[Sharon P]

Thanks again Esther,

I think I will use your routine and tweek it a bit. I don't think my DS needs quite as much sleep but it is good to know that its an option. Yesterday I tried to keep him up for the 1.5 hours between each feed. It was a little difficult for some feeds but others were a breeze. Is it best to try to get is Activity time fairly consistent been each feed? For example, in the mornings he often needs to go back to sleep after 1 hour, but in the afternoon, if he has had a long sleep, he can go for closer to 2 hours. If i follow his lead then things would be very unstructured. Or should I try to work toward a fairly consistent amount of Activity time?
 
Sharon.

[estherofi20]

Well, i guess babies are all different, but for example, now that my DS is 10MO, he can take 3.5hrs in the morning, only 2hrs after his morning nap, and then 4hrs after his pm nap, so i think you can do as you see how he is doing. but the goal would be a perfect 4hr EASY (but we all know that's a bit hard to make ), so try to follow it, but remmember it is flexible.

[Sharon P]

Thanks again Esther. Just thought I'd update you on where things are at. It seems we've hit our growth spurt. My LO has been on a feeding frenzy all day. I have added an additional dreamfeed in this evening, and am about to do his usual dreamfeed, but a half hour late (11pm) in the hope that it will see him through till the early morning. Who knows.. one can only try. If it doesn't work, that's fine too. So, for now I am just going to forget adjusting or tweeking anything as there is no point till things settle down. After, I will play with our schedule and get back to you if I get stuck.

Thanks ever so much, once again.

Cheers Sharon (a happy Aussie Mum now).