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EAT => Breast Feeding => Topic started by: ~*erin*~ on April 25, 2012, 23:49:06 pm

Title: tank up question
Post by: ~*erin*~ on April 25, 2012, 23:49:06 pm
hi there. just a quick Q re tanking up..... and maybe a dumb one lol.... should baby sleep in between the tank up times? i can't remember from my first daughter! in fact i don't even remember doing it with her...... also is 3 weeks old too old to start a DF? thanks!
Title: Re: tank up question
Post by: becj86 on April 26, 2012, 08:27:12 am
Yeah, I think DS slept between tanking up when he wasn't screaming (witching hour :( ).
Nope, 3 weeks is not to old to start a DF. Good luck!
Title: Re: tank up question
Post by: eva026 on April 26, 2012, 09:12:20 am
We started from day one, it works wonders for us.
When we don't do a DF she wakes up hungry at 1am, with a DF she sleeps till 4am.
Title: Re: tank up question
Post by: ~*erin*~ on April 26, 2012, 11:23:32 am
thanks. I have been tanking up, but no DF as yet, and it seems to keep her awake more than sleepy! of course it's the only time of day when feeding wakes her up, so that I've got a bright-eyed-and-bushy-tailed-baby until 11ish, at which point, it's practically time for her next feeding!!!!! what am i doing wrong?!?!? she has sporadic A times throughout the day, but she does get awake time and plenty of nap time, so I'm not sure that it's a case of poor day time sleep ...... :( so tired!
Title: Re: tank up question
Post by: Roseii on April 26, 2012, 12:00:56 pm
Is she just 3 weeks hun? Don't worry about the routine just yet, most important is to get your supply established right now. Wrt routine, at this age I aimed to not feed to sleep, and one nap a day in the cot.
How often approx is she feeding during the day?
Title: Re: tank up question
Post by: ~*erin*~ on April 26, 2012, 14:35:10 pm
Hi there. She'll be 3 weeks on Tuesday. She does still fall asleep while feeding, but I change her in between sides and often undress her as well, at least to keep her a little less sleepy lol. She's eating about 8 times a day right now, sometimes more, especially at night  :P
Title: Re: tank up question
Post by: Fiver on April 26, 2012, 15:19:20 pm
8 feeds in 24h is probably the absolute minimum that would be suggested, so no worries if it's more than that.  3 weeks is still tiny and supply is being established.
Title: Re: tank up question
Post by: Erin M on April 27, 2012, 01:05:31 am
Agree with PPs and establishing supply. She could be a touch day/night confused as well, which will straighten out in the next few weeks.  Just try to keep things as calm and low key as you can right now in the evenings and she'll learn that night time is for sleeping eventually.
Title: Re: tank up question
Post by: ~*erin*~ on April 27, 2012, 11:42:57 am
thanks. The last three nights of tanking up haven't seemed to work :( I thought that the idea was that baby would have a long-ish stretch of sleep ... however, only got the regular stretch of 3 hrs between feedings .... sigh.
Title: Re: tank up question
Post by: Erin M on April 28, 2012, 00:08:24 am
For me, the clustering was a good way to keep my fussy baby a bit happier in the roughest part of the day. 
Title: Re: tank up question
Post by: ~*erin*~ on May 03, 2012, 12:28:54 pm
last night little Audrey had a great stretch of sleep! cluster fed at 7 and 830pm, and she slept from 930pm-145am! woohoo! (unless of course I actually slept through a feeding during that time haha). I think if we have a couple of nights like that, I may consider, as you suggested, dropping the evening cluster feed and introducing the DF since she's either already awake or I'm waking her up for that 830pm-ish feeding.
Title: Re: tank up question
Post by: Fiver on May 03, 2012, 12:48:29 pm
Sounds great!  Well done :)
Title: Re: tank up question
Post by: ~*erin*~ on May 04, 2012, 11:18:39 am
wow, another great night! sleep from 915pm-330am! a super long stretch with no food but that's ok right? i'm still feeding her every 2.5-3 hrs during the day, waking her if i need to..... sure is nice to feel rested though!
Title: Re: tank up question
Post by: Erin M on May 04, 2012, 12:24:57 pm
That sounds great!  Enjoy the sleep! :)
Title: Re: tank up question
Post by: Fiver on May 04, 2012, 18:35:52 pm
Sounds wonderful :)
Title: Re: tank up question
Post by: ~*erin*~ on May 04, 2012, 20:59:38 pm
thanks! Now, we'll see how tonight goes - she's been very sleepy today, though still eating like a champ ... even if it's a "regular" 3hr night, two nights of good sleep for mommy is super refreshing :)
Title: Re: tank up question
Post by: ~*erin*~ on May 12, 2012, 16:55:49 pm
hi again! So here's where we are .... Audrey seems to "cluster feed herself" - meaning that in the evening, she is the one who wants to eat every two hours! haha. usually at 3/4, then at 5/6, then I help hubby get Fiona (2yo) bathed and in bed by 730ish, then I run down and do Audrey's bath in the kitchen sink and give her another feeding (however much she'll take) after that, and put her in bed.

Last night I did our first DF (I decided to try pumping, but did it aroun 9pm and only got 1oz, I think because of the clustering right before). However, she took the oz and slept an extra hour only (230am instead of 1/130am), then was up again at 530, instead of 430. This was an ok start I think, except I hate the 530 wake ups because then she just gets back to sleep for me to start her day at 7! (I know, I know, I could just let her sleep until whenever, but it's hard to do for several reasons, mainly because Fiona is up around 6am and out the door with hubby by 7, so the activity with those two makes it hard for me to get back to sleep anyway ...)

Anyway, I know I need to try the DF for at least a week to see if it will work, so no worries there - just wondering if there's a way to extent the time between those night feedings? Will it likely just sort itself out? I know, not a huge deal, just more curious than anything and to see others' experiences! :) Thanks!
Title: Re: tank up question
Post by: Fiver on May 12, 2012, 19:02:48 pm
I never did a DF, but both DS and DD stretched out the times by themselves.
Title: Re: tank up question
Post by: becj86 on May 12, 2012, 23:02:13 pm
I didn't do a DF either. I tried for a week to see if it would get rid of the 5:30 NF once DS stretched out to one feed at 5:30 but it didn't work. He stretched out his feeds and dropped them all on his own.
Title: Re: tank up question
Post by: Erin M on May 13, 2012, 12:21:32 pm
All of mine have stretched out those feeds on their own too.   My dd1 clustered on her own as well, she eventually grew out of that too.
Title: Re: tank up question
Post by: ~*erin*~ on May 13, 2012, 13:51:05 pm
interesting! thanks for sharing! well, last night didn't work out AT ALL! she basically wanted to eat every hour until 11pm ... she just wouldn't/couldn't settle enough to sleep for more than 10min or so .... :( either OT or growth spurt. we'll see how tonight goes!
Title: Re: tank up question
Post by: Fiver on May 13, 2012, 18:56:38 pm
Good luck!
Title: Re: tank up question
Post by: ~*erin*~ on May 13, 2012, 22:13:23 pm
:( thanks! haha. it's been a rough day - not very good naps today unless being held and even then, they were shoddy. she's in the sling right now, having drifted back off to sleep .... she's definitely more alert today than ever before, like a switch was flipped and her eyes opened and won't shut! haha.

a quick question about "topping up" after bathtime .... I find she's wide awake afterwards! ack! maybe I'm waiting too long between her feeding, bath, and top up? it's usually about 1hr or so .... then the loooooooooooooooooong time after to get her asleep .................. ugh. can you tell it's been a long day!? haha
Title: Re: tank up question
Post by: Erin M on May 14, 2012, 12:39:41 pm
I never did the top up so I'm not sure what part that would play, but you might need to increase your A time before bed of she's really awake and fighting you at BT.