BabyWhispererForums.com
EAT => Breast Feeding => Topic started by: marijke on November 25, 2006, 16:42:46 pm
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My son Tibe is 15 weeks and still had 2 night feedings after the dream feeding. It's never at the same time at night so I always thought he was hungry and it's not a habit. I tried giving him the pacifier but it only works for 10 minutes and then he wakes again. He has reflux and I think this is all the result of that. He gets medication (zantac) and now the reflux is better. He can now wait for 3 - 3,5 hours between feedings. At night it's also 3 - 3,5 hours.
Any suggestions on how to make him sleep through the night???
Thank you!
A very tired mommy
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I don't think it's uncommon to have night feeds at this age at all. Does he go straight back to sleep after nursing?
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yes he goes straight back to sleep!
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Gosh, he is beautiful! IMO, I think he sounds like he is doing exactly what he should be doing. I never did the dreamfeed and went to bed earlier sometimes and just let me wake up whenever. But I was more of a feed on cue type of person especially at that age. I have heard that the reflux babies tend to eat little and often, so if it were me, I would let him be. He certainly looks as though he is thriving with the routine you have going now!
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thanks for the reassurance... it's my first baby and I don't know what to expect, so it's nice if someone tells me it's normal... reflux is a killer, I started crying too at the end, but now he's on medication it's getting better. so I just continue feeding him if he asks (stacy the moderator said it's not normal at this age to feed twice at night so I was insecure)
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Well, I guess it's all a matter of opinion. I'll have a bf moderator look in on this and I know they always have great advice to give.
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Here is a study from 1991:
Scher A. A longitudinal study of night waking in the first year.
Child Care Health Dev 1991 Sep-Oct;17(5):295-302.
Abstract: A longitudinal study of the development of sleep patterns addressed the issue of continuity and change in night waking in the course of the first year. Mothers of 118 infants, who took part in a follow-up study of normal babies, completed a sleep questionnaire at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. Regular night waking was a common characteristic throughout the first year:
Baby's age % babies waking at night
3 months 46%
6 months 39%
9 months 58%
12 months 55%
The number of awakenings per night was a function of age. Following a decline in the number of interruptions from 3 to 6 months, an increase in night waking at age 9 months was recorded.
And this one:
Sadler S. Sleep: what is normal at six months?
Prof Care Mother Child 1994 Aug-Sep;4(6):166-7.
In this study, part of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood (ALSPAC), researchers surveyed the parents of 640 babies. Some of the results:
Only 16% slept through the night at six months old -- 84% were not sleeping through the night at 6 months
17% woke more than once per night, ranging from twice to eight times
5% woke once every night
9% woke most nights
50% woke occasionally
16% of six-month-olds had no regular sleeping pattern
Of course it doesn't say what 'sleeping through the night' means here but a lot of BWers are still doing the dreamfeed at 6 months.
Here is also a link from our site which I think you would find reassuring:
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=55035.0
The different wakings times are suggestive of hunger as is the fact he reawakes having drifted off with the paci.
However in an ideal world you would try and be aiming for longer intervals at night than you get in the day even if you can't eliminate night feeds entirely. I'm sure our excellent sleep moderators will have some ideas to help you try and extend these intervals. Though I'm sure noone would advocate ignoring the fact he is obviously hungry as ultimately BW is about respecting your baby's needs and applying good old fashioned common sense.
Have you experimented with cluster feeding or perhaps giving a bottle of ebm after the df as he might take a little more (of course not all Bfing babies have a bottle and I'm not saying they should)?
You could also try and stay with him after he's drifted off with the paci and just lay a hand on him if he seems to be reawakening to see if that reassures him enough to resettle.
I have a ton of respect for Stacy and I'm not sure what advice she has given you but I'm sure you can learn from her experience. Being a sleep mod is not an easy task - advice doesn't always work, it takes time for methods to kick in and a lot of will power, parents may sometimes want to feel their experience is normal or that it's not and they need to act! I think it's the hardest job on the board. :)
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THank you very much for the reply! It's indeed reassuring, I will ask the sleep moderators for advice on how to extend the intervals between feeds!
I tried cluster feeding, but I'm a bit confused now he's on 3 hour EASY, do I still feed him every 2 hours in the afternoon?
Thanks again!!!
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That's really interesting Emma.
Ditto what you said about the sleeping moderators job being the hardest!
Marijke, I know that everyone gives advice based on all the info they are given. From what you said in this post, everyting seems fine to me, and I know Stacy gave the best advice based on what you all have been talking about.
I do hope your little pet is not in pain. And I also know that nursing is not always neccessarily about hunger. For Riley it was always his number one source of comfort and pleasure. At that age, it was everything to him, and I know sometimes our nursings were more about that than nutrition per say. But I was totally fine with that.
If you do need help on extending the feeds at night time, then definitely stick with the sleep mods. They have seen so many schedules etc that they can often see things at a glance that can make all the difference.
Good luck to your and your lo
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I didn't mean to critisize Stacy or anyone else... sorry if it sounded like that! And I know everything about sleep (or no sleep) and that it's difficult...
I want to thank you all for helping me, sometimes being a mother is a hard job!
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Geweldig, I merk op dat je in Belgie leef ! :) Ik ben oorsprongelig van Waalse Brabant (and I heb Nederlands for meer dan 15 jaren niet gesproken !). Ik dacht dat ik de enige Belgische BW was !
Sorry dat ik je niet kan helpen met de reflux van je DS. I hoop dat dingen beter zullen worden voor jullie
Mvg
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ja ik ben van belgië en schaam me altijd voor de fouten die ik schrijf in het engels... woon jij nu in de vs? ik ben van antwerpen, tegen de nederlandse grens.
wat vind jij van de website, heb je er al veel aan gehad?
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Being a mother is definitley hard, but sooooo worth it!
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Die website is wonderbar, Marijke. Kan je de boeken van Tracy in Belgie vinden ? Het meest beroemd boek is "Secrets van de babywhisperer" en je mag her veel behulpzaam vinden in het eerste jaar van je baby. Ik weet niet wat ik zou gedaan hebben zonder het want we hebben geen familie hier om advies te geven. De dames hier ziljn altijd bereid om de goede tijden en de slechte tijde te verdelen en hebben veel praktiche advies en humor wanneer ze nodig zijn.
Ik heb nu in het Zuid-West van Engeland voor bijna 15 jaar geleven met mijn man en mijn 2 jaarige zoon, wie is genaamd Charlie
PS: Je Engels is echt goed - ik maak meer fouten in her Nederlands ! :(
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Die website is wonderbar
Now I understood that bit ;D
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Hi, yes being a mother is definately worth it!!!
En ja, we kunnen de boeken hier in het Nederlands krijgen, ik heb ze al van voor naar achter gelezen maar word er wel wat gefrustreerd van want bij mij lijkt het niet te werken... Ofwel probeer ik niet hard genoeg (ik ben ermee begonnen toen mijn zoontje heel veel last had van reflux, uren heb ik naast zijn bedje gezeten terwijl hij draaide en keerde, ik kan nu de energie niet meer opbrengen om de strijd aan te gaan om hem te doen slapen!)
greetz!
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Ik weet bijna niets over reflux but persoonlijk, mijn prioriteit zou zijn de medische toestand under kontrole te brengen en dan te piekeren over EASY. Ik denk niet dan je niet hard genoeg probeer, but misschien is het de tegenovergestelde ? (dat hoorde ik ook toen DS pasgeboren was en ik niet BF kon :() In de eerste maanden toen DS een kleine baby was, konden we nooit EASY strict volgen. Toen hij vast voedsel begon te nemen aan 6 maanden dan gaven we EASY op. De eerste jaar is hard, spijtig genoeg is het harder voor jullie wegens reflux, maar ik kan je beloven dat langzaam dingen gemakkelijker zullen worden. Sommige LO's zeer vroeg door de nacht slapen, anderen nemen wat langer. I akkoord ga met de anderen dat aan Tide's leeftijd het normaal is verschillende keren gedurende de nacht te willen voeden