Inconsistent eating and sleeping

[MGardner]

My DS2 is 6 weeks old. I can't get on a schedule because he doesn't eat and sleep very consistently at all. He is EBF. But, some feedings he will only eat for 1 minute and then want nothing to do with it. I try burping, changing his diaper everything. Sometimes he'll have a good feed but those are only like 5-7 minutes as well. He eats best at nighttime unfortunately and now we are in the pattern that I think he is eating more at night because last night he woke at 11:30, 1:30, 3:00 4:00 and 5:00 and did not stop crying until I fed each time. I'm going crazy.

[* Paula *]

I am going to pop this over to the Breast feeding board.

I would aim to iron out the eating problems first and he is eating better, you can then start working on a routine.

[Jocasta]

can you explain in more detail what's going on during the feeds that he's not interested in.  is he content between feeds? how long is he going between feeds?  Plenty of wet nappies?

[MGardner]

yes he has wet diapers and is gaining weight. He can go 2.5 hours between feeds sometimes a full 3 but its never consistent. His naps are not consistent either though and it seems when they are short he wants to eat when he wakes up and sometimes its only been 2 hours. I think he may be eating a lot at night, although he only takes one breast before falling asleep. but then he wakes up soon after and takes the other...pain.

[Jocasta]

Have you read the book recently?  Is there anything in there that's jumping out at you regarding your routine?

As for the breastfeeding issues, it's often not too consistent with breast fed babies as they could take 1.5 oz at one feed and then 6oz at the next (that's an extreme example but it often differs by an ounce).  Therefore, we do recommend that you use a "loose" EASY i.e. you follow the pattern i.e. eat, then activity, then sleep etc, but you ignore the clock and just follow baby's cues. 

You said that sometimes he'll only feed for one minute and then not appear interested.  Are you sure you're interpreting his hunger cues correctly? 

I would recommend you kinda go back to basics and just really watch him for a couple of days.  Ignore any ideas you've got regarding routine and just follow his lead.  Babies will normally feed fairly regularly so you may find that he'll sort himself out providing he's definitely hungry when he's eating.

Have you tried breast compressions to keep him interested?  This may prove helpful at night too.  Do you offer the second breast, even when he's fallen asleep on the first?

I did think possibly reflux but if he seems content at the end of a feed, this seems unlikely...

It definitely sounds like a routine issue as well though...