BF when A time is 3 hours? 8mo nursing 2xnight

[newbiemommy]

I'm confused about BF on EASY when A time is 3 hours and naps are 1.5.

If DD wakes up at 7:30 nurses, then has breakfast, then naps from 10:30-noon, then BF at noon, obviously that is 4.5 hours between BF.  Some days A time is 3hr15min, which pushes time between feeds all the way to 4hr45min.

But if I were to nurse her before her nap, then it would only be 2.5 hrs between BF (to allow time for feeding and then putting her down awake) and she wouldn't be hungry enough to take a decent feed.

In the Sleep Interview w/ Tracy she says to nurse every four hours even with the longer A times (nursing later during the A) but the math just doesn't add up.

Since we've stretched out her A time DD is now waking twice at night (truly hungry) but I can't figure out how to help her get the extra calories during the day.  She is doing great with solids - usually oatmeal for breakfast, then a whole jar of baby food for lunch and another for dinner.

I know she's hungry because she wakes earlier in the night and resettles very easily if we just put our hands on her.  Sometimes she even resettles herself, but if it's been 4 or 5 hours and we try to resettle her she starts crying until I BF.  The she takes a full feed, goes back into her crib awake, and puts herself back to sleep.

If I don't nurse her, it takes an hour or more to settle her down and get her back to sleep.

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Maria

[~ Vik ~]

Yep, this is the time when A times and feed times just don't jive

TBH, you really just have to decide on a routine that works for you guys and go with it.  I fed before naps when I needed to, even when it was only 2.5-3h since last bf.  Even though it wasn't a full feed, it was enough to keep him through a proper nap - otherwise he would often wake hungry at 45m or so, bust his nap, and be a cranky little man all afternoon.  Then I offered solids after nap.  Not sure how old your DD is, but looking at your current routine you could do something like:

730 wake and bf (bf right on wakeup to keep time between feeds longer if possible)
breakfast
1030 bf and nap (I tried not to bf to sleep, but sometimes it happened anyway )
12ish wake from nap and lunch

Would something like that work?

[newbiemommy]

Thanks for the advice.  Before I read your message, I was still stretching out BF during the day, going 4.5-5 hrs between BF, with three square meals and a top up BF before bed, and she had two nights where she went 8 and even 10 hrs before nursing, so I'm thinking maybe I don't need to add in the extra BF during the day? 

For a few days I tried nursing her before her afternoon nap, but she just doesn't eat well, starts to fall asleep nursing (like you said) and that seems to throw off nursing for the rest of the afternoon/evening.

I do appreciate the advice.  I'll see how things go tonight and start adding in those extra feeds 2moro if things don't get better.

Thanks!
Maria

[~ Vik ~]

Glad that your nights have improved so much!