can you help me with breastfeeding issues?

[frankiesmom]

I don't think ds is eating well but I am not sure how to fix it.  He is 11 weeks old and about 13 pounds.  He has reflux but is well controlled on prilosec.  He is on a 3 hour EASY.  sometimes I wake him from his naps after 2 hours with a 1.5 hour A time so sometimes he is going 3.5 hours btw feeds.  Sometimes he just doesn't seem interested in eating.  He willl only eat for 10 minutes or so.  At first I thought that this was okay, maybe he was just an efficient eater, but he has multiple night wakings where he wants to eat.  Yesterday I had an appointment so I pumped 4 ounces very easily in about 10 minutes (so I don't  think it is a supply problem) but he only took 2 ounces from the bottle.  He also only eats 3 to 4 ounces every night for his df. 
He gets his last feed around 7:30 and is in bed by 8 and some nights he doesn't even make it to the df at 10:30.  He starts stirring and wakes up crying and will eat the 4 ounces if we feed him.  Then he is up again between 1 and 2 and 4 and 5 every night.  He will not go back to sleep unless he is fed, or if he does, he is up again in 30 or 45 minutes.  Then after his 4 am feed, he is very restless and doesn't really go back into a deep sleep.  sometimes, he gets up in the next 1.5 hours and I need to get him and put him back to sleep. Then when he wakes (or I wake him at 7), he barely eats anything b/c he was fed at 5. 

Hope you can help, I am not sure what to do!

Thanks, Kim

[CJF]

my ds is going through the same type of behavior.  we are moving from 3 hours between feedings to 3.5-4 and that seems to help.  do you think he may just need to go longer between feeds to get a fuller feed instead of just snacking at each feed.  then when he gets a fuller feed he may not be so hungry during the night.  just a thought.....

[frankiesmom]

That is what I was thinking.  What does your schedule look like?

Kim

[CJF]

hi
well we are kinda all over the place with a schedule because joey sometimes feeds every 3 hours and sometimes its 3.5 or 4 hours.  i guess we are in the midst of transitioning to a solid 4 hours...not quite there with every feed  every day yet.  but here is when joey generally eats

7:00/8:00 wake and feed within a half hour
activity
nap
10:00/11:00 feed
activity
nap
1:00/2:00 feed
activity
nap
4:00/5:00 feed
activity
little nap
7:30 feed 
sleep by 8:00/8:30
during the night has been all over the place lately.  he will wake to eat anywhere from 2:00-5:00 (he ususally sleeps about 7 hours the first stretch of the night.  and then depending on when he wakes to eat the first time determines when he wakes to eat in the early a.m.  so he will eat again somewhere between 5:00-8:00.  so on some days he will get 6 feeds and other he will get 7.  his schedule is all over the place becasue of him transitioning to 4 hours between feeds.  it will be nice when we are back on track and knowing exactly when he will eat (every 4 hours).
what is your schedule like?

[jbepko]

Am I going crazy? I thought I responded to this post-- even included some links. Was this question posted twice? 

Not same question, but same poster...so here's the link
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=67484.0

Whew...I'm not crazy- at least, not yet!

[Loujo]

Thomas went through this for about 2 weeks when he was 13 -14 wks old - I was so worried I asked the health visitor about it and all she said was that maybe he had just become a really efficient eater, which I knew was rubbish cos my boobs were huge at the end of each day cos he was hardly taking anything...  Anyway... I took it as an opportunity to move him onto a 4 hour easy and it seemed to help... At least by the time he was eating properly again he was approaching 4 months and was already well established on his 4 hour routine!
Louise
xxx

[frankiesmom]

We are working on a 3.5 hour routine which seems to be helping alot.  In fact, last night he only woke once after the df, so I really think he is eating more when I spread the feeds out.  It is just hard b.c he is so used to getting fed right after he wakes up, so he can get a little cranky, but I am sure he will get used to it.

Thanks for your help, Kim

[frankiesmom]

Hi Carolyn, I just saw your post.
Our schedule is very similar but again it depends on how long he sleeps, and then it is tough to do a 3.5 hour b/c at the end of the day, I almost end up cluster feeding him which doesn't work very well for him.
But, what I have been concentrating on is not feeding him right after he wakes up, even if I wait 15 minutes, it seems that he eats better and initially when I would have stopped feeding b/c he seemed disinterested, I try to encourage him to eat more.  Since I started doing that, he has only woken up once other then the df. 
Are you doing a df?  It may eliminate that first feed and make his 7 hour stretch from the df at 10 or 11 to the morning.

Kim

[CJF]

no, i am not doing a df.  i tried it a few times and he didn't wake up enough to eat.  however, i never tried it with a bottle yet.  i was a little nervous to start doing a df because joey may have reflux although it is not bad but he seems to do really well when i hold him upright for 20 minutes after his feeds especially the nightime ones.  he was on medicine but he doesn't necessarily seem to need it.  we are controlling it more by just holding upright after a feed.  your lo has reflux right?  how do you do a df?  does it bother him after the df?  you use a bottle for df right?
yeah, the end of the day is hard with the 3.5 schedule.  we end up cluster feeding too and sometimes he doesn't like it either.

[frankiesmom]

Yes, i am using a bottle so that I can go to bed earlier.  Dh does it for me.  At first, he would only take 1 or 2 ounces, then he went to 3 for about 2 weeks and now he is taking 5, so I do think it takes awhile. 
He sucks it down in about 5 minutes and then dh still holds him up for 20  minutes b/c of his reflux, so it doesn't bother him.
Did that answer your question?

Kim