Author Topic: Not hungry in the morning  (Read 1060 times)

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jenniewren

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Not hungry in the morning
« on: June 27, 2009, 12:00:09 pm »
Hi my lo goes from 7.30ish through til 4-5.30ish most nights with a dream feed at 11pm. He is 16 weeks old. He has always been a frequent feeder and I struggle to get him to last 3 hours between feeds, but then sometimes I am sure he is snacking. But he's done really well at night since he was a week old, and has been in the current pattern since 9-10 weeks old.

He goes down after the early morning feed usually til 7.30-8am, and I tend to leave feeding him until it is 3 hours or more after his early feed. But he really doesn't seem to be hungry and takes very little at that time. Subsequently I have ended up feeding him fairly soon before his morning nap, (which is his best one) when he takes a good feed, and so he is generally quite sleepy from that feed. The last 2 nights, however, he has been put in his cot as usual after his bedtime feed, and has started crying/screaming - whereas he has been settling himself really well since about 10 weeks unless he is over tired. Both nights I've ended up feeding him again as he has got 'beyond' - very over tired etc, very upset & I didn't know what else to do - plus my husband had the dinner ready!! This isn't a pattern I want to get into, especially as I worked really hard in the early weeks to settle him in his cot & not create any props... Tonight I am going to do pu/pd and not feed him again..

I wondered whether these two things are connected so this morning he woke at 7.45 after a 5am feed. I fed him at 8.30, he fed for 3-4 minutes from one side and then had had enough. I didn't feed him before his nap which was down at 9.30 so asleep for 9.45 - he protested lots (for him - usually goes straight off) & I did pu/pd, but then he only slept 45 minutes til 10.30am. (He struggled with short naps from 7-8 weeks but has been going 1.5-2 hrs in the morning, and sometimes 1-1.5 hrs in the afternoon as well.) He was then very grumpy and obviously hungry but I managed to keep him going til 11.30ish - 3 hours since the morning one - when he took a longer feed. He is now asleep in his 2nd nap which is usally 45 mins anyway...

Could the 2 things be connected? Or is the nighttime settling just a developmental thing? I do occasionally feed to sleep in the day as AP, if he is very overtired & been up longer than he should...but it has never been a regular thing as I didn't want it to be a pattern. Ssh/pat (or my own version - rubbing his chest as he sleeps on his back & didn't like being patted) has always worked so far but is beginning not to...

I am going to work on getting him to go 3-4 hours between each feed but how do I work the morning feed/nap and avoid creating  a feed-to-sleep association? He does feed to sleep in the night but I guess night feeds are different to days?

Because the night feed time varies, the routine during the day varies. but a typical day would be

Activity 8am
Eat 8.30am (short) then activity
Eat 9.30am top-up
Sleep 9.45
Activity 11.15
Eat 12-12.30ish then play
Sleep1.15pm
Activty 2-2.15pm
Eat 2.30-3pmish  then play
Sleep$ 4pm
4.45pm Activty
Eat 5pm
6.30 Bath
Eat 7pm
7.30pm into bed
8pm asleep

11pm dream feed
4.30-5.30 (anytime between these) feed

Thanks for your help

Jen







Offline Erin (redstarfalling)

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Re: Not hungry in the morning
« Reply #1 on: June 27, 2009, 20:10:37 pm »
You're probably right that it's connected.  But what to do...?  I think, you really have to be cautious about those props like feeding to sleep now - he's about 4 months, and getting old enough to know what he likes and doesn't, IYKWIM.  Can you limit the amount of time he nurses at the early morning wake up?

I'd also suggest that when he wakes at 8, do the nursing session right away, in a dark quiet room to encourage as full a feed as possible.  He might not be able to stretch all the way to 4 hr feeds yet (a lot of BF babies can't for a while),but you could try sort ot 3.75 hr cyles for a while and see how that works.  Avoid feeding right before a nap at all costs. If you are really worried about hunger, you could feed, then do some A time, then nap, but you tend to get into a snacking cycle.

One more thought: there's often a growth spurt around 4 months - has he had it yet?  Some of this could be related to the growth spurt - just more hungry  - and it might settle in a few more days.
Erin
Mother to Megan and Samantha


jenniewren

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Re: Not hungry in the morning
« Reply #2 on: June 28, 2009, 12:51:12 pm »
Thanks for your reply :)

re the growth spurt - He woke up a couple times in the night last week for extra feeds & fed more in the day so I think that was probably the growth spurt..
Last night he settled much more easily - was awake but drowsy and went off in 5 mins. Much better!
I guess I just need to make sure I'm not feeding him just before he goes down for a sleep. He has never really fitted into an EASY routine as it should be - either with feeds or short naps!
I've ordrered some blackout blinds so hopefully that might help first thing in am.

Thanks again, Jen

Offline Erin (redstarfalling)

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Re: Not hungry in the morning
« Reply #3 on: June 28, 2009, 12:58:28 pm »
Good luck!
Erin
Mother to Megan and Samantha


jenniewren

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Re: Not hungry in the morning
« Reply #4 on: July 04, 2009, 06:47:56 am »
Another quick question - William woke at 3.40am & I re-swaddled him & he went back to sleep til 6.10am, (thought I'd try it & it worked!) I fed him at 6.10, & he is now asleep again. At what point does it become a problem for him to go back to sleep after his feed? He has only slept past 6am twice before. If he does sleeps til 6 do I treat it as if he has slept through the night & dropped his night feed, and so start the day then? He is 17 weeks old. Am I storing up problems for later if he goes back to sleep til 8ish?
Thanks, Jen

Offline Erin (redstarfalling)

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Re: Not hungry in the morning
« Reply #5 on: July 04, 2009, 11:31:24 am »
That's really up to you....

I think if you want to get on a routine, though, you should pick a time in the morning after which you treat any wakings as MORNING.  For me it was 6am.  Try not to nurse too close in the night to that because it might cause a poor first morning feed and nursing sessions can go downhill from then. 

If you want an 8am wake up, then your day will start there, and you might have a hard time if you also nurse at 6am.  But any wakeup before 8 am would be treated as a NW - so reswaddle or whatever.  Keep in mind that babies often have their own circadian rhythms that might not coincide with what we'd like...

I tried to take the long view for my kids - I knew we'd have to be up early for daycare/work eventually, so I aimed for that time of morning to start the day.  It sucks on the weekends, but it's only for a few years! ;)
Erin
Mother to Megan and Samantha