10 week old, should I try 4hr feeding?

[mum2HnS]

Hi I am after some advice, I have a 10 week old girl (born 9 pound) who just not seem interested in feeding when I offer it to her at the three hourly mark, she only feeds for  a minute or two before pulling off and getting upset, I of course worry she isn;t getting enough so offer it to her again 1/2 an hour later and then the same happens suddenly we spiral out of control into a pattern of very short feeds close together.  Even if we manage to avoid this when I offer her a feed after three hours past she never seems to gulp it down.  Should I try her on a four hour easy she certainly doesn't seem to be demanding it at 3hrs or thereabouts?

Any advice would be appreciated

Thanks

[~ Vik ~]

Hi and welcome to the bw forums!  I'm going to ask you a whole mess of questions, and hopefully we can help you get this sorted

First, could you post your routine?  Include any night feeds too, just so we can get an idea of how everything is going.  How are her naps and night sleep?  Does she have reflux?  You say she feeds for a minute or two and then pulls off upset, how is she behaving?  Fussing/crying/screaming?  Do you have an overactive letdown or over/under supply issues at all?  Has feeding always been this way, or is this a newer issue?  How is her weight gain?

Sorry for all of the questions, I just want to make sure that we know the whole story   In general, I wouldn't advise moving to a 4h EASY at only 10 weeks old.  That's still quite young, and breastfed babies generally need to feed more frequently than bottlefed babies because breastmilk is so easily digested.  Ebf babies sometimes don't move to 4h between feeds until solids are introduced!  Having said that, there are exceptions to every rule...  I certainly wouldn't move to 4h, but you could try offering at 3h10-15m and see if that makes a difference.  I will watch for your answers though and see if anything specific jumps out!

[mum2HnS]

Hi Vikki,

sorry it has taken me so long to post back but we are a madhouse here at the moment, my husband has just had two lots of shoulder surgery and can't do a thing, and my DS 22 months had a second bout of bad gastro so I have been non stop and finding time to jump on has been hard as I am going to bed as early as I can to make upl for it all!  so to answer your question routine??? 
Ha that would be nice, which I suspect is part of her problem, having said that I am very consious not to feed to sleep so we certainly do follow an e. a. s.  type of thing but on a time frame of anysorts no. 

Her naps during the day aren't great she will sleep but sometimes for a long whils sometimes for 40 mins.  Night time she is down about 6.30 and fusses on an off until about 8.30.  I usually try and top her up at about this time and she will go till 11pm (she wakes not dream feed),  she then wakes again about 3 or 4am, BUT is not interested in her first morning feed at all so am guessing she could probably do without that one and just strech her till maybe 5 or 6?
She doesn't have reflux as far as I am aware not really a vomiter and doesn't seem in pain so suspect no reflux.

she cries and screams when she is pulling off, and yes I have a strong let down it will spray her in the face when she comes off, though I can't seem to express more than 50 ml at a time.

We are still having the same issues with very short feeds but in gerneral she has good awake time and is alert and sometimes happy but sometimes grumpy (though not crying all the time or anything like that).

sorry if my replys are a bit short just trying to get it all down in the short time I have.  Advice would be great
Thanks
Denni
 

[*Christina*]

mum2hsn - not sure if I'm much help but I remember speaking with my LC at 12 weeks.  I was down to 5 feedings a day and my LC wasn't too happy about that.  At that age (hence, at least at week 10), she suggested that at least 7 feedings a day would be more appropriate.  I've hence started including the dream feed. 

[~ Vik ~]

(((hugs))) Denni, sounds like your whole family is really going through it right now!   I hope that things start turning your way soon

I think one of the best things you could do is get on a structured routine (which I know is going to be a challenge given everything you've got going on!).  I don't mean a schedule though - bw is not about watching the clock, it's about watching your baby and following her cues.  It's not about being rigid, but about providing familiarity, routine, and structure.  There are some examples of typical routines by age here: http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=164253.0  and you can always post on the http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?board=41.0 forum for ideas on how to get started and how to make EASY work for your baby and your family.  You'll find that if you can get yourselves going that you will see improvements in her feeds and her naps, I'm sure of it!

Re: your night feeds, 2 night feeds is actually quite typical around 10wo...  You've got a couple options:
- you can try to stretch that 3-4am feed out by settling in another way (shh/pat, for example).  If she simply won't settle, or she settles only to wake again, then I would assume hunger and feed.
- you could change the way you're feeding in the morning.  If you do it right when she wakes up, you could try getting her up and changing her diaper first.  Or if you typically get her up for a bit before you try to feed, you could try doing it immediately upon waking in the still-darkened room (almost treating it like a night feed).  Just changing up the morning routine might help you find what will keep her more interested.
- you could treat the morning feed as more of a top up.  Sometimes babies still need that early morning feed, and then you just top them up at the normal wake up time to get them through to the next regular feed in their routine.

What do you think?

[*Christina*]

when my LO was 10 weeks, I was pretty exhausted in the evenings and fed at 3/4 as I didn't have the energy to think twice nor try shush/pat.  my LO's nw were often at the 3am mark, or sometimes at 1am, hence I didn't think it was habitual so I just fed. Plus at 10 weeks, the more she eats, the happier I was (all i did was roll out, feed, and roll back to bed). most of the time, she only took 1 boob so it wasn't a full feed.  It didn't become a problem and i was able to feed her to sleep so it was a win win situation for both of us.  I think if it is consistently the same for at least 3 days, then I might worry about creating a habits.  on days where she woke at 5am, I still fed to sleep and started the day at 7 even though she didn't eat much at the 7am wake.

[mum2HnS]

hi everyone thanks for your reply i think i will have to tackle the routine this week only have one day where i am busy and i dont have to leave the house for it so seems like a good time.  will check out the sample routines and post again soon.  i appreciate all your advice fingers crossed she comes good quick.  WE have a weigh in tomorrow so that should help me see if through all this snacking at least she has still got enough food

[mum2HnS]

sorry forgot to say as well that I will start treating the early morning as a top up becuase quiet often that is where we begin the cycle I think oh that feed was small, best offer it before the 3 hours and then we ride the merry go round! knowing I can do a top up and that will do her over might just be enought to start things on the right track.  It's amazing how different each baby can be I BF my DS for 10 months without any problems he would take all that was on offer, DD however is a totally different story

[~ Vik ~]

Just wanted to check in and see how things were going! Hope you are all doing well

[mum2HnS]

hi vikki,

things are going well we are not there yet but after a few days observing and trying it seems the 3.5 hour mark is good for her, she is now 13 weeks so edging closer to that 4 month mark anyway. She has certainly had much better days (thursday was not so good) since trying to stick with the routine and more often than not she is taking a feed happily and for what seems a bit longer.  She put in 420grams (over a month) so averaging about 100 grams a week (think that's ok?)  , though think maybe we are having a growth spurt as she ate every 2 hours since 12.30 last night and all of today, nice change from two min feeds and screaming though.  I will do a few more days and post again, thanks so much for your help
Denni

[~ Vik ~]

Thanks for the update! Sounds like things are going well