Some eyes for Caoimhe's mum please!

[Shiv52]

My daughter has started dropping her feeds to 5 minutes in length.  no matter what i do she won't feed any longer.  if i try to feed her she refuses ands cries.  she is five months.  i'm not sure she is getting enough.  she feeds every three hours.  i tried to extend out the time to 3hrs and 15mins and so on, but that didn't make any difference so i just reverted back to the 3hr mark.  as a result she is waking constantly throughout the night and feeding for five mins and sometimes less.  can you give me any advice.  is she getting enough food.  should i feed her everytime she wakes at night as i do and  i worry maybe she will always depend on me to put her back to sleep if she wakes.

[Shiv52]

Hello! 

Both mine were down to 5 minute feeds by 5 months.  They did feed better if i fed them in a dim room on wakening from a nap when they were still drowsy but otherwise they were much too distracted to feed for long.   If your LO is going 3 hours between feeds easily then I'd say she's getting enough.  Some Bf babies don't make it to 4 hourly feeds before they are well established on solids. 

Can you post a rough out line of your day?  How does your LO go to sleep for naps and bedtime?  How often is she waking at night?   Its sounds like she could be using you to get back to sleep at night depending on how often she is waking.  The general rule is they should go as long in the night as the day, usually longer so if she goes 3 hours in the day you wouldn't feed at night until it has been 3/4 hours since the last feed and settle her using ssh-pat or whatever else works for you guys.

Hang in there.  YOu're doing great xx

[caoimhe mum]

hi ya
thanks for getting back to me so quickly.  we are all over the place at the minute because of her feeding being so low.  i am trying everything to increase the feed.  feeding her when she gets up and that might only last like two or three mins so i feed her again before trying to get her to nap.  but not to close to naps so she doesn't become dependant.  not unless she is overtired where i feed her to sleep.  at night before going to bed i feed her and sometimes she fall asleep other times she goes to bed after the feed.  sorry she is awake

[Shiv52]

Well that is great you are settling her without feeding her to sleep!  How do you settle her for naps?  Is she still needing a lot of help or has she any independent skills?

If you are feeding her and then topping her up before a nap do you think she could be snacking and not taking a decent feed?  Does she nap well after the top up? 

[babymunkey]

Hey it does sound like us! I've decided not to feed her before naps any more - she's much better when I know for sure she's hungry - then I know even if she only feeds for 5 minutes she's done and taken a good feed. 



 

[Shiv52]

So H is Beth lasting 3 hours now?  Or longer?  the topping up can lead to problems I know!  wonder if that is a plan for C's mummy too?

[babymunkey]

She'll go between 3 to 4 hours - since I read somewhere re BF babies never really making it to 4 hourly feeds, I've relaxed about it a bit - I'm happy to feed her anywhere after 3 hours from the last feed.

Would be good if she could drop one in the night through - she's not sleeping through any feeds at all. C's Mummy is this the same for you?

[caoimhe mum]

hi ya h and shiv52. 

ya she dosen't miss a feed in the night and then sometimes she waking in and out between having a chat to herself sometimes she will put herself back to self and then other times she wakes crying and i have to give a cuddle and she will go back to sleep.  i try to keep her to the three hour mark for feeding some times its just to hard cause she is fussing so much and upset.  id say i have more problems than the feeding as she won't sleep in the day after her first nap.  the rest are a battle.  but i will start today and tey to get her to wait the three hours before a feed.  the horrible thing is she used to go up to around eight hours at night before but since she has dropped down to the five min feeding.  she has been waking up loads and because she dropped her feeding time i fed her.