Help needed

[*Amy*]

My lo is 11 weeks today. I have never been able to get him longer than 2 hour easy.
This means that he is only taking 3 oz at each feed. He was sleeping from 8pm to 4am and then again to 8am but in the last two weeks he is going down at 8pm waking at 11pm (I hadn't introduced DF yet) .
waking again at 2.30am and 5am and then 7am
I think the night wakings are happening because he is getting bigger but isn't drinking any more than he did a few weeks ago???
I feed him from a bottle at 11pm and then BF at the three other times. I thought the bottle would help him go longer but he only takes 3oz from the bottle no matter how much coaxing i do.

So really the help I need is how to get him to last longer between feeds, How to get him to take more at a single feeding.
I got him weighed this week and he is 13 and a half pounds and only 11weeks so he is not being malnourished!

I look forward to hearing all of your suggestions!

[akvareli]

how long does your LO sleep between feeds and what's his A time? off the top of my head, you might want to try to gradually increase his A time in order to get him drink more each time. But please post your routine so that we could better see what the situation looks like.

he most likely wakes up at night for the same reason - he needs more than he used to but keeping him in a 2h easy prevents him from learning to eat more each time, so he demands to eat more often. so this is for my first suggestion. waiting to see your routine

good luck!

[*Amy*]

hi his routine is as follows:
Eat, nappy change, wind for about 20mins then activity for about 50 mins then 20 mins to get him to sleep, sleep for 35-45 mins. (if he starts his cat like crying during the A time I sometimes put him down earlier.
this is basically how it goes from 7am onwards.
Also today I fed him his usual feed and winded him. Then about 15 mins later I tried to feed him again, and he took the breast for about 5 mins. After he came off the breast he threw up that extra feed??? don't know if his stomach is able for any more?
Hope this helps!
Thank you

[EllenS]

I think he is likely hitting a growth spurt in addition to needing to stretch his feed cycles.  His A time seems a bit long, you might want to start that wind-down 20 minutes earlier so his total A including feeding + play+wind-down is between 1h and 1h15m.  If he is crying during the A time he is already OT, this is probably why he has the short naps.  OT can also cause NW, but with y'all so new to EASy it's really hard to sort out if they are hunger or something else, it will get straightened out in time.

That feed 15 mins later was just too soon, he was still full.  Getting more into him at each feed is a matter of letting him get a little more appetite, so instead of feeding every 2h, you might distract him for 5-10 minutes before the feed.  Then each day you push the feed times apart just a tiny bit.  We're not talking about jumping straight from a 2h routine to 3h, but just a little tweak each day.  Sometimes if the naps get better they will surprise you and put themselves on a 3h routine by sleeping longer, but I wouldn't try to force it.

[akvareli]

his stomach might not hold much more at the moment, since it is used to small portions (have you ever noticed that the first meal in the session of holiday meals is always too much, but as the holidays continue you are able to eat more and more. At least this is how my stomach functions ) , but as soon as you start slowly moving towards 3 h easy it'll get better. and, like EmmaS says, his A time is really long...1-1.15 sound like a good suggestion.and keep in mind, that the longer he is active the more calories he uses out. Shorter A time - less calories used - longer sleep till he gets hungry - extended EASY cycle. hopefully this will work out for you this way:)

[meltown]

we have a similar situation here.  could you post the times things happen.  like on a typical day what time her eats then when he naps.  if you could try to post it like this

E
A
S

that woudl be helpful.

[marimul77]

Hi, thought I would just watch the answers you get to your post, as we are having exactly the same problem, I just cant seem to get past the 2 hour easy. As a result DD never seems very hungry, she kinda just snacks and bobs on and off the breast while feeding. Thinking thats because i am forever topping her up rather than getting a good meal inside her? Her activity time is only 45 minutes after eating for 15 minutes, then she sleeps for an hour and we start all over again.

Marianne.

[*Amy*]

HI everyone sorry about delay in getting back. so my little one has a schedule like this:
E - about 10-15Min's
A - I have now cut this down to one hour - so that the E & A take no more than 1 hour 15 Min's.
S - I have been trying to extend the sleeps from 30/40Min's to 60 Min's - I have been going in when he is stirring and gently rocking the crib - so far so good!
When he wakes up before he starts looking for food I have been letting him lie down on the his change mat with his nappy off for 10-15Min's this has been allowing me to extend from a 2hour - 2hr15Min's/2hr30Min's schedule!!! so not doing too bad!
He also didn't wake last night or the night before at his usual time of 11pm for a feed but went right through until 2am on both evenings - hopefully this will continue!

[meltown]

I think the sleep will be the key to you gettng even longer between feeds.  have you tried pattng or shh/pat instead of rocking back to sleep?

[Mum of 3 + 2 stepkids]

Hi, sorry im a bit late on the post been very busy. Hows things going?

You've have some great advice so far and it def looed like you hit a GS in there too. There are many GS in the first 6mths and they are the cause of a lot of NWings but usually only last for a few nights.

Looks like extending lo's EASY routine is working well, just remember to extend slowly as Ellen says. You should find that if you do it slowly that your lo will drink a little more everytime so that you get closer to the 3hr mark.

Kate x