Correlation between 45 min naps and BFing?

[Elke]

Hello everyone! I am the mum of Aurelia and would love some advice regarding possible correlation between our 45 minute naps and our bfing.

We don't have a proper schedule going yet due to the 45 min monster but we have been following a 2 1/2-3 EASY routine since birth. Sometimes in the morning I am able to extend the nap and she definately has a 1 1/2 hour sleep during our walk every day but I have to make up for the other lost naps by adding more 45min ones. She generally sleeps for a total of 5-6 hours during the day and approximately another 9 at night for a total of 14-15 hours. She goes to bed at 20:00, we do a dream feed at 22:30 and she wakes up super early (around 5:00 .)

The problem is that I can see she is tired . As the day progresses, she can only stay awake for 40-60 minutes and can become hysterical if we don't put her down immediately.

Lately she has been crying after feeds in the afternoon which I might have been mistaking for tiredness . I have just discovered that I should have been trying double-side feeding or compressed feeding.

I wonder if her 45 minute naps have something to do with being hungry...?

[Elke]

I should add that my DD Aurelai is 7 1/2 weeks old

[MMK529]

sounds very familiar...my lo is almost 5 months and we went to the pediatrician two days ago and we discovered I'm not making enough milk for dd.  doctor told us to suppliment with formula and when we did that, she took a longer nap and was much happier.  Now she's refusing the bottle, so we're back at square one, but I would look into your milk supply.  When you pump, how much do you get?  How long will your LO stay on each side?  The reason we realized dd wasn't getting enough was because she was losing weight.  So keep an eye on that too.  Good luck.  Keep us posted!

[clh]

Honestly, at 2 months, I was still in survival mode.  I followed cues (or tried to) & tried to keep the order right for the most part (eat then play THEN sleep).  I don't know of a correlation between 45 min naps & bfing. 

You look for a few things to make sure they're getting enough while bf'ing:
1) enough wet diapers?
2) gaining weight appropriately?
3) satisfied after a feed?  (i.e. not rooting around or crying for more)
If yes to all that, then your supply is OK.  If not, there are some thing you can do.  Try the double-side feeding for a while.  Compressions help.  See if you notice a difference.  It's possible she's hitting a growth spurt & feeding often/wanting more is her way of boosting your supply.  There are also herbal supplements and even pharmaceuticals to help boost supply, if it comes to that. 

If you want to continue to bf, I would be very hesitant to suggest a formula top-up.  Bf is all about the laws of supply & demand.  If there is no demand (i.e. no baby on boob) then the supply drops.  Then you need more top-ups, which leads to less demand & less supply.  If weight is an issue & you need to do something *now* there is something called a Supplemental Nursing System (SNS) that both allows the baby to get a supplement (EBM or formula) while nursing at the boob so you both get what you need.

Pumping is good for having breast milk when you're not there, but pumping is not an indicator of your supply.  It only indicates how well you respond to a pump.  There are all sorts of physical & hormonal things that go on between mother/child that don't happen with mother/pump.  It is entirely possible for your supply to be fine but hardly pump anything.  Similar for length of time...  Each child is different.  My J was a leisurely nurser (15-20 per side!).  When Isaac came along & was done with both sides in that same time, I thought something was wrong.  But no.  He was just a speed nurser. 

I hesitate to give nap/sleep advice (not my forte), but I know that sleep is developmental (stretching into longer segments).  It does seem as though she may not be getting enough sleep.  http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=85130.0  15 hr seems to be on the low end of "normal" for her age, but if you say she's OT, then she needs more.  Have you posed on the naps board?  (Sorry if I'm stating the obvious.)

Sorry for the epistle.  Hope something in that helps you.

[lisi's mum]

What Candice said 

I agree absolutely and unequivocally with everything she said.

45 minute naps are (alas) a very very common developmental "problem", you just need to look at the nap board to see that. As far as I know they happen just as often with formula fed babies as breast fed ones. They do tend to grow out of them sooner or later (6mo is "normal", though it was later with my 2), until then you just have to try your best.

The naps board folk are a really great help.

[Elke]

Thanks everyone for your replies! I have no intention of ceasing to bf, I'll do everything I possibly can to continue!

How many wet diapers and poopy diapers are average for her age? As for wieght she is gaining steadily and is at 5,280kg (11,67 pounds) as of today. What made me begin to think of a bf problem is that she began to scream after bfing (not always and doesn't root but seems extremely frustrated) a few days ago This is quite unusual because she is really a calm baby. The only other cause in my opinion could be OTness.

So if I begin to do double-side feeding will my milk supply increase? I am worried it won't... And is a growth spurt common at around this time?

Thank you all soooo much!!

[lisi's mum]

Don't worry about the poop - you're looking for at least 6 good wet nappies in 24 hours.

Crying after feeds can be for a variety of reasons, and is often hard to pin down. Let down and supply can certainly be a problem, as can tiredness, as can the moon phase, as can... well, you get what I mean.

Once your instincts tell you she's emptied the first side well (some compressions at the end are a good idea to get those last drops out), offer the second side. If she doesn't take it don't worry, it means she doesn't want it and that's fine too. Just give her the option.

As a general rule of thumb double sided feeding will increase supply whereas single sided won't. Maybe you want to read this about how milk production works http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/milkproduction.html

As far as growth spurts go, I'm no great expert, but certainly in the first 3 months they're going off all over the place, and can be very disconcerting. I remember having huge oversupply, then all of a sudden one day I was empty. Couple days later I was engorged all over again. Particularly at this early stage in your bf-ing relationship it's so important to follow your LOs leads and cues or try as best you can - you can't overfeed, but you can underfeed.

[Canwi]

Growth spurts are touted as usually happening at 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 6 weeks, 2 months, 6 months.

As lisi's mum said in the first 3 months supply is very up & down.  Somewhere around 3 months it settles down.

I would definitely give 2 side feeding a go.  If nothing else you are supplementing her with "the good stuff"   

[Elke]

Thank you all for your replies !!!

Stacy: I know, I spend my free time theorizing about why the 45 min monster exists and how I can eliminate it. At least now I am starting to get used to its presence!

Last night DD woke up to feed at 03:00  and 06:00 (EW which I will eventually try to extend) instead of 01:30, 04:00, 06:00 due to the double-side feeding which I implemented yesterday. Hooraaayyy!!!

[EllenS]

I'd suggest making her "night" longer relative to her "day".  She may not start sleeping longer stretches at first, but if she is up for the day at 6, then try making "bedtime" at 6pm, (dark, no talking, minimal stimulation with feed/change nappy, etc), rather than considering those last couple of cycles as "naps".  I agree she sounds OT, this may help in the long term.

From my experience any sleep you get in the first 8 weeks is a bonus, anyway.

Hugs!  It gets better!