Don't know if this is the right board for this or if it should be on the sleep boards or the EASY board, but here goes. My LO is 11 almost 12 weeks and doing really well. We've worked out our BF issues for the most part and she is thriving, but lately when I put her down to sleep she keeps indicating that she is hungry even if I just fed her. So here is our average day:
8:00 am wake up and feed
9:30 1.5-2 hour nap
11:30 feed
1:00 1.5 hour nap
2:30 feed
4:00 1 hour nap
5:30 feed
6:30 ish - 30-40 minute catnap
then she has some activity downstairs with Daddy
Bath at 7:15-7:30 ish
8:00 feed
8:30 bedtime (asleep between now and 9)
Her standard night is around 11 hours and has been for awhile. I keep track of her wake-up times versus her bedtimes to see if she needs to go to bed earlier, but she's doing really well on 11 hours right now.
So for that 8:00 pm feed, she just seems to not want to get off my breast. She will eat one side then the other and then keep rooting, so I keep her on, but she is just sucking lightly as opposed to swallowing, so I put her in her crib and she will start fussing. The last 2 nights I leaned over her crib and offered her my breast and she latched on, sucked for just a minute or two, let go and then went to sleep (meaning I left the room and could hear her cooing for a little while before drifting off), however she is waking up at around 9:45 hungry when her DF is normally at 10:30. (The first time we did this she woke an hour earlier and that kind of messed everything up. The second time she slept through till 4 am just like normal.) We try offering the pacifier, but she just sucks and spits it out. Once we give her her DF, she goes to sleep no problem, even though it is earlier. Now she is having trouble going down for naps, again seeming to be hungry, but if I offer the breast she only sucks for a minute or two. It could be a growth spurt, but it's been going on like this for more than a week now, so I don't think that's it. Have I inadvertently led her to believe that she should be nursed before going to bed by giving her her last feed right before bedtime? Should I be feeding her earlier and then giving her her bath? Once or twice in the last week she has fallen asleep while nursing during her 5 or 5:30 feed, usually on a day when she's had bad naps and I couldn't extend them, so I let her sleep for a while like that to try and keep her from being too OT. That might also be contributing?
Also, don't know if this matters, but she just figured out how to roll from her back to her belly and is now sucking her thumb with more regularity. I know developmental milestones can affect sleep, and in the last 2 days we've had the 45 minute nap monster, but we are working through that. Anyway, if anyone has any advice or a similar situation let me know. I suppose my supply could be really diminished at the end of the day, but I have routinely offered her both breasts twice at night to try to up my supply and make sure she is getting enough. It's also hard because she has been an efficient eater from Day 1 (only needed to nurse about 20 mins as a newborn) and so her TIME on the breast is short, but that's been average for her. Any advice or support greatly appreciated. I love BFing her and think it's really good for her, so want to continue, but I am don't want to create sleep problems for her or myself later.
