pls help me manage the 5am feed

[Mama2boys]

Hiya all,

DS is a short napper for some naps and then manages a decent one, baiscally takes 2 45 min naps and 1 long 2hr naps so gets about 3.5-4hrs day sleep and total sleep of abt 15 odd hrs a day, so nothing much to complain abt.

Will mostly fall asleep at abt 8ish then DF at 10:30 (this i fix irrespective of when he fell asleep for the night) and then wakes up around 1:30-2 and then at 5. HAve tried using a pacifier for the 5am wake-up but he starts crying and wakes up DS1, but if I feed him at 5, he falls right back to sleep but wake sup at 7 for the day so EASY cannot start right...and then his first A time is ultra short so 1hr or so...

any idea what to do?

Thanks,
Mukta

[Jiinx]

Hi Mukta

Bumping this for you.

I'll try to send some BFing eyes here!

[Vicku]

Hey Mukta,

That actually looks really good! 2 night feeds at nearly 4mo is not bad and very normal. Always helped me to hear that again and again (that it is normal) so I'm saying it even though I know you already know

What I do, and yes we still have 5ish am feeds is just give a top up feed at wake up (which is 7 or 8 for Sienna atm) and then she manages a normal A time after that. So EASY can still start at wake up and the top up feed. I always did this with Lois too. Does he always get tired after only 1hr A in the mornings?

[Mama2boys]

Thanks Vicku that helps.

Not all first A is 1hr, sometimes 1.5 he is progressing towards a longer A and the last A is normally 2-2.5 hrs before he sleeps its like as the day progresses his A times as well! I know he is not meant to have such a long A time but I ahve tried getting him in bed at the 1.5ht mark onwards and he takes  aloooong time..

So maybe will follow your strategy and top up at wake-up and then reset the day....

Thanks sweety!

Quick q - could the 5am being a short really short feed just be a habit? in which case should i try and AP and put back to bed?

[Vicku]

Idk... I think 2 night feeds are kind of expected really, so he might still be hungry (or thirsty ) at 5am. The breast milk digests so fast and it is really hard to say if he needs it or not. I think it is a question of whether you mind feeding at that time or not. If it is really bothering you then you could try not feeding and seeing if he'll cut it out, or try to feed for less time each night to sort of wean him off being hungry at that time.
For me, it feels like less hassle to just feed and put back to sleep, so I've not bothered to try and cut any night feeds this time.

[mamat]

My lo also does this. She is 5 months and wakes up around 2 and 5 or even 6 sometimes. I feed her and she goes back to sleep until around 7:30. I ahve also wondered about how it affects EASY but I have just gone with the flow and it all seems to work itself out, especially because her EASY is never consistent anyways. She is a cat napper a lot of the time and so feedings never seem to work out to be right after she wakes up. We have just increased A time to 2-45 and will see what happens with her naps. Yesterday, she managed 2-2hour naps which she has never done. I am like Vicku, it is easier to feed and put back to bed (or in my case, feed at 5 and keep in bed than it is to push through and not feed at this point.

[Mama2boys]

For me, it feels like less hassle to just feed and put back to sleep, so I've not bothered to try and cut any night feeds this time

been trying this and is working well so the am is kind of inconsistent but trying to do feed after 3.5 hrs rest of the day...

inconsistency seems to be our family name

[~Karen~]

Same here Mukta........If Lewis wakes for a feed around 530 or so I give him one boob, put him back to bed and when he wakes up for the day a couple of hours later then I give him the other boob and start from there.