Nightwakings and enough calories??

[pleasebeeasy]

Hi everyone,

My LO is 16 weeks old.  He's a couple of pounds underweight as he lost quite a lot at the beginning of breastfeeding and took 4 weeks to get back to his birth weight but he's now gaining 1oz a day and is very happy and alert.  

Up until recently he's been feeding every 2 to 2.5hrs which I know is really not appropriate for a 4month old.  We didn't have any routine prior to this week except for a set wake up and bedtime which was wake at 7am bed at 9pm - this is what LO has dictated.  He has never been a napper in the day and would only every sleep on me after being nursed to sleep or in his sling.  At night time he would be nursed to sleep at 9pm, sleep until 1am then wake for a feed and then again at 4am then wake for the day at 7am.

This week we've started using the shush pat technique and it has being going really well, I can now get him to sleep within about 5 mins in his cot, he will however only sleep for 45mins to 1hr.  I've been using the 3hour EASY as he doesn't seem able to go past 2hrs 45mins between feeds.  we have had a couple of 4 hr intervals but this is very rare.

Anyway we've settled into the nearly 3hr EASY very well and his naps are going very well, but since we've started with the BW routine he's been waking at night about 5 times!  I've managed to get him back to sleep about 3 out of 5 times, the other times I've had to feed him. After the first night waking at 00.30 ish it's then every hour until 6am when he then wants to get up for the day.

I'm really puzzled as to why his night time sleep seems much worse than before.  Also I'm really not sure if he's getting enough during the day on the 3 hourly routine so I'm going to feed him every 2 hours for the next 3 days to try and increase my supply and then try and stretch him to 3 hour feeding intervals.

So what I'm wanting to know is why has his night sleep gotten worse?
And is he feeding out of habit or hunger during the night?

Thanks
xxx

[mmom]

It sounds like you are doing a great job implementing EASY.  It is more difficult with a BF baby, because sometimes they want to feed more often than you would like.  However, are you still questioning your supply?  There are ways to increase your supply without feeding more often.  That being said, I am not an expert on Bfing and I don't want to discourage feeds, especially if you feel that your LO is hungry during the day.

Here is some info on Bfing that might be helpful.
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=65905.0
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=98183.0


Aboutt the amount of night feeds, there are so many reasons a baby can wake.
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=52878.0

What is your baby doing when he wakes?  What are his cries like?  How do you try to settle him?

[Buntybear]

Hi, There is a MASSIVE growth spurt around 4 months. I remember the night ours started, it was election night and I caught most of it as I was up so long feeding! It lasted till his 6 month GS then settled down a bit!

Does he ask to be feed less than every 3 hours in the day? When Olly needed to go longer between feeds he would start to wake at night (3 months old) as he was starting to snack as he was being fed too frequently in the day. Actually by extending the length between feeds it makes them hungrier and so they take a better feed and so will then last longer to the next feed. Hope that makes sense.

[pleasebeeasy]

Thanks for the links and info.  I am a little concerned about my milk supply, I know he's getting enough oerall as he's gaining and ounze a day, but I think perhaps I need to increase it in the day time to try and get him to feed for longer but with bigger intervals.  He only seems to last about 2 to 2.5 hours in between feeds, there have been a couple of 4hours.  I think he has turned into a snacker and this combined with the 4 month growth spurt means he's having a lot more night wakings.  I've started feeding him 2 hourly to increase my supply, the BW book says to do this for 3 days and then gradually increase the length of time between feeds. 

Last night was another hellish night - 6 times he woke and wouldn't settle.  Even for this mornings nap he wouldn't settle, I had to hold him until he was nearly asleep then put him in his cot.  I feel like the week of staying in and getting his sleep sorted has all been a waste of time : (  I think he may have just started teething also so perhaps not a great time to be doing the sleep training!