Am I starving my daughter? :-/

[Fiver]

My EBF DD is 11wo tomorrow and, in the last week or so, has, on a couple of occasions, slept through from around 6.30pm to after 7am (I know, you all hate me!!).  Immediately previously to that she'd started going through first to either 2am or 4am and then to 5am.  In the past couple of days she's started turning her head while she's feeding.  She's not looking around as she's trying to turn her face towards my leg.  She's having 5-6 feeds a day and has fallen in love with her thumb when she's in bed.  She's also only put on 90g (5.5oz) in the last 3 weeks.

I guess my question is several-fold:

- Could the head turning be a sign of frustration at slower flow?  She's happy at the start of the feed when it's coming quickly.
- Could the slower flow be down to her missing a night feed and so my supply dipping?
- Should I start waking her up in the night to feed her?  For obvious reasons I have a reluctance to do that!!
- Should she be feeding more than 5-6 times during the day if she's not feeding at night?
- Am I starving her?
- What should I do to up my supply a bit if it has dipped?  I've already started adding in a pumping session at about 9pm.

[Mama2C]

How many minutes does she feed? One side or both? Is she on a 4hr easy?

At that age DS was getting about 5-6 feeds and they were spaced out every 4-5 hours so he would BF at 7am, 11am, 3pm, 7pm, 11pm and sometimes 3am. DS only started to sleep through the night recently (he was 10.5 months when he finally cut out night feeds) so I am by no means an expert on no night feeds.

BUT I think that the fact that your LO is sttn is awesome and I would not interrupt that unless she is losing weight and the doctor recommended waking her.

DS was a fast nurser...like 2-3 mins per side, sometimes less. At 3 months he was 5 mins per feeding, and that was both sides! Maybe she is just full and turning her head because of that? Does she seem hungry after a feed? crying etc? And if you are trying to work in 5-6 feeds in 12 hours perhaps she is not hungry enough to have a full feed?

You are definitely NOT starving her!!!

[Shiv52]

I'd say keep doing what you are doing!!! 

At 11 weeks we were probably doing 6-8 feeds but included a DF and a NF.  Your LO is obviously taking enough calories in the day to keep her going through the night. 

I was still on 3 hour EASY.  there is a growth spurt at 3 months and then a pretty big one at 4 months so you may find she will start to wake up at night and that will help stimulate your supply.   

I'd say if weight gain is steady and she's happy and content then I'd enjoy the sleep!!!

You would know about it if she were starving!

[~Karen~]

At 6 weeks old Lewis was sleeping 930pm-630am and from 8 weeks old slept 630pm to anywhere between 5 and 7am (and then go straight back to sleep after a quick feed!).  He'd also sometimes go 5 hours in the day between feeds and still didn't wake at night for a feed.  He put on weight and must have just fed really well off me.  Is she an angel baby?  They can go through the night without feeds pretty early.  Just enjoy!  I did!

[Fiver]

I'm feeding one side only.  She's normally not going any long than about 3 hours between feeds during the day with a bit of clustering later in the afternoon before bedtime (more like 1.5-2 hours).  I know she gets lots of wind (which she then doesn't like to let out ) so I'm not sure whether she's still hungry or has a pain in her tummy sometimes.  She's getting most of her feed in the first 3-5 minutes, but can hang around suckling for as long as you let her!!

Shiv - oh, I am enjoying the sleep!  The thought of setting an alarm during the night is not popular in this house!!

Karen - she's definitely got some angel aspects about her.  I need to dig out my book and do the quiz now that I know her a bit better

[Shiv52]

That feeding schedule is totally fine for 11 weeks.  I'd say the cluster feeding is getting her through the night!  We've not got to 4 hours between feeds yet.  BM is so easily digested!


If it ain't broke.....don't fix it!!