3.5 Month Old - How to get more than 3 hrs after dream feed?

[jeneldobko]

Hopefully this is in the right place, but my ebf 3.5 month old seems to be going backwards!  In the early months after the dream feed she would sleep 6 hours (and only eat 1x at night), but now it's about 3 hours and she wakes up and wants to eat (and then again about 3-4hrs later so 2x at night).  I've tried giving her her plug, but she'll suck for a few minutes & start to cry.
Here is her EASY on a good day (plus or minus 30 minutes each way)
E 8am
A
S 930am-1130am (if I can extend her!)
E 1130am
A
S 115pm-4pm (I wake her if she's had a short morning nap & is still sleeping around 4pm)
E - 2pm (often wakes during her nap & I feed her lying down, then she falls back asleep)
E 4pm
A
S 515pm-6pm
E-6pm
S-745pm

And then dream feed around 1030pm, wakes around 130am, 530 for feeds.
This 130am waking has been happening for about 2 maybe 3 weeks now, is this just a growth spurt, or do I need to squeeze in another feed during the day.  I'm in the middle of working on lengthening her naps thinking maybe her naps needed to be better so nighttime sleep was better.

Thanks!

[Tay]

Hiya!
If this is a new thing I would initially guess a GS but 3 weeks is more than enough time for your supply to catch up!
So let's explore other possibilities... Does your LO fall asleep independently? What are her daytime feeds like - do you feel she takes good full feeds or could she be snacking at some feeds? (noticed a 2hr gap between feeds and was wondering)
Are you single or double side feeding?
xx

[jeneldobko]

To sleep (for both naps & night) I swaddle her & give her a soother, lay her down, tell her it's nap time & walk away.  Sometimes at night she'll fall back asleep after a feed & not need the plug.
Yah sometimes I know she doesn't take a full feed during the day (5 minutes vs 10, she's a fast eater), I guess I'm wondering if I'm better off filling her tummy during the day vs at night but that doesn't always work out that way haha! 
If I push the daytime feeds to longer will that teach her to go longer at night?
Single sided feeding, pretty much from day one. Always had a lot of milk.

[Tay]

Hiya,
 sorry for taking so long to reply, things have been just mad around here!

Yah sometimes I know she doesn't take a full feed during the day (5 minutes vs 10, she's a fast eater), I guess I'm wondering if I'm better off filling her tummy during the day vs at night but that doesn't always work out that way haha!

You are better off filling her tummy dring the day, but if her feeds are too close together she probably never takes a full feed, which then means she's hungry again very soon after, but not enough to take another proper feed and so on. You're better trying to have a gap of around 3hrs and see how it goes (you might have to increase the gap between feeds by 5 or 10 minutes increments, but you'll eventually get there).

If I push the daytime feeds to longer will that teach her to go longer at night?

As I said the idea is that she will feed better during the day, therefore taking in more calories, which should mean she'll sleep better at night.
xxx