Can't increase day feedings - baby wakes up hungry twice every night

[GabySam]

Hello!
I am new to this site. I have 5 month old boy/girl twins. They were born at 36 weeks and luckily didnt spend anytime in the NICU. We are on a consistent schedule - except for little variations on daily routine due to "life", but I would say we are on EASY 90% of the time. It is challenging to keep the routine and keep them on the same schedule but we have managed to make it work.
My daughter is still waking up twice every night at different times. She eats almost a full bottle every time. I have tried to increase her daily intake, but during the day she is only taking between 4 and 5 oz every 3.5 - 4 hours. She usually doesn't finish her bottle.
Do you have any suggestions on how to help her eat better during the day? I am thinking I need to try this before trying to decrease the amount she eats at night, right? I am exhausted and my husband is traveling a lot for work. I am alone with them most of the nights of the week, and would love if they could make it through the night.

Thank you

[Lolly]

Welcome!

Have a look at this link first http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=67403.0.

What bottle types are you using, what flow teats and which formula. Are there any digestive issues like reflux? What's the max you've know her to take?

Can you post your EASY so we can see what's going on a bit more clearly? It's helpful if you can post in terms of

Eat - what times, how much
Activity - how long for
Sleep - what times, how long for

You may need to reduce the night feeds in order to get her to take more in the day, but post your routine and I'll have a think!

Laura

[GabySam]

Thank you for your response.
Okay, here is our daily routine. Sometimes the babies disrput each other, but for the most part this is how our days go:
Wake up: 6:30
E - 6:30:  4oz
A: 1.5 hour
S: 1 hour
E - 9:00am: 4oz
A: 2 hour
S: 1.5 hour
E - 12:30: 4oz
A: 1.5 hour
S: 1.5 hour
E - 3:30pm: 4oz
A: 2 hours
Cat nap: 30 minutes
E - 6:30pm: 4oz
Bed time ritual
In bed by 7:00 pm

Usually my DD wakes up around midnight and again at around 3:30am. I don't take her out of her sleeper. She pretty much drinks her bottle and goes back to sleep.

I am using avent bottles and nipples stage 3. She has had some spit up issues, but she doesn't have any of the symptoms for painful reflux and the pediatrician recomended giving her Similac Sensitive and that seems to have worked. She hasn't been a fussy baby even though she fights sleep a little she is able to fall asleep pretty much on her own. She uses a pacifier, but at night I have tried to give her the pacifier when she wakes up and it seems to upset her more.

I would love any suggestions. At this point I am willing to try anything. Two babies by myself all week is a lot of work.
Thanks again!

[Lolly]

I think a big oart of your issues are that your A times aren't long enough which is making it difficult to space the feeds out. At 5 months they should be doing 2-2.5 hours A time and 4 hours between feeds. You have as little as 2.5 hours between feeds so it could well be that she is not actually getting properly hungry enough to take a bigger feed and then last the full 4 hours.

Have a look at this link and you will see some samples of routines http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=164029.0

If she is waking at 6.30 and feeds, her nap should be 9-10.30 (give or take)  which would mean she is waking for her next feed 4 hours after the last feed. If she has another 2.5 hour A time she would be napping 1-2.30, another 4 hour feed and then a catnap 5- 5.45 ish with bedtime at 6.30 (again a feed 4 hours after the last one). The fighting sleep is probably because she is under tired going down for a nap.

Remember at this age tired signs like yawning are not as reliable as they were when they were tiny, it can mean she needs a change of activity or scenery rather than a nap!

What do you think?

Laura
Laura

[GabySam]

I can absolutely see what you are saying. Thank you so much!!
I think mainly the challenge is to keep them both on the same schedule. My boy is usually hungry at 3.5 hours (and sometimes he is in full melt down at that point).
I am going to try and push feedings to every 4 hours. Do you have any suggestions to do this?

[Lolly]

It may take a few days to push feeds out. The idea is that you get them to take as much as you can and then hold them out for as long as you can until the 4 hour mark. You may need to push them 10/15 mins at a time and hold for a couple of days and then push another 10/15 mins etc. You may need to distract them anyway you can but they should take better feeds and then be able to last until the next feed.

How much is your DS taking? Is he draining his feeds? If he is you need to put more in the bottles.

Laura

[GabySam]

Hello!
I just want to give a little update. We are doing great on the every 4 hours feeding schedule. My DD is definitely eating better during the day (almost 6oz every time) and is only waking up once at night. I am doing DF at 11, and she is having almost 5 oz at that time. She wakes up again at around 4 am and we are down to 2 oz. then.

Thank you very much for your support and advice. I will continue to lower amounts at night and see where we go from there.

Catalina

[Lolly]

That's great! Well done you! I hope it continues and thank you for updating us!

Laura

[GabySam]

Okay, I have a new update. It has been 5 nights in which whenever the babies wake up I just "entertain" them with their pacifier. I havent given any formula to them after the DF at around 10:30pm. They are both waking up between 2 and 4am. It usually takes them somewhere between 20 to 50 minutes to fall back asleep. I do not do PU/PD because they are not used to being picked up once they are in bed for the night.
During the day they are eating very well and their naps have been more consistent.
Any idea what this is about? Do you think they are hungry? How long should this go on for?

Thank you very much. Any input is super appreciated.

Catalina