4 week EASY...I'm having problems!

[Cazaline13]

Hi, would love some insight from some more experienced mama's please!
My baby boy is 4 weeks today and feeding very erratically. We have a great night time routine:

7pm bath
7.30pm E
8.30pm S
11pm E 200ml formula (11lb baby!)
3.30am E
6.30am E

The days are all over the shop: he's a very alert baby and is wide eyed and bushy tailed after a nappy change or any type of basic stimulation. As soon as he yawns I begin to settle him in his nursery- he does not like the swaddle do we use a grow bag. As soon as I put him down his eyes pop open and he's ready for off again. We can't get him to sleep unless he's eaten and fallen asleep immediately on my shoulder or he's in the car or buggy.

He's feeding from the breast every 1.5hr so it's getting exhausting. We're getting him to take a soother which is helping.

Any thoughts??

[*Ali*]

Hi and welcome. Congratulations on your new baby.
Rest assured that it is perfectly normal for babies to feed so often in the first 6wks and this will help to establish your supply. After that they do normally stretch the feeds out to closer to 3hrs. Check out this link which has more info on the topic http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=64627.0
How long is he usually awake before you put him down for a nap? At this age most babies can only manage a feed, a nappy change and a quick snuggle before they need to go back to sleep. So he may need to be asleep again after only 1hr. If he is awake for much more he is probably getting OT and therefore getting a second wind. At this age I didn't have time to wait for the yawn or by the time I'd done the wind down he was OT so I had to keep an eye on the clock.
Do you have a consistent wind down? That can really help. See here for ideas. http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=212645.0
HTH

[Cazaline13]

Hi, thanks for all the helpful info! Really appreciate it. Our wind down is a follows:
Close the black out blind (ikea blind- light does leak in- the room is still brightish),
Put him on my shoulder and begin to shhh pat. This does settle him at night, it's just not as effective during day. This morning for example, he fed and quickly showed signs of sleepiness so I put him on my shoulder and began the shhh pat. When he was settled I lay him in his crib and within 2 mins he was awake. I tried the paci but was uneffective. I eventually put him on the bed and breast fed for 10mins until he fell asleep and then I put him in his crib- not very PC but hes been down an hour and I was able to get breakfast!

We don't swaddle and the grow bag was more problematic last night. He would not settle after the 3am feed and- I tried until 5.30am and then brought him into our bed. He slept soundlessly after another feed at 6.30 until 8.30am

What do you think? I feel a bit lost today

[Erin M]

At the 3 AM feed was he well burped afterwards?  I would always forget to burp mine well in the middle of the night and then they wouldn't settle for me after the feed.  Also, are you trying to keep things very low key during the nf?   4 weeks is still so very tiny, don't worry yet about getting it all perfect yet, there's lots of time to work on it still. 

As far as naps go, it's ok to put her down asleep for now, just with the aim of putting her down more and more awake as time goes on.  Did Ali give you the link for sh/pat?  Very helpful for tiny babies.

[HarrietsMum]

I have a 4 week old going through similar things so I am eagerly reading!

[*Ali*]

No Erin, The links I gave were for EASY and the Breastfed baby in the first few weeks and the 4s wind down routine. (i forget to say now they aren't showing as the topic heading since the new upgrade, opps!)
Is this the one you mean Erin, Pat/shh for babies under 3mo? http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=26672.0

[Erin M]

Yes, that's it Ali thanks!  I had to run this morning and didn't have a chance to link. 

[Cazaline13]

Thanks Erin, Ali

I'm now thinking that I'll express the 3am feed, 200mls and make sure to wind him properly afterwards. He's a very jerky baby and getting a correct latch can take a couple of minutes, he can get upset and come off it a few times- I'm now concerned that he's. It getting enough milk at 3am and/or he's becoming over stimulated with all the attempts to get milk. His weight is good, lots of wet nappies etc so I'm not generally concerned about the b.f but I am attending a group tomorrow to help sort out the problem.

Any thoughts, advice all welcome!

[Erin M]

It sounds like you're doing great!  If you don't want to worry about the hassle of expressing at 3 AM, he will get the hang of latching sooner rather than later.  It's hard in the beginning to get it right, but they learn fast!  When my LOs were teeny babies, I used to hold them up on my shoulder and rub and pat for a good 10 minutes or so -- it usually had the added bonus of putting them back to sleep (and at 3 AM, it's perfectly okay to do whatever you need to in order for them to go back to sleep).  Glad you have some IRL support just to reassure you!