Author Topic: 10 week old still waking every 3 hours at night to eat  (Read 23360 times)

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Offline carolina_bug

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10 week old still waking every 3 hours at night to eat
« on: August 22, 2012, 11:58:05 am »
My DS is 10 weeks and is still waking every 2.5-3 hours to eat.  I wasn't sure if I should post this on the BF board or the nightwaking board.

He is a 45 min cat napper too, so his daytime sleep isn't great either.  I have him on a 3 hour eating schedule and just try to structure his days around that as I never know when his naps are going to go 45 min or longer.  He also doesn't want to go down for the night until around 9 or 10 every night, so his day starts around 9 am.

His A time is between 1 hour and 1.15.  I follow his sleep cues which are yawning and getting irritable.  He usually goes down without much of a fuss, so getting him to sleep is not the issue.  He is swaddled.

He wakes up almost like clockwork every 3 hours and when I pick him up, or my DH picks him up, he is rooting and wanting to eat & won't go back to sleep until he doesn't.  He usually only eats about half of what he does during the day though before he falls asleep & I put him back down. 

Are there strategies to help extend his time before feeds?
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Offline annar840

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Re: 10 week old still waking every 3 hours at night to eat
« Reply #1 on: August 23, 2012, 01:08:57 am »
Have you tried using a pacifier? Sometimes babies wake up out of habit and not out of hunger? Try using a pacifier and see if it works or if you can stretch the time be feeds st night.

Offline carolina_bug

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Re: 10 week old still waking every 3 hours at night to eat
« Reply #2 on: August 23, 2012, 13:05:28 pm »
Yep, tried a pacifier with no luck.  He's a BF baby and has a hard time getting the sucking motion down as it's different from how he sucks when BF.  He does like to suck his hands during the day when he's out of the swaddle, so I tried unswaddling him, which was a disaster.

I reread the part in BW about night waking to eat and I made sure not to let him oversleep on his naps and feed him every 3 hours.  He's taking in more food, but when I pumped to see how much I was getting, I only pumped 4 oz in 15 min.  He usually eats for 20-30 min when BF.  Is that enough for a 10 week old?  I would say he's between 11-12 lbs at this point.

When he wakes, he only eats for 7-10 min, but he latches on hard and gulps like he's starving every time.  I try to wake him to eat more, but it rarely works and the few times that it has, it doesn't make a difference & he's up within the 3 hour mark anyway.
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Offline *Ali*

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Re: 10 week old still waking every 3 hours at night to eat
« Reply #3 on: August 23, 2012, 19:27:38 pm »
Please don't worry, pumping is not a reliable indication of how much your LO is getting. Your baby is much more efficient than any pump.
2-3 NFS at this age is not uncommon. Does he go to sleep independently yet or are you staying to help him?
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Offline carolina_bug

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Re: 10 week old still waking every 3 hours at night to eat
« Reply #4 on: August 24, 2012, 02:04:16 am »
For his naps, he pretty much goes to sleep on his own.  I act as soon as I see his sleep cues, and that's around 1.15 to 1.5 hrs after he wakes.  For night time, however, it's his "witching" time, so it takes me about 10 min to get him settled enough to put him down in his crib.

He's on a 3 hour EASY plan starting at 7 am.
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Offline ~inbalance~

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Re: 10 week old still waking every 3 hours at night to eat
« Reply #5 on: August 24, 2012, 02:17:09 am »
All of my BF babies ate every 3hrs around the clock for the first few months more or less, and my second baby was still waking every 3 hours to eat for ages.  Right now my 9wk old DD is waking to eat every 3hrs.  She was doing 1 long stretch of 4-4.5hrs but has been waking more often the last few days which I'm sure is a growth spurt.  But I agree with Ali that it's still quite within the realm of normal for BF babies at this age to be waking every 3hrs to eat, in fact I think it's more normal that they do wake that much than don't!
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Offline *Ali*

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Re: 10 week old still waking every 3 hours at night to eat
« Reply #6 on: August 24, 2012, 06:52:30 am »
That sounds good. 1.5hrs is top end for A time at this age so just watch he isn't getting OT.
Cadan Dec 2009 and Colby Aug 2011


Offline carolina_bug

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Re: 10 week old still waking every 3 hours at night to eat
« Reply #7 on: August 24, 2012, 12:57:56 pm »
That's good to know then.  The problem now is that his nights are getting worse since I put him on the EASY schedule.

He was doing the 45 min nap thing for weeks, and just started going 1.5 hr stretches.  In fact, I have to wake him after the 1.5 hr mark.  Now that he's getting better sleep during the day, he is more content.  I started offering the other breast to see if he needed more food, and he started eating more as well. (Although he had never complained before, but I thought that maybe the frequent wake-ups were b/c he wasn't getting enough to eat during the day.)  That hasn't been the case for the past few nights. 

He gets the DF around 10:30-11-00 and is awake at 1:00 like clockwork rooting like he hasn't eaten in days.  Then I feed him, and put him down and he's awake again around 2-2:30.  Then on/off throughout the rest of the night until 6. 

I pump for 30 min (for the DF) as that's usually how long he BF, and I only get 4 oz.  I know that BF is more effective, but that still seems like a low amount for a 10 week old that weighs between 11-12 lbs.  He's content after he eats, and he's gaining weight, but he's definitely on the leaner side, as was my DD.
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Offline ~inbalance~

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Re: 10 week old still waking every 3 hours at night to eat
« Reply #8 on: August 24, 2012, 13:00:46 pm »
Our nights are very similar these days as well, especially the on/off after 2:30am part which is driving me batty.  Hoping they settle down soon.
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Offline Erin M

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Re: 10 week old still waking every 3 hours at night to eat
« Reply #9 on: August 25, 2012, 23:25:28 pm »
Are you making sure he's getting a good burp at that 1 AM feed?  My LOs would do that from discomfort if they weren't burped sufficiently before I put them back down.

Offline carolina_bug

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Re: 10 week old still waking every 3 hours at night to eat
« Reply #10 on: August 26, 2012, 00:33:56 am »
I can never get him to burp during his night feedings.  I try and try and it just wakes him up and makes him angry.  If I try and don't get it, I put him down, and when he wakes again, I pick him up and try it again but rarely get a burp.

His pattern has changed though and for the past two nights, he has been waking every 30-45 min after his 1 am feed.  I should've been happy about the every 3 hours!
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Offline Erin M

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Re: 10 week old still waking every 3 hours at night to eat
« Reply #11 on: August 26, 2012, 01:07:11 am »
How are your burping him?  I found I didn't have to go as much for the vigorous back claps at night, but I would just rub and rub their backs, in a circular motion (like opposite their tummies, trying to rub the burps up) which seemed to do the trick.  The every 45 minutes is trouble settling between sleep cycles -- how is he falling asleep at the 1 AM feeding?  On the breast or another way?  Does he have a paci?

Offline Fiver

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Re: 10 week old still waking every 3 hours at night to eat
« Reply #12 on: August 26, 2012, 14:35:56 pm »
I used to sit DS sideways on my knee and rock him backwards and forwards to get a good burp up in the night.  It's often possible to do that without them waking.
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Offline carolina_bug

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Re: 10 week old still waking every 3 hours at night to eat
« Reply #13 on: August 26, 2012, 15:50:25 pm »
He does fall asleep at the breast sometimes, but not always.  He usually settles right to sleep, it's keeping him asleep that is the problem.  I sometimes use a paci, but he doesn't always take it.  He has a hard time getting the sucking motion down as he tries to suck it like the breast.

If it's gas, why would it happen at the same time every night??  He sleeps like a champ from 7pm-1am (with a DF at 10), then is up for a feed at 1:00, goes back down at about 1:15, then is up by 2, and it's every 30-45 min until he starts his day at 7:00.  He does seem like he's in pain, but it happens at the same time, no matter what I eat.  I'm on an elimination diet, so the only veggies I eat are zucchini, lettuce, and red pepper, no dairy or soy at all, I've had corn a few times.  I eat a bowl of bran cereal every morning to help me stay regular (TMI.. sorry) but I don't see how that would affect him at night.

I vary my diet especially at dinnertime to see if anything made a difference, but it doesn't.  I just don't know where all of this gas is coming from so suddenly.  He wasn't waking this much when I wasn't on the elimination diet.
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Offline carolina_bug

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Re: 10 week old still waking every 3 hours at night to eat
« Reply #14 on: August 27, 2012, 18:17:06 pm »
Here is his EASY:

Awake at 7

E   7-7:20
A   7:20-8:30 (wind down starts at around 8:20 and he goes right to sleep)
S   8:30-10:00 (I have to wake him up)

E   10-10:20
A   10:20-11:30  (wind down starts at around 8:20 and he goes right to sleep)
S   11:30-1:00  (I have to wake him)

E   1:00-1:20
A   1:20-2:30  (wind down starts at around 8:20 and he goes right to sleep)
S   2:30-4:00  (I have to wake him)

E   4:00-4:20
A   4:20-5:30
S   5:30-6:15

A time from 6:16- 7:00 (bath and wind down for the night)

E at 7 and then is asleep by 7:30

DF at 10:00

This is textbook everyday.  He is like clockwork. 

He sleeps until 1:00 and then is awake every 30-45 min for the rest of the night.  Last night I even tried putting him in his swing to get some sleep and it didn't work.    I try shhh/pat but it puts him back asleep and then he's up again 30-45 min later.  He stops if I pick him up, or he'll sleep on me. I'm going mad.

I was block feeding before, as I could tell he wasn't getting enough hindmilk.  When I started his EASY, I started offering the other breast and he ate twice as much, but then he started having reflux symptoms again.  (He started having symptoms of silent reflux around 3 weeks, but we tried some natural methods, and he was doing so much better by 7 weeks, now it seems to be coming back some at night since he started taking in more milk during the day.) He still only eats from the one breast at night before he falls asleep and is out for the 45 min, then up on and off for the rest of the night until 7.
« Last Edit: August 27, 2012, 18:21:37 pm by carolina_bug »
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