11wo seems hungry all the time

[Lazii]

Not really sure where is the real issue and should i post in this section..  Lately my dd (11wo tmrw) wakes up after 40 min naps and i cant put her back to sleep as in a while she starts crying like crazy coz she is hungry ( I can tell that from this desperate and offended  cry she lets out only when hungry). This makes 3h easy impossible . She is EBF and our nights are going well with only one waking at 4am with feed+nappy change. Days and evenings are however a different story. I tried single side BF but my let down is slow and she gets frustrated so I started offering both sides. If I feed her as soon as she wakes up, her nap after 1h of wake time ( I put start to wind down as soon as I see a yawn) is around 30min. I tried to put her back to sleep but no success there and hungry cry gets out. If I play with her for a while, then feed and then something else, she seems to sleep a bit longer but still we cant manage 3h EASY. In the evening she wants to nurse constantly and again sleeps 30-40min. In the evenings sometimes I need to nurse her 2 or even 3 times before she settles and she really is eating not just snacking.
I am really confused by now of what to do and what is the real problem- insufficient amount of food that causes short naps or short naps that ruins her routine and therefore feeds.
For the past 2-3 weeks our not so EASY has been:
Wakes up 8am and play for 15min
E around 20min
A 10min plus 10min win down
S 1h tops
10 wakes up
E 10.15
A
S 11am
12 wakes up
E
A
S in pram as we go out and this way she can catch up on sleep as she can sleep from 1,5h-3h
E 16pm
A
S17.
E17.30
A
S. 18.30 ( it can take longer then that to get her to nap and a lot of times nursing to sleep
19.00 bath
19.30 last feed

I'm not doing DF anymore as she goes to bed later and still seems to sleep fine till 4 ( with DF it was the same time she woke up).

I was really worried about my milk supply but her weight gain is good. And as it has been a while, I don't think it's a growth spurt.
Sometimes I feel like I'm loosing my mind with this constant hunger and short naps

[Erin M]

I tried single side BF but my let down is slow and she gets frustrated so I started offering both sides.

That's perfectly fine, I always fed double sided from about 6 weeks on with all of mine. 

She is EBF and our nights are going well with only one waking at 4am with feed+nappy change.

This is pretty amazing for her age -- it could be that she's tanking up during the day and that's what's giving you your lovely long nights.

With the short naps -- is it possible to try and hold off the first feed at all so she's eating closer to nap time?  That might tell you whether or not it's truly hunger that is waking her.

What's different about the pram?  Is it the motion?  Is she elevated at all?  There might be something there that would help you get some better naps.  How is she falling asleep for her other naps?  Independently or are you helping her?

There could be some discomfort there too -- does any of this seem to ring true: Reflux 101 - General reflux information

[Lazii]

Thank you for your reply.
I guess I'd have to keep up with both sides . My only worry was that they don't have time to fill up if she eats from both but on the other hand- she can go longer between feeds this way.. And I bought fenugreek so I'm hoping that this will supply me with a bit more milk.
About the pram- I think it's the motion as she falls asleep in it as soon as we get going. But lately she wakes up  at 40min mark even in pram so I try to find some bumpy road to send her back to dreamland. And I'm covering it up with dark scarf so she wouldn't be distracted , but at home we also have darkened everything to the max.
She usually falls asleep on her own, though in the evenings it can get more difficult and therefore we do use other methods like rocking her crib. But on most occasions she can settle down if she's not hungry. If she is I feed her again till she calms down. It could be that she is just tanking up naturally for the night.
Short naps are still a problem but as occasionally she does fall asleep again, I guess the issue is not with the feeding.
She spits up a lot but never cries of it so I doubt she has reflux .
But thanks again for your response

[Fiver]

My only worry was that they don't have time to fill up if she eats from both but on the other hand- she can go longer between feeds this way

The more frequently you 'empty' a breast, the more it will 'refill'.  Your body will adjust and you won't be without, never fear
For more info, see this article http://kellymom.com/pregnancy/bf-prep/milkproduction/

[Erin M]

At this age, we would expect them to be doing somewhere around 8 feeds/24 hours (and some babies do more) -- if she's only doing 1 at night, you've got another 7 to fit in during the day, so you would expect that she would be feeding often.  (((hugs))) I know it's not particularly easy to feel like you're doing nothing but nursing all day!

[Lazii]

Thank you for all your help!
We just returned from a trip to our homeland and with all the new people and places I really was feeding her every 2h as she seemed to want it more and a lot of times just to calm her :/ . I really felt it was too much though most of it she spit out so I guess it's hard to over feed. Her weight is good but my MIL also noted that every 2h is a bit too often..
At home we have 7 feeds a day including night feed, though some times on a bad day she eats more often. Should i try to get that 8th feed back?

[Fiver]

Is your homeland significantly warmer than the UK?  If so, it would be absolutely normal to feed more often until she was used to the heat.  Actually, given how small she is, it's still totally ok to be feeding every 2h, especially around the time of a growth spurt.

Did MIL BF or FF?

As for an 8th feed, if she needs/wants it, I'm sure she'll let you know

[Lazii]

I wish it had been warmer but it was around 0 so I think she really did it purely for comfort. Now back home she is more settled and doesn't want to nurse so often.
MIL BF both her sons but it was back in the days when they did it by clock. She herself admitted how bad it was for my BIL who cried all the time and was underweight because of that now he is a healthy man though.
My LO has started to put her one hand in mouth and at first I though it meant she. Was hungry but lately she's Ben doing it after feeds so it should be something else   

[Fiver]

Ah, shame about the weather!!   A bit of comfort away from home is pretty normal.
Hands in mouth are quite normal too.  Some find fingers and thumbs earlier than others. My DD still loves her thumb and it's nice she has some way to comfort herself.

[Lazii]

Thank you!
I'll try not to worry so much about feed times. Would be nice to have those 3h in between but there is no point forcing something on her that she's not ready for.

[Fiver]

The time between feeds will lengthen out eventually.  You could always try just adding 5 minutes or so between feeds, but if you're reading her cues well and following them, you can't really go too far awry   Sounds like you're doing great

[Lazii]

We were away for some time and it seems now our good nights have gone sour. If my dd was waking up once between 8pm and 8am, now it is 3 times and I just can't get any sleep
Yesterday I put her to sleep at 9 and she slept till 2.30am but afterwards woke up at 5 and then 7. She has never done that before so not sure what is the reason. She nurses a while but not a lot at night. however she could be hungry but too sleepy to eat en ought. However a few weeks ago she was OK with one feed of 30min at night.
I am not doing DF as goes to  sleep pretty late still I fed her regularly during evening hours.
I actually tried to increase her A time and now she is good with her awake time being 1h 20-30. And she falls asleep relatively easy. Her naps are still short, except  this morning I fed her when she woke up and again before nap and she slept for good 1,5h! But 2nd nap was again 35min :/
So what could be the reason for these night wakings? Could she eat too little during the day?

[Fiver]

I'm struggling to read your ticker, but is she about 3m old?  That would be prime growth spurt territory, so increased feeds at night would be completely normal and usually pass within a week.

[Lazii]

Yes, she's 3mo on Friday.i hope it's the reason as it is so exhausting

[Fiver]

Those first 6 months can be so exhausting just because they're getting used to the world and there are so many growth spurts. It won't be like this forever x