11 weeks - DF and still waking up at night

[fairypk]

Hi,

I do a DF b/w 10 and 11 every night. My LO goes to bed by 830/9. But he always wakes up around 4/5ish and I usually get up and give him a pacifier and then stirs again at 6. Today I give him milk at 6 but he had only 2 oz and then woke up at 815 or so. My question is (he is now 5.5 kgs) how long can he go at nnight without a feed and should i feed him when he stirs at 4/5 or what I should do?

DH and I have to be up at 7 on weekdays anyway.

Any help would be much appreciated!

[jessmum46]

Night feeds are nothing to do with body weight - and all LOs are different   I would completely expect a LO of this age to need one or two night feeds in addition to the dream feed.  Is he having 3 hourly feeds in the day yet?  I know on your other thread he was often having some quite long daytime stretches without feeding.....getting into a good daytime pattern will definitely help.  However, given how young he is, if he wakes at night and it has been longer than 3-3.5h (ie the length of time he should be doing between feeds in the day) then I would feed him straight away and get you both back to sleep.  If he wakes sooner than that you can use shh pat to resettle him.  Some babies do sleep through for long stretches early on, but they are the exception rather than the rule, and you should expect that LO may well need night feeds in addition to the dream feed for several more weeks/months yet. 

[fairypk]

Hi,

Thanks for your help. He woke up a little before 5 today and I made 3 oz (instead of the usual 4 oz) and he had about 2.5 oz so I'm not complaining. He went back to sleep and woke up around 730 or so because he likes to poop then and he had another 2 oz or so.

I am trying to get him to have his full feeds during the day but its a bit of a struggle until his bathtime.

What do you suggest I do to help him have full feeds?

Also, our naps are inconsistent and it takes us ages to soothe him and put him to sleep despite looking at cues etc so one long nap followed by 2 short naps seems to work better for us.

[jessmum46]

Have you posted on the bottle feeding forum about which bottles/teats you're using?  Sometimes he might need a faster or slower flow teat to be able to feed more effectively, but I'm afraid I bf so no experience with bottles.  Another thing to consider if he's taking a long time to feed would be something like a tongue tie - I don't know if anyone's checked him for that?  Some babies do like to feed little and often which might be a sign of reflux - anything ring a bell? Reflux 101 - General reflux information

Otherwise, the best way of encouraging full feeds is to make sure they are spaced an appropriate time apart so that he is hungry enough to take a good feed.  Avoiding feeding when he is really tired/sleepy (so falls asleep) can also help as he is awake enough to feed properly

With the naps - if it's working for you, then that's fine   Just make sure he gets enough feeds in the day z(typically 5 daytime feeds and a dream feed, +/- NFs) so he's not missing out on calories by being asleep.

[fairypk]

Hi Katherine thanks for your help. He does have approximately 5 feeds during the day including the DF and has approximately 22-24 oz per day, which for his weight and age are fine. I may consider moving to level 2 teats in another 10 days when he is exactly 3 months. He doesn't drag all his feeds.

So for the last 2 nights ive been giving him 3 oz at 5 am, which he has been having but this morning started stirring from around 6am so had to give him pacifier. In fact he had his DF of 4 oz at 1030 and he started stirring from 1215 am and then at 130 am.

Don't mind getting up for feeds except he stirs so much that drives me crazy! Not sure how to prevent the stirring

[fairypk]

Also didn't realize had made 2 similar posts! Clearly going a little crazy. Plus started going to work twice a week so was EXHAUSTED yesterday could barely stay awake to even watch my favorite show (CSI) I like to watch TV when I do the DF

We sleep anywhere b/w 1030-11 usually when DF is complete and its ok if DS wakes up at 5 but he stirs like crazy at night and we have to be up at 7 am so really not getting a good stretch of sleep. If he was stirring because he wanted to eat that would be okay but he just moves like crazy. Very difficult to function from 7am-1030pm with 5 hours sleep

[jessmum46]

Some LOs are just noisy sleepers!  I know it's hard though - unfortunately being a mum seems to put you on 'hyper alert' for any noise so the days of a long restful night are over for a while..... . Obviously the SIDS recommendations are for LO to be in your room until the age of 6 months, but (just thinking off the top of my head) could you use some soft ear plugs to quieten a little of the shuffling/stirring noise?  But obviously would still be able to hear if LO needed you?  Other than that, take turns with DH sleeping in a different room?  And make sure you nap in the day when LO does?

[Erin M]

Also didn't realize had made 2 similar posts! Clearly going a little crazy.

That's ok. 

Could you shift the df a little earlier to get yourself a longer stretch of sleep at night?

[fairypk]

Thank you all for your help!

We had a much better day and night yesterday. He woke up a little earlier from his afternoon nap and napped in my arms for a bit then (we had gone to someones house for lunch)

Then the short catnap he takes around 645 he fell asleep quickly for 30 mins and i just kept him on me so I got a power nap. Luckily he fell asleep at night with no fuss by 815/820 pm usually it takes me an hour or so. Kept the routine the same so fingers crossed!

Did the DF at 1015 and he finished it within 15-20 minutes. Stirred only once at nnight at around 3ish then woke up on dot at 5 and gave him 3 oz then settled him in bed with a pacifier because his eyes seemed to be open! LOL and slept till 820! Woohoo so excited we made it 12 hours!

Thanks for your help, today is another day another challenge!

[Erin M]

Awesome!

[tfuentes00]

Maybe he needs more during the day.  My dd is 8 weeks and takes 5oz every 3 hrs.   Just a thought???

[fairypk]

The last 2 days I make him 3 oz at 5 am and he has only 2 oz then wakes up around 8ish and I like to give him 3 oz at that time.

He has a total of 22-24 oz in a day which the paed said is fine.

[tfuentes00]

Not trying to say your ped is wrong, please don't think that,  I've read several places to take weight in pounds, which would be 12.2 lbs and multiply by 2.5 which is 30 oz.  If he's not taking his feeds maybe the hole in the nipple needs to be bigger.  Maybe he's getting tired of sucking too hard.

[fairypk]

Perhaps! Going to try on level 2 teats today or tomorrow! Wish me luck!

This morning we woke up at 5 and had 2 oz then at 830 had 3 oz played until 1030ish then took a short nap of 20-25 mins woke up at 1110 had 3 oz now playing will try *fingers crossed* for another nap before massage and bath time!

Naps are our biggest challenge! We cry cry cry and finally if I get him to nap he wakes up when I put him down.

[jessmum46]

It sounds like he's very OT when you try for a nap honey - he can probably only manage 1h15-20 A time really at his age.  I'd try a bit earlier for your naps and you might have more success.