Top off before nap interfering with nights?

[larren]

Hello mamas! 6m old angel DD has been EBF until a few weeks ago when I started solids 1x a day (morning, 30m after WU E). She only has a few bites; maybe a total of one teaspoon..mostly for the sake of determining allergies.

Anyway, we're stuck in a good naps/bad nights bad naps/good nights loop. She is on a 4hr EASY and has been WU for a night feed at 2h 40m intervals and I was wondering if anyone has experienced the top off before nap becoming a NW issue? She usually only nurses one side at a time, though I do consistently offer both sides. Any advice on how to make her take more at each feeding? I've tried skipping the top off in hopes that she nurses better when she awakes from nap but still just one side 

Here is our EAS
WU/E 8
A 8-11
S 11-1230
E 1230
A 1230-330
S 330-5
A 5-8
BT/S 8

When she does a top off before nap, I give her the same breast she had E on

TIA!

[*Ali*]

So what times is she actually BFing? I can only see 2 BFs in the EASY you posted above.

Is she feeding to sleep for naps and BT or putting herself to sleep? Has it become part of her sleep routine so she is looking for it when she wakes at night do you think?

What about trying to resettle her without a feed if she wakes at night and it has been less than 3 or 4hrs since she last BFed? If she is waking every 2hr40 at night that sounds like habit rather than hunger because it is so regular. You could try wake to sleep after 1hr40 to see if that helps her sleep past the usual NW time.

I did actually top off my DS2 before naps because once their A times get to 3hrs it is impossible to maintain a 4hrly feeding routine as they are asleep at the 4hr point or too hungry to do a decent nap. I did just pull his feeds forward to before the naps though so he wasn't feeding at the beginning and end of every A time. That way he took a fuller feed each time.

It is still common for a 6mo to have 1-2 NFs.

[larren]

Hi,thank you for your response!

Oh, I'd be glad if she was only waking 1-2x a night

Sorry I left out a lot..my 3.5 yo is constantly chatting in my ear lol
WU/E 8
A 8-11
WD/ top off 1050/2h 50m A
S 11-1230
E 1230
A 1230-330
WD/ top off 320/2h 50m A
S 330-5
E 5
A 5-8
WD/ top off 740/2h 40m
BT/S 8

Since making the 3-2 she is neither nursing to sleep nor self soothing. I guess she is still learning to sustain her full 3h A because she falls asleep when nursing but wakes up when we finish the rest of our WD. When I put her in her bed, I usually have to shh/rock her bed.

What was the A time of your DS2 when you gave the top off? I tried to offer the other breast after 20m of A but she still didn't take it

[*Ali*]

The first top off was right before the first nap so around 2hr30 of A time. I tried to do the nappy change and sleeping bag after and keep the feed in a lit room as opposed to the dark bedroom. There did come a time though when he just fell asleep on the breast and mostly stayed asleep or just briefly opened his eyes and went back to sleep in the cot. He had always been an independent sleeper though and continued to fall asleep independently at BT when he almost never fell asleep feeding.

So our at 6mo breast feeds were more like
5.30 (EW/NF then back to sleep until 6.40),
(7.30 solid breakfast but ate almost nothing)
9.15 (nap 9.40),
(12 solid lunch)
1.15, (nap 2.10),
4 (more a top up and soon replaced by solid dinner as naps got later over the next month),
7 (or whatever time was just before BT)
Then a NF at varying times really.

So what about not feeding at the 12.30 WU? Would she wait and BF just the once mid A time?

Is she on solids yet? We did BLW so went to 2 and then 3 meals pretty quickly. That and a sippy of water helped distract him I think.