Habitual waking? Started DF baby still wakes at 2

[ENMS]

DD2 is 14 weeks old. She still has 2 NF and I am very tired from waking up so much at night so we decided to implement a DF. DH gives her a 4 oz bottle around 10:15, we're on the 4th noght of this routine.

The first night was glorious and she slept until 6aM! But the other 3 nights she is still waking at the same time as usual - it is not exactly the same time to the minute but it is close - usually 2:15-2:20 (although I think once was 1:45).

I am really desperate to change the timings of her NFs. Is she still waking at 2 from habitial waking? Should I try W2S? We've never done a DF in the past but I guess the goal of it is to shift the NFs? Feeding at 10, 2 and 5 like she is doong sounds more like a NB than a 3 month old!

[Emami]

I would maybe give it a couple more days and if it doesn't make a difference then drop it again before you end up with 3 NFs instead of 2. I never found a DF made a difference for either of mine but I know others swear by it for a good night, so it's definitely worth a try.

I don't think 2 NFs is unusual for a 3 month old, but tiring I know. Do you feel that she's hungry both times? Have you tried resettling at all or just fed straight away?

[ENMS]

It's the first time we try for a DF we never actually needed it with the other 2! I am just desperate for a little sleep right now, I need to at least tweak the timing of her NF's because the way it is right now is exhausting. I can't really get to bed before 9:30 because I need to pump after she is in bed. Then I Wake at 2:15 with her and am up for about 1h. Then she wakes 3h later so around 5:15, I feed her and put her back to bed, but then before I fall asleep the big kids get up. During the summer I could stay in bed a little bit while DH took care of the kids but with school I can't do that anymore, and this is definitely not enough sleep for me. So I am ok with 2 NF's I know it can be normal, but I do need them to be on a different Schedule, kwim?

So, last night, DH did the DF but was not able to burp her. She woke at her usual 2:15 and she wasn't really hungry, but she was very squirmy, I guess she was gassy. It took a while to get her back to sleep (I fed her but she did not take a lot) but then she slept until 7:15 so I still felt rested. I wouldn't mind the 2AM feed if there wasn't one coming at 5AM as well.

Yes, I feed her when she wakes. I know I probably shouldn't but I didn't really give it some thought before last night, it was the first time I realized she was not hungry when I was feeding her. Usually (before the DF) she was definitely hungry at both feeds. So if it happens again, I was thinking of sending DH to resettle her next time? Although it is difficult I find at that age to be sure that she is not hungry. If it is 4h after the DF, she could possibly be hungry, right?

Would W2S be an option to try you think?

[Emami]

Yep, 2 and 5 is a rough combination.  I understand the tiredness, my baby has a tendency towards long NW and by the time she's sorted and I get back to bed it's almost time to get up anyway.

So it does seem like she needs 2 NFs, and yes she could feasibly be hungry 4hrs after the DF, which would make the 5am WU the one to try to resettle. Since she's slept from the 2am NF until morning before hopefully she will catch on quickly. 5am is quite a difficult time for it though as they are often coming into light sleep, and it is close enough to morning to be awkward. With that in mind I would rule out other factors that could be waking her eg light and noise. Do you have black outs and/or use white noise?

I've never used W2S as my DD1 has always been a good sleeper, and DD2's wake ups are random times, but if yours continue to be predictable I would definitely try it

[ENMS]

But see, before the DF she would sleep from 7-2. So now we add the DF and she does a shorter stretch?

We didn't do a DF last night - she woke at 12:30 and 3:30. She did not have a proper feed at BT because she was OT and very agitated.

I don't think i would try to resettle the 5AM feed just because I am scared it would wake up the other 2 if she cries? They are early risers so I think they could easily be awaken at that time.

I guess I will give tje DF a last try for a night or two. I did not know that for some LOs it does not change their NFs. Maybe she's just one of these kids

Yes we have blackouts and white noise!

Thanks a lot for your support I appreciate it.?

[becj86]

DF was a disaster for us, it just didn't work. Sometimes it doesn't. Do you have to pump to produce the DF or would you be able to go to bed earlier if you didn't do the DF? If you can get to bed earlier, I'd just drop I again and go to bed early. I know that's rough on a relationship though :-/

[ENMS]

Well we decided to stop it for now. We may try it again in a few days we'll see!

Thanks ladies xx

[Emami]

Good luck!

[Splatooey]

Hi!
You're describing my situation exactly! How did it gonwhen you dropped the DF? Is your LO still waking twice a night for feeds?  Mine is 13 weeks old and still cries at 2-3 am for another feed.

[ENMS]

Hi! Dropping the DF did not change her NF schedule she still woke at 2 and 5 for a while. Now things are worse she wakes at 11, not sure what is happening!

How long have you been trying the DF?