Trouble with transitioning to 3.5hrly feeds

[Scottishmummy]

DD is 4 months old (19wks on Monday). Over the last fortnight she has increased her A time to 1.45-2hrs.  I've been feeding her every 3hrs since she was 3mo but recently she rarely seemed to look actively for the feed & had started feeding every 3hrs round the clock (I.e. Overnight too) when she had previously gone for 4-5hrs between night feeds...so I thought it might be time to try extending time between her feeds to 3.5hrly.

I started gradually, following advice e on FAQ board, increasing time between feeds by only 5 mins every 2-3 days.  I thought we'd be there in a week but we're having trouble progressing. DD is fussing a lot for the feed by 3-3hrs10min and it's hard to keep her going even for another 5-10 mins when she's upset and clearly hungry. And our nights, oh dear! I thought feeding every 3hrs was disruptive to sleep but she's now waking even more frequently and awake for up to 1.5hrs at a time. 

So I'm not sure whether I've just timed this badly and coincided with a growth spurt & sleep regression, or whether she actually needs 3hrly feeds(she's a big baby- 75th centile for weight, 90th for height)?

And if she needs 3hrly feeds, how can I work that into the longer A times without getting stuck with short naps?

Any thoughts or suggestions very much appreciated.

[michaeljacknnugg]

We're in a similar position in that we were feeding every 2.5hrs and he's starting to go longer, but it's all a bit messy.

I will often offer an extra feed if I know he won't make it through a nap before he needs to eat again. In the morning he seems to be going ages between feeds but this then translates to every two hours in the latter stages of the night. Atm we're getting 5-6hrs in the first part of the night so I'm ok with it, just don't want to shoot myself in the foot.

Are you offering one side or two? Any top ups in there?

 I'm fairly convinced that we need 7-8 feeds per day and that sometimes they need to concertina a bit. With DS1 we did 7,10,1,3,5,7 and then 7,11,3,5,7 if that makes any sense?

[Scottishmummy]

Thanks MJ&N. I offer both sides every feed but no top ups.  Not sure how they work without reducing the amount taken at a full feed?

On 3 hrly , I fed around 7,10,1,4 & 6.15 (DD is usually ready for bed by 6.30/45)
At the moment we're on 7,10.10;13.20;16.30;18.15, trying to move to 3hr15 between feeds but she's already fussing a lot by 3.10.
Night feeds were around 10,1&4 (previously used to only have 11 & 3/4) but the last few nights she's woken at 9.30 then every 2-3 hrs after.

I wonder if she is having a growth spurt though as when she's waking so frequently at night the last couple of nights, only feeding will resettle her.

[michaeljacknnugg]

Hmmm. Can you stick an extra feed into the afternoon somehow? That seemed to help with DS1.

As I understand it, a top up would be relatively close to a nap but not immediately before it, on the side last fed from. Yes it would stimulate more milk production but because it would have been recently 'used' she'd be getting fatty milk and so it would keep her going longer. Mods, please correct me if I'm wrong.

[grace annes mommy]

I wonder if she is having a growth spurt though as when she's waking so frequently at night the last couple of nights, only feeding will resettle her.

For the 4 month GS, J went from 0 or 1 NFs to 3 NFs.  We are only now back to 1 NF 2+weeks later.  I was pumping like crazy to keep up.  Now, she isn't taking nearly as much and I have milk leftover.  So, I'd say if you're due, it sounds like the GS to me.

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Totally sounds like a GS. We went from 0 to 2-3 nf's then too...and we were already feeding every 2 hours (feeds and top ups) in the day!! Was crazy but we managed. Personally I would go back to more demand feeding right now and offer top ups prior to naps. Or alternatively the top up could be 30 min or so after the feed.

[Scottishmummy]

Thank you, yes I think GS might be most likely so am demand feeding and will try again in extending her time between feeds when it passes. I think she needs at least 3.15 to avoid feeds & naps clashing.

[Scottishmummy]

I do think I need to start top ups before naps too. Not tried it yet but she's wanting to feed 3hrly still in day (more frequently at night!) but won't settle for naps until at least 2hrs A time, sometimes slightly more. 
Exhausted from nights but will try to work out a plan for timing top ups through the tiredness fog.

[michaeljacknnugg]

If it's any help, here's our day so far:
E -6.30
E- 8.00
S - 8.15-10.30 with a ten min break (resettle)
E 10.30
E - 12.15 ish
S -12.30, still asleep. Will offer feed when he wakes, and then probably around five and at bt.

We're only on day two so don't know what effect it's having, but he's been waking up starving so definitely couldn't do without the top up.

[Scottishmummy]

Thank you MJ&N. It's taken me a couple of days to get my head round it all but decided to try a top up today before DD's 2nd nap as this is only long one I usually get.  So today has gone like this so far:

Wu & E: 7.15
A: 2hrs5
S: 9.20-10.10

E: 10.15 & top up 11.45
A:2hrs
S  12.10-13.45 (with me resettling at 12.45 & 13.25)

E:13.50
A: 2hrs
S 15.45

I'm expecting a 40 min nap & 6.30 BT. I usually feed her split feed 5pm one side & 6pm other side. and will see how night feeds go.

Only trouble with top up just before nap was that she got sleepy on the feed, not asleep but enough to make her a bit harder to settle for nap & needing more effort to extend nap.  I think I'll try top up earlier & closer to main feed tomorrow to see if that works better for avoiding UT at naptime.

Such a trial & error process, isn't it?

[michaeljacknnugg]

Indeed it is! I did very much the same thing two days in a row and got completely different results 

Would she take both sides at 5 and again at 6 if you offered? I'm just wondering if that could help.

[Scottishmummy]

She takes both sides at 6, but only if I've only offered one side at 5!

[michaeljacknnugg]

Darn!!