Author Topic: Snacking baby fussy at breast  (Read 1885 times)

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Offline Tabathagucci

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Snacking baby fussy at breast
« on: May 04, 2016, 17:20:35 pm »
My 12 week old is mostly a 30 min napper which I'm trying to fix but in the meantime she's taken to wanting to eat every 1.5-2 hours if she's awake.  The problem is by that time I don't have much milk and she gets frustrated  because it's not coming out fast enough I think. 

Let me add that I had an oversupply until a few days ago when my body all of a sudden seemed to adjust and is now producing just enough.  I think maybe she got used to the mill just flowing out and is now a bit lazy at sucking?  When I hold her off and feed at 2.5-3 hours she's much less fussy and appears to get a full feed.

My dilemma is, with the 30 min naps, if I want to hold her off I'll have to put her to sleep again before I feed her.  Is this the right thing to do?  Her A time seems to be 1h15-25 min, less if her naps are shorter but not totally sure on this either...

Offline Scottishmummy

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Re: Snacking baby fussy at breast
« Reply #1 on: May 05, 2016, 08:18:44 am »
Hi
I think you have a thread on the EASY board as well and are getting help with your routine there so don't want to confuse things with routine suggestions so Just a couple of questions:

What feeding cues is she giving you?  Some short nappers cry on waking but are actually crying from being OT and seeking comfort rather than hungry.  My DS did this and I thought he was always wanting to feed on waking but actually I could distract him and hold off for a little longer.

That said BF around 2-2.5 at this age are not uncommon but it does sound like she's not fully hungry at the 2hr mark & you're getting better feeds with longer intervals.

Have you tried distracting her with going into another room/activity? With short naps you often get an EAS, AEAS pattern, which is fine too and quite common at this age.

Sometimes feed and sleep time does clash, then it is seeing what your baby will do. Some won't go to sleep if too close to feed, in which case you feed early.  Some will settle to sleep before the feed and will then feed on waking. 
« Last Edit: May 05, 2016, 08:21:28 am by Scottishmummy »
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Offline Scottishmummy

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Re: Snacking baby fussy at breast
« Reply #2 on: May 05, 2016, 08:25:12 am »
I should add that she might also be going through a growth spurt- are the 1.5-2hr feeds a new thing or have they being going on for a while?
If it's a GS she will need to feed more frequently for a few days but then go longer between feeds again by herself.
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Offline Tabathagucci

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Re: Snacking baby fussy at breast
« Reply #3 on: May 05, 2016, 14:30:58 pm »
Hi thanks!  Yes I do have a thread in easy.  :)
So she doesn't often  cry upon waking, she's usually very happy.  And I don't always feed her upon waking, just when she asks. She has a certain demanding cry that almost turns into a bark and nothing else will make her happy even a paci.  I can distract her for sure by going outside, etc. but this is usually short lived.  However, with some years yesterday I was able to feed her every 2.5-3 hours in the first half of the day and every 2 or so later on as she got fussier and more overtired.  It worked well for all feedings except the last one, which was after 1.5 hours because it was bed time.  She got annoyed at the flow and I had to switch sides a few times and express with my hand.  However, after feeding her at 7 pm she slept till 4:30 am with a 30 min waking at 8:20 where we soothed her back to sleep so she wasn't hungry!!! 
I think she may have had a growth spurt so maybe that's it and now she's going into leap 3 where she just wants to suckle and not eat.
Anyway, my main question was could I put her down to sleep again without any feeds at all?  For example, if she feeds at 10 am, asleep at 10:30 wakes at 11, need to put her down about 12 again and to nurse her in time would be only 1.5 hours between....

Offline Scottishmummy

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Re: Snacking baby fussy at breast
« Reply #4 on: May 05, 2016, 19:08:53 pm »
Anyway, my main question was could I put her down to sleep again without any feeds at all?  For example, if she feeds at 10 am, asleep at 10:30 wakes at 11, need to put her down about 12 again and to nurse her in time would be only 1.5 hours between....

Yes, you can. If she's not ready to feed before the nap and will go to sleep when you put her down, give it a try.  It's likely that she'll only take a short nap and wake for the feed...but it sounds like she's only taking short naps regardless of when you feed.

Great night sleep, btw, maybe she's feeding a lot in the day so she can tank up for that fantastic stretch of night sleep?
"Touchy/Spirited" DS


"Textbook" DD