9 week old waking 2-3 hourly at night (?hungry)

[Lauren267]

I would love anyones opinion on how I can help my son to sleep more at night.
He is 9 weeks old and exclusively breastfed. Overnight he feeds 2-3 hourly and he is generally unsettled from 430am until we get up. It is really starting to take it’s toll on me.  I’m so exhausted I can barely function. I know I’m not much good to my son or anyone else if I’m this tired but I am really at a loss as to what to do.

I know that BW says babies should feed 3-4 hourly but he can barely make 3 hours. I have tried to use the dummy to push his feeds out overnight but that doesn’t settle him.  Before starting BW (it’s been 3 days) I would just feed him before he woke fully so he went back to sleep easily. Maybe I’ve created bad habits?

He usually has about 10 feeds during the day, full feeds too.  He finishes both side during the day (only one side at night) and I try to make sure he completely drains it so he gets the hindmilk.

During the day he sleeps in his bassinette in his room. He is a catnapper generally. He struggles to roll over into the next sleep cycle. Sshh/pat doesn’t seem to do too much. The dummy helps him to fall asleep. If it falls out when he is asleep, he is fine. If he loses it before he is fully asleep he will cry.
At night he is next to our bed in his bassinette.

Is there any way I can stretch out his night feeds?
Should I let him fully wake up during the night to see if he’s really hungry?

Here’s our EASY for yesterday.

6:25 –  Wake and E (I was aiming for 7am but what can you do?)
6:45 –  A
7:30 –  E (4 mins)
7:45 –  S (45 mins, 35 minutes of shh/pat, another 45 mins sleep)
10:00 –Wake and E
10:15 - A
11:30 –S (2 hours 25 min – this NEVER happens! – No resettling required)
2:00  – Wake and E
2:20 – A
3:30 – S (50 mins)
4:20 – Wake and E
4:45 – A
6:00 – S (10 mins broken, very unsettled)
6:20 – Wake and E
7:00pm – S (He went down really easily)
9:50 – E
12:45 – E
2:45 – E
4:30 – Grunting and unsettled, tried dummy to push out feeding.
5:45 – Unable to resettle, Fed and up for the day.


Thank you so much for your  help. I need it. :/

[ginger428]

Hi and welcome to BW!

Hugs! So sorry to hear how exhausted you are! These first few months are incredibly tough. Are you a FTM? (First time mom... I am and every stage was a shock!) It certainly gets better and he will eventually sleep longer at night, but I know how tough it is at the moment.  Hang in there and we'll support you as best as we can.

Has he ever slept more than 3 hours at night/ or how long has this been going on... such as since 7 weeks, 5 weeks, etc..? I'm trying to figure out if it may be a growth spurt, especially if he drains your breast at each night feed and suckles strongly.

But definitely Yes, to waiting for him to wake and seeing if he'll either fall back asleep or cry for you. You might be attending to him too quickly.  Do you use shh/pat at night as well? Does he cry hard at night for you or just having trouble falling back asleep? Again, it definitely helps to give him the opportunity to fall back asleep without a feed.

[Lauren267]

Yes I'm a FTM. These last couple of months have been a steep learning curve to say the least!

I think you might be right about me responding too quickly. I think I tend to jump in and feed him before he fully wakes so it's easier to get him back to sleep.
To be honest, the idea of waiting for him to fully wake and having to settle him again sounds horrible lol. It's really hard to shh / pat him into the next cycle during the day. But I think I might have to try it to see if he's really hungry.

He has VERY occasionally (like once or twice) had a 4 hour stretch. Usually from 7 til 11. But has been pretty consistent with his feeds since birth.

Thank you so much for your reply.

[ginger428]

How has it been lately? Any success at night with waiting to respond?

I meant to ask how is his general behavior... Happy, calm, fussy, etc... 

[Lauren267]

Thank you for asking.

Well his day naps have been going really well. He's getting at least a 2 hr nap a day and 2 1.5hrs, then the catnap before bed and he is much happier (although I miss him because he's always sleeping lol). The witching hour meltdowns seem related to his naps. We had a day out today which messed with his naps so he's grizzly tonight.

As for overnight, I tried to shhh/pat him, I also tried the dummy and seeing if he would resettle. I let him cry a bit as well so I could figure out what the problem was. I think it's actually hunger. He wakes, cries and chews his fist and smacks his lips like he does when he's hungry during the day. If I pick him up he'll root around too. So I guess it's just 2 hourly feedings overnight that I have to get used to. :/

At least the naps are going well.

[ginger428]

Any improvement at nights? Or success with stretching feeding times? The 2 hr feeding should really improve soon.

I know he is approaccing 11/12 weeks. I hope he can stretch his times. Is he a smaller baby, or any issues with reflux, or daytime feeding?

Hugs again and I hope to hear things are better.

[Lauren267]

No improvement I'm afraid. We even introduced a bottle of formula at night in the hopes that it would fill him for longer but it made no difference. I'm also dealing with some BF issues which aren't helping.
I have made an appointment with the child health nurse for tomorrow for some advice because I'm really starting to struggle. Especially since getting him his naps means almost never leaving the house. He's too interested in everything to nap in the pram :/
If he misses a nap, all hell breaks loose.

[becj86]

Have you tried giving him the dummy when he wakes? that was my golden way to tell if L was hungry in those first weeks and months - dummy and back to sleep = not hungry, dummy spit and scream = hungry.

Have you tried napping in a carrier/wrap? My DS who was too interested in everything to nap in the pram would sleep (albeit when slightly older) in the wrap, close to me if I was walking. At least it got me out of the house...

Do you have a post on breastfeeding board re: the BF issues? CHN can be great if you get a good one. FX for you

[Lauren267]

Yeah I have. The dummy will buy me an hour or so about 9, 10 at night. After that he will only tolerate it for about 5 minutes. He fed every 90 minutes last night! And screamed until I fed him when I tried to put him off with nappy changes and dummy. Maybe a growth spurt? I weighed him and he's put on 300g since Saturday. That seems like a LOT!!!

Hopefully I have some luck with the nurse today.

Thanks so much for your help and concern. I really appreciate it.

[Lauren267]

Oh and I might try that with the wrap! Good tip! Thanks.

[becj86]

Maybe a growth spurt? I weighed him and he's put on 300g since Saturday. That seems like a LOT!!!

Yeah, sounds like it. DS struggled to gain for the first 6 weeks or so and at one stage was putting on 500g/week which was just crazy! 2 months is a time for a GS, keep feeding. This too shall pass xx

With the wrap, even if he's not sleeping, at least he's maybe happy to snuggle and you can move about...