Feeding every hour and sleeping on me

[*Ali*]

The BT meltdown after a day out will just be OT from the messed up naps. It's just a case of dealing with it with extra comfort really.

You could try extending the first A time by another 5 minutes or so. Have you tried wake to sleep?

[Fisher001]

Hi - my LO has now extended her awake time to 1.45 to 2 hours and still napping for 45 to 50 mins. Although I think she is trying to extend her midday nap as she has woken up from a 45 min nap, fed and gone back to sleep for another 45 mins two days in a row now.

She feeds when she wakes and before she goes to sleep which is quite a lot.

What should I be aiming for with an EBF at 14 weeks?

[deb]

Knowing that she is waking at the 45-minute mark, can you try to be there when she initially stirs and try to re-settle her before she wakes fully? In our case it was a spit-out pacifier that caused the 45-minute waking, and when I could get there and re-insert it before she even realized it was out, she began sleeping through!

[Fisher001]

I've tried extending her naps but it's not working I'm afraid. I don't think she is quite ready yet. That said, I have been feeding after she wakes and again before she sleeps. She has now started feeding every hour!! This has been happening for a few weeks. I'm concerned I don't have enough milk for her. She is 6.6kg at 14 weeks and ebf. I expressed this evening and got 75ml after 20 mins which is double the time she feeds for.

How can I work towards getting her to feed for longer and less frequently? Boobs and mama are a bit exhausted.

PS - still won't take a bottle. Tried every day for 3 weeks. Various teats, flows and breastmilk/ formula.

[deb]

Around the 3-month mark babe es tend to nurse more efficiently, so they're needing less time to get fed as your flow and their ability to keep up increase. At 14 weeks you might have hit your 3-month growth spurt.

On my ancient Kindle and sleepy but will try to re-read in the morning for more thoughts.

[Fisher001]

Yes, she has always been an efficient feeder. 10 - 15 mins tops. Her naps have reduced from 45 mins to 30 mins and she has been fussing loads when going down for a nap. We tried unsuccessfully for months to introduce a paci. She started fussing before bedtime two days ago so I have her a paci and now she won't nap without it. Concerned I've introduced a sleep association at this late stage?!?!

In addition, she has started jolting awake abut 5 mins into her nap. Is this normal. Has she started the 4 month sleep regression? How can I help her nap better?

Strange that all of a sudden she has become more needy at nap time. Is this common?

[deb]

There may be a developmental leap going on if you're also seeing a behavior change.

Can you post what EASY looks like for you right now?

[Fisher001]

This was today.

Sunday

4.00 feed

7.00 awake & feed
8.00 feed
9.00 sleep

9.35 awake
10.00 feed
11.00 feed & sleep

11.40 awake
13.00 feed
13.10 sleep

14.00 awake & feed
16.10 feed & sleep

17.00 awake
17.30 feed
18.00 bath time
18.30 feed & cuddles
19.00 asleep in bed

11.00 feed

[*Ali*]

I just wanted to add that what you pump is no indication at all of what your LO gets when she feeds. Babies are much more efficient than a pump.
Have you tried holding through the jolts?

[Fisher001]

Oh I see, thanks Ali. I have tried to hold through the jolts and now that she has all of a sudden taken to the pacifier and won't sleep without it, I tried popping it back in before she wakes up but it hasn't worked.  It must be developmental as it's just happened over night. She use to go down without a fuss, now she wails if I leave the room and has taken to her pacifier overnight.

[Fisher001]

This was yesterday

Monday

4.00 feed
5.00 feed

6.00 awake
6.30 feed
7.10 feed
7.20 sleep

8.00 awake
8.30 feed
9.15 feed
9.40 sleep

10.25 awake
11.30 feed
12.20 sleep

13.00 awake
14.00 feed
14.40 sleep

15.30 awake
16.00 feed
17.20 sleep

17.45 awake
18.30 feed
19.40 sleep

11.00 dream feed

[Fisher001]

Do you have any advice on pacifiers. For some reason she has taken to one overnight and now won't nap without it. Totally my fault. She use to suck her hands but I've been feeding her before putting her awake in her cot due to the change in awake time and bf schedule.

A couple of days ago she wouldn't settle for ages so I gave her a pacifier and now she's hooked!

She'll sleep in her pushchair without one. I wait for her to drop off before removing it so that it doesn't wake her up when it falls out. She hasn't stated asking for it if she wakes in the night either...but concerned it could be a slippery slope.

[deb]

I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing to have the pacifier. Both mine used one; we did phase it out w/DD#1, although in retrospect I regretted it and instead bought a dozen of the so DD#2 could just grope around, find one, and re-plug herself. (I want to say she worked this out around 5 months but not going to swear to it, as it HAS been 11 years now!) The only issues we had with the sprinkle-them-all-around-the-cot approach was when they got stuck in the bumpers or fell out altogether, but usually w/8-12 in there she could usually find ONE. Both mine, especially #2, came with a HUGE need to suckle on something, and I referred having it be the paci rather than ME.

Looking at the EASY, that is a LOT of feeds. Have you tried, instead of the second E per A time, giving her the paci? She may be looking more to suckle for comfort than to feed, and it would give the breasts time to "refill" for fuller feeds. Too-frequent feeds and you can get a foremilk-hindmilk imbalance and she may not be getting enough of the really rich milk that's more satisfying. I'd definitely be trying to stretch out those E times.

Also, are you getting enough to drink yourself? Make sure you're getting lots of liquid so that your body has plenty to make milk with.

[Fisher001]

Thanks for the advice about the paci, just find it odd that for 3 months she wasn't interested and now she's obsessed. So far it's not posing an issue, just hope it doesn't turn into a bad sleep association in the future.

Now that you mention it, I don't have much to drink in a day. Maybe two cups of coffee and one glass of water at the most. She has been having green poos lately too.

I've tried to extend her feeds beyond her nap time but she feeds before naps at the moment otherwise won't go down. Can you recommend a schedule for 1.45 awake time and 45 nap time?

[*Ali*]

A paci is recommended at sleep times until at least 6mo by SIDS experts to reduce the risk of cot death so it's a good thing ☺