Night and day confusion? 7 week, 5 days old. Sleep deprived mummy

[Lasm2016]

Hi there,

My son was born at 36+6 weighing 6lb 4oz. He is now 7 weeks and 5 days old weighing 11lb 2oz.  He dropped 10% of his weight initially, not uncommon in babies who are born early but not helped by severe tongue tie.  Because of this feeding didn't get off to the best start - we were combination feeding, then exclusively breastfed (once weight gain put back on), then exclusively bottle fed (due to fast led down that he couldn't cope with).  Now he is back to being combination feeding - generally I am trying to breastfeed first feed of the day (7am) and bedtime feed (7pm) but my milk supply is low due to the rocky start and other health issues so trying to get it back up isn't easy (esp with a 2 year old to look after!)

I think he is confusing his nights and days - he sleeps a lot in the day and sometimes uninterested in food.  In the night time he wakes much more regularly for food, although still sleeps in-between.

A week or so ago he was feeding roughly every 3 hours in the day and every up to 4 hours in the night.  Very little A time (maybe 30mins - 1hr max) but sleeping at night fine so I put this down to him being born early, still needing sleep etc.  A typical day looked like this...

E 8am Breastfeed or 4oz
S 9-11.45 (2hrs 45mins).  No A time!
E 11.45am 5oz
A 12.15pm
S 12.45-1.15pm (30 mins)
E 2pm 4oz
S 3.15-5pm (1.5hrs)
E 5.30pm 3oz
A 6pm bath, story with big sister, bed by 7pm
S 7pm-8pm (1 hour)
E 8pm Breastfeed or 5oz
S until next feed
E 12pm 5oz
S until next feed
E 4am 5oz
S until wake up at 7 or 8am

Every day isn't obviously the same as the timings might be out by an hour or so or a nap might be slightly different but generally three long naps and a shorter one between 7pm and 7am.

Today so far looks like this...(this is just based on last night from the middle of the night feed as I haven't been recording).  Generally though I have noticed that his feeds have gradually reduced from around 5oz to around 3oz and today so far looks like this...

E 1am-2am 3oz
S until next feed
E 3am-4am 3oz
S until next feed
E 6.30am-7am 2oz
A 7am-8am
S 8am-10.30am (2.5hrs)
E 10.30-11.30 6oz (!!)
S 11.30-2.30pm (2hrs)
E 2.30-3pm 2oz
A 3pm-4pm (dozed off at 3.30pm for 10mins then I woke him as he needed nappy change)
S 4pm -5pm (1hr)
E 5-5.30pm 5oz

- Has he switched day for night??
- Why does he seem to be taking smaller, more erratic amounts (6oz then 2oz)??
- Wonder Weeks say this week is his first developmental leap so do I just put it down to that and get through it??

I would also add that at night time he is very good at self settling - he will go down in the cot awake and makes happy noises and then falls asleep.  Generally this is true of the first long nap of the day too.  The other naps he is not so good i.e. he doesnt want to be put down, will only sleep in the sling or being pushed around in the pram.  Not sure if this makes a difference?  I'm not too bothered about self settling at this early stage of his life.  I am giving him comfort and help if he needs it but this self settling pattern is just something I have observed.

Thanks in advance
Laura

[creations]

Hi there
Sorry you didn't get any replies for a couple of days.  We do try to make sure everyone gets a response but sometimes threads are missed.

At first glance I'd say the sleepiness is likely because he's still in his new born sleepy phase and also because his adjusted age is younger than the 7wks birth age. I wouldn't worry too much about it and to me it does not look like day/night switch at this point because he is still sleeping between the feeds at night (ie just waking to feed, not looking for A time).
The spacing between feeds looks fine too, at this age and due to having a younger adjusted age it is normal to need feeds at night every 3 or 4hrs, the night feeds will gradually extend to give you one longer stretch but I wouldn't expect that just yet to be honest.

There are lots of tips for increasing supply for BF, I'll ask for someone to pop over with BF experience to have a look over your post.

[Lasm2016]

Thanks so much, that is comforting to read. My hunch was that it must be to do with adjusted age. He is still pretty much sleeping all day and all night, waking 3-4 hour day and night just for food. His awake time in the day might be 60 mins at a time, sometimes less and very unlikely to be more. I think he’s awake no more than 3 hours between 7-7pm. It’s nice to have a sleepy baby of course esp with a 2 year old in tow, there just comes a point where you start to worry it’s a bit too much and hope nothing is wrong! He’s still not smiling or focusing on objects either but hopefully that’s all down to adjusted age, although the doc referred us to get his eyes tested just incase given he’s 8 weeks now

[*Ali*]

Have you considered a supplemental nursing system? Are you pumping to maintain supply if you're hoping to get back to EBF?