9 week old feeding every 1-2hours

[inazulueta]

Hi mommas.

Need help with my almost 9 week old DS. he used to sleep 3-4hrs during the day and 4-5hrs at night. he was born 6.1lbs and when I became aware that he should feed every 2hrs that's when he started feeding every 2hrs... up to now!! i feed him with expressed bm only. he takes 3-3.5oz per feeding. sometimes if it's not enough I do follow it with another 1-1.5oz after 30mins to an hour. i know it's not growth spurt because he's been like this for 3weeks now. he naps well during the day (1.5 to 2hrs; 5-6hrs daytime sleep). his wake time is just 1hr, if I lengthen it he's already fussy and OT. at night after his first long stretch of sleep from 6:30pm-10:30, he wakes up every 2hrs to feed 3oz until he wakes at 6am (I don't give him more than that to avoid spit ups). I'm afraid to try feeding him with 5oz since he already spits up his 3.5oz sometimes. How can I stretch the feeding time to 3hrs? he is accustomed to feeding everytime he wakes up and when he is about to go to sleep. Advice needed. thank you!

[creations]

Hello and welcome to BW forums

If your LO is used to feeding at every wake up and sleep time he could be getting a feed to sleep habit. I would try to put at least a few mins awake time between the E (eat) and S (sleep) in your routine.  Feeding at WU and S times can also lead to taking smaller amounts of milk and snacking, so just be aware of that, LOs can get used to taking small amounts very frequently.
That said, if there is any reflux or spit up after larger amounts then it could be that your LO really does just need to eat every 2hrs up to this point and just begin to gradually extend it. 2hrs 5 mins one day then 2hrs 10 min the next.  It isn't so hard if you increase by a few mins daily rather than trying to make a big jump to 3hrs.  I would expect a 9 wk old to be able to stretch slowly up to 3hrs unless there are health issues.
hope that helps

[inazulueta]

Thank you for your response. That makes sense. I think it has become a habit to feed him each time he wakes and sleep. I will try to delay his E gradually esp daytime. How about at night when he's just in a hurry to feed and it seems impossible to delay it even for a minute? Will it ever change to 3hrs?

[inazulueta]

Hi again. I tried delaying his feeds and DS didn't like it. But never gave in. I looked at his feeding log and found out that i made him a snacker since he was few weeks old. I feed him ebm and i sometimes bf him. His first nap i would bf him to sleep. He has to sleep after an hour of waking as he is sleepy by that time, so i would either bf or give ebm. When he wakes after max of 2hrs (sometimes) sleep wants to be fed again. And the cycle goes on since he can't be awake for too long and i can't let him sleep too long. How do I get started? 

Also, i would like him to wake up at 7. He wakes up at 6am. Sleeps at 7pm.  I have seen samples of this routine but i cant seem to fit him because he feeds all the time.

6am - 3oz
7:30 - bf/sleep
8:45 - awake/1.5
9:45/10 - feed/sleep....
(5 1/2 daytime)

6pm - awake feed
7pm - feed sleep
10:30 - feed
Then feed every 2hrs

Any advice appreciated. TIA

[creations]

When you give the ebm are you making sure there is plenty in the bottle for him?  There should be some milk left over (to throw away) after he has eaten to his fill.  If the bottle is drained you need to increase how much you put in.  Do you offer both breasts at a BF?

It isn't too hard to put a few mins A between E and S for the first nap and then shush/pat to sleep.  A nappy change often works. Then you can start to get a cycle of EASEAS instead of ESEAES.
Delaying feeds by 5 mins each day shouldn't cause too much frustration for him.

At night is he sleeping in his own cot or are you co-sleeping?  just wondering if this is impacting on the 2hlrly E through the night.  Is there ever a longer stretch of say 3 hrs?  He's actually still very little though so I wouldn't worry too much about the night feeds at this point.

[inazulueta]

I appreciate a lot that you are still here for me.
1. No. He finishes the whole bottle everytime
2. I offer one only. He tends to fall asleep after 15-20mins. Sometimes i bf after pumping and not the other way because he tends to spit up a lot and doesn't stay longer than 10mins. If i bf before pumping, he falls asleep before "emptying" my breast.
3. He sleeps in is crib. We haven't tried S/P yet. I tried putting gap between e and s and he wailed.. Sounded as if he wanted to eat more. I am just concerned that he would spit up if i give him more than 3oz during feeds. He's 12lbs (if that info helps)
4. There were times he slept for 3hrs after his 6:30-10pm stretch but very few

my caregiver came in today to help. Haven't gotten any dexent sleep. I still have 2 boys y& 3. What do you suggest we could do to help db?

Thanks a lot. Your help inspires me to keep persevering.

[creations]

1. No. He finishes the whole bottle everytime

I only have a minute right now - off on the school run - but certainly you can increase this right away.
I'll also ask someone to pop over with BF advice to see if we can see about these 2hrly feeds.

[inazulueta]

I tried increasing his ebm towards nighttime, from 3oz before now he took 6oz (i thought it was a lot but he kept it in!) and it did affected his sleep. Before he sleeps 6:30pm-10/10:30, when he took more ebm, he woke at 12:30 and 4am. Wow. I hope his sleeps like this! Will update after a week.. It's just been 2days when i tried his feeding increase.

Thank you for the advice we were able to sleep!!

[creations]

That's a great update.
Sorry no one with BF advice has been able to stop by yet, I've asked for someone to come over when they can.

It could well be though that you need to be offering both breasts at a BF. I realise you don't want LO to spit up and it's true that babies with reflux might need feeding smaller amounts and more frequently but I think feeding every hour sounds too often and it could maybe be causing some additional problems.

Certainly with the bottles of ebm you need to offer what baby wants to take, make sure there is enough that baby can feed as much as he wants and then he will turn away and refuse more.  You don't have to try to 'force' more into him, to finish the bottle either though.  Let him guide the amount.

Lots of babies with reflux manage to take significantly more milk at BT and in the night (dream feed or night feed) for some reason, perhaps because they are more relaxed. This was the case with my DS who took very little through the day but double the amount or more at BT and again for his NF.  Your baby might not be diagnosed with reflux and may not need medication but it's handy to know something about it.

Thank you for the advice we were able to sleep!!

Make the most of it while you can

[*Ali*]

Hi, so sorry for the delay. Please can you clarify are you both breastfeeding directly and giving pumped milk in a bottle? How many ounces is he having in total from the bottles in 24hrs? Do you practise paced feeding? What is the reason you are pumping and bottle feeding regularly? Has baby been checked for tongue tie?

If you could post an example of a day with details of breastfeeds and bottles that would be helpful go see what's going on. Eg are you using the bottles to top up or replace whole feeds etc.

Is baby having plenty of wet and dirty nappies and gaining weight?

The official advice from WHO and NHS is to breastfeed on demand so I wouldn't schedule feeds by the clock. It's fine to make sure you are responding to demands for feeds though and not just when tired or uncomfortable for example.

[inazulueta]

     Hello! Sorry it's been a while since my last post. We've been through lots of adjustments since our caregiver arrived.
     My then 9wk old is now 13wo. To answer your questions:
  -i'm just feeding on one side because its just too uncomfortable for me on the other and it makes him fussy when he feels im not managing him well. I was like this with ds2 but eventually bf on both when he got to 5mos. Also at he beginning of every bf ds3 stiffens and kicks a lot but eventually relaxes. Sometimes it's a challenge to bf him properly. He would unlatch from moving too much. what could be the reason? He's not OT because i make sure we are already winding down an hr after he wakes up (he's already sleepy by that time).
-I bf and give pumped milk. In a day 24-28oz from 8am-8am the next day. I bottle feed at night because i need to sleep. This worked for us. Since increasing his oz before bedtime, he only feeds once or 2x at night. He feeds while asleep, no problem now.
-I pump and feed because in the morning, i have to take care of ds1 and ds2 going to school. When theyre at school, i bf when i have the chance to like when he naps again. I do nurse him to sleep. Today's different. I successfully SP'd him to sleep! More on that later.
-He has no tongue tie. He poops and pees a lot, so no problem at all
    today he is 13weeks and also today we've tried SP by accident. The 45min intruder has been disturbing him for 3days now. He was fussing this morning while i swayed him on my arms made me wonder if it's because of my bony arms, his neck and cheeks were sweating so i put him down on his crib. Sp'd for 5mins and saw he was settling a bit, started to cry, i picked him up while patting, put him down and SP'd for like 30mins. He slept after 10mins but i extended the pat to 30mins since i can see the jolt coming and he's not yet in a deep sleep. It's been 2hrs now and he is still asleep. Im so happy!!! Will surely keep up on doing it. Will update u when i have the chance!!

Thanks a lot!

[inazulueta]

I forgot to mention that my caregiver attends to him at night so in the mornings, the naps are more up to me. Sometimes i would give him the bottle if i think he didnt get enough from the breast and he's ok. Sometimes he's ok with only bf.

[creations]

Hi there - it sounds like you have had great improvements since you started this thread   I'm pleased for you.
The nights sounds much better since you increased the milk feeds and that 2hr nap must have been wonderful for you even though you were patting for 30 mins - it's totally normal to spend that amount of time helping LO settle and sleep in the early days of sleep training but gradually your LO won't need quite so much help and you will get that nap time as Y time more often.
That long nap must have naturally extended the time between E too.

I'll let Ali take up the BF questions as she is very knowledgeable and experienced where as I am not.

[inazulueta]

Thanks a lot! You've been very helpful.

[*Ali*]

Latching on and suckling from the breast is a very different skill from sucking milk from a bottle. You might find that he gets a little confused and frustrated that the milk is taking a while to come when he's latching on after a night of bottle feeding. Just keep at it and reassure him.

Sounds like he's getting plenty of milk. 24oz a day is average so that's great.

If you don't mind me asking, what is a caregiver?