4 hr easy...getting lost in transition

[teezee]

ok i need some help/advice here...been trying to get lo on 4 hour easy over the last few days - now i realize you are supposed to do it just a little bit at a time...15 min or so...but right before i started switching to 4hr easy she started wanting to eat every two hours SOOO - now i'm in a dilemma of aeasy - how do i get out of this one??  she was doing so well on three hour easy...until the night wakings started and then the two hour easy she tried to put herself on!  she is still waking throughout the night, and i started her on rice cereal a few days ago.  dd is 17 weeks, i cluster feed at about 8 and dreamfeed at 11 or 11:30...how do i get back to EASY and feeding her when she first wakes up??

[deb]

Actually, Natalie has been pulling something similar, and this after she put HERSELF on a 4-hour feeding schedule! As far as I can make out, she's been spending so much time and attention looking around while she nurses that she was losing interest before she was really full. I've started nursing her more often in her room, even in the dark in her room, and sometimes she'll go back to sleep halfway through a boob and finish off her 4 hours now!

Yours might also be going through a growth spurt; Natalie's haven't been quite at the textbook times. I also discovered that only for a while when she first started feeding every 4 hours would she NOT accept food earlier, before then and since she'll take it pretty much whenever it's offered. (little oinker!

Also, bear in mind that night wakings may or may not be a hunger issue; you could try re-settling with a pacifier instead of nursing, or sending DH in to do the job. Longer times between feeds should result in more substantial feeds, and vice versa.

HTH!

[teezee]

the prob is dd won't seem to take a paci lately...on rare occasion only, which makes me wonder if it is teething, and unfortunately dh works midnights   :evil: which leaves me on night duty all alone, most nights, and when he's not dd isn't used to him being there at night and she just gets more upset and is too hard to resettle.  i've tried settling her in every way possible but all she wants is to eat and go back to sleep, and it is a full feeding every time!  i feel that she is eating more per feeding now that i am TRYING to feed her every 3 1/2 - 4 hrs but she is still getting up at night...how i miss the days of a 5 hour stretch at night   :?

[deb]

Well, Natalie just popped her SECOND (yes, you read that right! :shock:) tooth yesterday, so teething isn't out of the question. You could try some Infant Motrin 20 minutes before bedtime and see if it makes a difference.

If she's taking a full feed each time, though, it might be growth spurt or she might need more calories during the day? Just a thought.

My brain is fried. Let me (attempt to) sleep on it. BTW, if it makes you feel any better, my little oinker has YET to give me a 5-hour stretch more than once or twice since she was born....yawn....

[teezee]

sorry for u - that sucks - my mom told me to count my blessings while they last lol!  anyway, i have given her tempra and she always seems to sleep better (a little longer anyway) afterwards.  i have been feeding her all i can, i started her on the 4 hour easy to try and get more calories in her to last longer as per suggestion from a mod on the sleep post.  she was on a great 3 hr easy and it worked so well for us, until the last couple weeks and everything went out of whack and i started feeding on demand basically - always feeding her when she first wakes up and then an hour later, a bit before nap/sleep time.  it seems now she isn't as tired and is up for 2 1/2 hours before a nap during the day and goes to sleep like a charm, a little wind down and then she's out like a light! all by herself with no sh/pat..where if i just followed yawns, we would be fight to get her to sleep for even longer.  maybe it's just milestones...don't  know...just hope it doesn't last much longer...husband works midnights and i'm getting tired :shock:

[Katet]

The rice cereal may also be confusing the issue, as in the early days it doesn't actually always take the edge of hunger & babies can get upset tummies that are confused for hunger. I would try to get the milk feeding sorted, before going to solids to fill up.
Also have to agree with Deb, this is the age of distraction & sometimes they just don't feed properly in the day & so need to fill up at night. I often feed Liam, then give him a kick for 5mins & offer again, most times he takes the same size feed the second time & does good long stretches at night & he is a heffalumpa at 9kg & 72cm (20lb & 28.5inches) & only 4.5 mo... if I don't do the second offer on most of his 4 day feeds, he will wake for a 2nd night feed ( he only feeds at 3/4am, no df) & then feed 3 hourly in the day & then cycle of 3 hourly at night... so I know he gets distracted!

[teezee]

well, maybe i will stop with the cereal until i get these feedings and routine back on track  she just seems to enjoy her cereal soo much!  anyway, maybe i will try offering her a bit more a few min after a feed, i'm just nervous to do it b/c two weeks ago she started throwing up every time i fed her and when i went to the hospital they said everything was ok and she prob overate, which she barely ate at all when she was throwing up so i don't understand that, but now i don't want to feed her too much at once for fear that she'll do it again, i mean i'd rather get what i am into her right now than have it all come out...she is/was a reflux baby (silent reflux) but has NEVER thrown up much less spit up...

[Katet]

She may well have thrown up due to a big air bubble, my ds#1 used to do that a lot, I though he had reflux at first (thanks to a bad health nurse) but I then found out it can happen for many reasons.