Sleep or Eating - which is more important?

[Sydney'sMom]

Hi all

My daughter is 5 weeks old. I find that in the past couple of days, she may want to take 2 hour naps during the day instead of the 1 1/2 hours.  Should I wake her to stay on track with her 3 hour feedings or let her sleep the extra half hour?

Also, the book indicates that many babies go through growth spurts at 6 weeks of age, is it possible at 5 weeks?  The reason I ask is that last night she ate at 9:00 pm (i quit DFs as she still woke at the same time regardless) and then at 12:30 am for a feed and again at 4:00 am for another feed.  This is unusual as she would normally go to bed between 9 and 10 and wake around 2:30 and then at 6:00 ish.  She was without a doubt hungry and finished both her bottles completely.  Any ideas?  I am up for suggestions with the DF as well...maybe I am just not implementing it correctly.

Thanks in advance!

[Deb_in_oz]

hi - lether have the 2 hr naps - that is good.  how long is she staying up? because most babaies are only up under an hour at that age so 2hr naps do not push them past 3 hrs anyway...

growth spurts are diferent for all kids - Olivia is currently going through her 9 mo GS and it started about 5 days before turning 9 mo (her 6 mo was 1 day "early" but her 3 mo GS started at 12 weeks and 6 mo GS spot on 6 mo) so you just know they are there because they suddenly increase frequency and/or quantity of feeds and it is close to the age you expect it to occur (6 weeks, 3 mo, 6 mo, 9 mo, 1 yr)

with the Df - how long did you do it for - soemtimes it takes a few days to have impact on night wakings and for others it can take 1-2 weeks to see real change and for others it does not work.

[Sydney'sMom]

I have to admit I only did the df for a couple of nights and then quit because the wake up time was the same with and without.  I introduced the df again a couple of nights ago and haven't seen a change yet, but will try and stick it out for a couple of weeks anyway to see if there is some sort of impact on her sleep. 

From what I have gathered so far, she is pretty "normal" for a 5 week old.  She gets a df at 10 - 10:30 sleeps until 2 - 2:30 and then until 5:30 - 6:30 or so.

I think I jumped the gun on the growth spurt.  I think this night was just an anomoly as it hasn't happened again.

Thanks for the nap advice. I don't usually let her stay up past 45 minutes including her feed as she seems to get overstimulated and fights me when it is time to nap.  Is this normal at this age to have so little A time?  She eats for 20-25 minutes, I change her and the rest is A time.

[Deb_in_oz]

all sounds normal and good - if after a week you don't see ay change iin the nights from the DF it just becomes an instinct-call i guess.  some parents will just decide not to carry on and see how the night feeds drop on their own (we did this with dd1) and others keep it in because that top up works for them in the long run (we only recently dropped it with dd2 at 8  1/2 mo  :oops: ) so it is a real personal decision with no right or wrongs answer.

with the A time - totally normal for this age. some are not even up for the 45 min - others can handle  longer than 45min - so many things vary between los so again - it becomes about watching your lo for cues and getting to know them - 5 weeks is so early in the learning process - you are doing great to know to get her down that early and that she is doing such good naps 

BTW - with dd2s 6 mo growth spurt i thought it had happened at abot 5 1/2 mo but realized at 6 mo that it must have been a little "teaser" as the real GS happened spot on 6 mo and there was no mistaking it then (maybe your lo is getting ready or it and just letting you know)

[Sydney'sMom]

Okay.  I tried the df for a week now and no changes.  My dd still wakes anywhere between 3 - 4 hours for her middle of the night feed.  Should I keep hanging in there with it or try without it and see how things progress?  She eats anywhere between 2 - 4 ounces during the day(averaging mostly 3 ounces) eating only 2 ounces or so for both her cluster feeds and df.  I just can't get her to take anymore than that.  I know the book says to try and up her daytime feedings in order to sustain her at night, but I just can't get her to take anymore food than that.

The middle of the night feeding has me asking another question...is she waking out of hunger or habitual waking?  She wakes around the same time every night, usually between 2 and 3 am depending on when I gave her the df at 10 or 11 pm.  Looking for hunger cues, I notice that she puts her fist to her mouth so I feed her.  But then I second guess myself thinking that maybe she isn't hungry as she wakes the same time every night.  How can I make sure I am doing the right thing by feeding her?

According to the book, 6 week old babies should be able to sleep 5 - 6 hours so I feel like there is something I am doing wrong with the middle of the night feed. 

Oh, one more thing.  I have to fight with her at EVERY feed (besides her df) to WAKE UP.  She drinks her bottle, but it can take her anywhere between 20 min and 30 min to eat 3 ounces as she tends to dose off or become distracted by the wall:)    I have been letting her eat with her eyes closed as she still seems to suck on her bottle.  Should I not do this?  Should she be COMPLETELY awake for these feeds?   Could it be that she could be eating more during the day if I made sure she was 100% awake?  If so, I have my work cut out for me.

HELP!!

TIA

[Deb_in_oz]

HI

it really is up to you whether to perservere with the DF (with olivia it took 2 weeks to see any change and even then it did not eliminate the night feeds just pushed them out further - it took until 4 months before they were fully eliminated).  just a matter of preference

i think her night feeds are normal - with a habitual waking it is not a 1hr window - it is more like if you fed her for a week at 4:10am and then even after she stopped being hungry she woudl still wake around 4:10 for a feed - then it could be a habit, but if some days it is 3am and others 3:40 and still others 4am that is hunger/something other than habit (some wakings can be cold/hot, wet/dirty nappy, etc)

According to the book, 6 week old babies should be able to sleep 5 - 6 hours so I feel like there is something I am doing wrong with the middle of the night feed.

you are not doing anything wrong, especially bear in mind that your child's daytime eating is different than a baby who may be guzzling 4 oz at each feed and taking a Df of 4oz and then sleep 5 hours.  if she is taking 2-3oz she is possibly not able to go 5 hrs yet.  many babies wake every 3 hrs for food around the clock - yes you try to get them to feed better in the day (and by all means seek some support and guidance on the bottle feeding board), but some babies will only take so much at a feed (my olivia has driven me around the bend since she was switched to the bottle at 3 mo and will take only so much and not a drop more - this is why at 9 mo i cannot seem to get rid of the Df because we struggle to get her to eat enough in daytime as it is )- each child is different and books talk about average children - that means someone else's kid can be sleeping 8 hours and another only 3-4hr, which gets you an average of 5 hrs....etc

I have been letting her eat with her eyes closed as she still seems to suck on her bottle. Should I not do this? Should she be COMPLETELY awake for these feeds? Could it be that she could be eating more during the day if I made sure she was 100% awake? If so, I have my work cut out for me.

i think you shoudl try to wake her up as much as possible so that she is having a clear A period and actively drinking - definitely try to have a chat with the bottle feeding mods - Noelle and Marie and/or post for advice on both alertness and quantities... (i only have experience with bottles after 3 mo when they are already alert and taking more than 2-3 oz so woudl not know what advice to give or what is reasonable to expect at that age)

[Sydney'sMom]

Debra

Thanks you for your insight.  It definately helps to take a step back!

[Mom2katiebug]

We have a similar schedule and similar problems.  My LO is 5.5 WO and she'll eat around 3 ounces at each feeding (varies from 2.5 to 4 ounces).  We try for a 3 hr EASY, starting at 7am - give or take an hour. 

It's true about learning your LO's routine.  In the morning (7am, 10am and sometimes even the 1pm), my little Katie will be awake only for her feeds (and I do have to struggle to keep her awake) and she'll be VERY drowsy at the end of the bottle.  Her A time is consists of a diaper change and then she's back down to sleep.

She usually groups her A time in the afternoon and we can sometimes get 15-30 minutes with the 1pm routine.  Every evening is different, as we cluster feed at 4pm, 6pm and 8pm.  Sometimes she awake all the way through (yikes!) and sometimes she'll take quick naps in between.  I should also confess to all manners of accidental parenting (swing, rocking to sleep, sleep on mom/dad, and a vibrating motor in her bed that simulates a 55 mph car ride).   :oops:  We're going to tacke the sleep training sometime before she goes to college!

We haven't tried the dreamfeed yet - just doing the CFs.  Katie will go down for the night somewhere in the 8pm hour and awaken for food between midnight and 2:30am (usually a full 4 ounces in about 10 minutes then right back to sleep), then again at 4am.  Since she's only been taking an ounce or two at 4am and is generally fussy from this point on, I have been trying to stretch the 4am towards our 7am wake-up time (hoping to get her down to one feed per night).  She'll take the paci and a re-swaddle for an hour or two, but we usually still feed somewhere between 4am and 6am.  We just started this, so we'll see where we're at in a week.  We may need to do a DF around 10 or 11pm, shift the first feed to 2:3am or so...