Cluster/Dream Feed help needed

[mom-to-4!]

I have a 7 wk. dd.  I've been trying to cluster feed and institute a df in the evenings.  Some nights she naturally cluster feeds at 2 hour intervals; others, I don't know if I should wake her to feed her at 2 hours, or not?  Also, with the df, I've only gotten her to eat once, and it didn't make any difference.  She was hungry 2.5 hours later.  I don't remember having this problem with my other children.   The longest she goes is four hours at night between feeds, but a few weeks ago, she would go 5 and even went 7 hours one night.  Does anyone have any advice?  How long should it take to get this program going and have her sleeping longer stretches at night?  Also, she went through a phase of eating for 15 to 20 minutes about 2 weeks ago.  Now she is only eating for about 10 minutes, which is how long my boys usually nursed and normally wouldn't worry me, but her weight gain seems to slowed a bit from what it was.  I try to get her to keep eating, but she totally refuses to open her mouth for the nipple, or she just plays with it and doesn't suck at all.  Could it be that she isn't getting enough at her feeds during the day?  Or is she just not old enough or ready to sleep longer at night?  Ladies, please help me figure this out!  Oh, and she is on a 2.5 to 3.5 hour schedule.

[GraceKellysmom]

I think she sounds perfect and very typical for a 7 week old. She may have slept better before because she was still in that sleepy-newborn phase. She may not be gaining weight as well because she is a girl, or has a petite frame.

2.5-3.5 hrs day feeds is right on for the age. Do your best to cluster feed when she's open to it. Df if it works for you, or just go to bed when she does on the days you're needing extra sleep. When you add more children to the mix, you do what you have to do, right?

She'll get to sleeping better for you, give her some time.

[beamama]

Hi mom of 3! I am also a mom of 3! Congrats on your little one!
I agree w/Stacy that your dd is on track. I didn't have success with the dream feed either but I did do cluster feeding. I usually do wake at the 2 or 2.5 hr interval to cluster feed. 4 hours is pretty good at 7 weeks!
My dd also got pretty efficient pretty quickly (I think girls are more efficient at the breast than boys! They like to hang out longer! LOL) But do keep an eye on weight gain. Sometimes a good burp would help mine eat more too.
Have to go get mine up for her cluster feed!
Hang in there and good luck!
Bea

[chargerfans]

I didn't have much success with the d/f either but I did try to cluster feed. I would just offer it and hope that he takes it! I didn't wake him up though to do it.

For the sleeping part - I think your baby is doing great. My son would only go 4 hours max and then somedays he might go back to 3 when he was that age. He is now almost 6 months and has just started to sleep longer. He was getting up 2 times to nurse and now he is down to just one time. And that's just for this week! It gets better but it will be awhile!

[mom-to-4!]

Thank you so much for the replies!  It helps me to relax a bit when I hear that other families are similar.  You would think I would have the hang of this by now, but it seems like I either forget things, or each child is different.  I just took her to the doctor yesterday, and her weight didn't concern him.  She is gaining, just not as rapidly as I expected. :roll:
And last night we did cluster feed at 7 and 9.  I asked my dh to wake me at 11 to feed her.  He either forgot, or couldn't rouse me, so she woke me up to eat at *ta da* 3:00 am!  So we got about 5 hours of sleep, well, she got a little more than I did.  I guess I should just stick with it and see what happens.  Maybe if I give it time her body will get used to the idea.  And today she is back to eating for 15 minutes (so far).  *Sigh* These dc sure like to keep us guessing!