2 hour EASY

[melalyse]

Hi.  This is my first time posting on this site.  My DS Yisrael is 12 weeks old.  He has been bf every 2 hours since he has been born.  He has been taking 45 minute naps for at least 4 weeks now.   The problem is that when he wakes up he acts as thought I am starving him and he must eat now.  So I can't try to extend his nap, I have to feed him.  But he starts acting overtired after a few 2 hour cycles.  I would love to extend his feeding to 2.5-3 hours but I don't know how because of A-short naps B-he acts like he is starving after 2 hours.

[HeatherC]

First of all, do you have Tracy's book (The BW Solves All Your Problems)?
Let's see if we can figure something out.  I think for your question regarding his feeding every 2 hours I will enlist the help from some of our bf moderators.  So give me some time to check with them.  I'm wondering if he's snacking and not taking a full feed which leads him to be hungry sooner.  But, I'm not a bf guru, so let's wait for an answer on that.
His feed times don't have to be based on his A time.  For example, if you have done the E, then the A, but the S is short, and it's not time for the next feed, you would have another period of A.  But, like you said, if he's waking up hungry then we need to get that sorted out.
You can expect him to be overtired if he's not napping well, and he won't be able to handle long periods of A time, and he might have trouble settling for the next nap.  Do you swaddle him for sleep?  That might help him get through sleep transitions.  Also, at his age, I believe the recommended techniques for extending his sleep would either be: wake-to-sleep where you would gently stir him a few minutes before he would normally wake (say at 40 mins if he generally wakes at 45 mins) as to reset his clock back into another sleep cycle, or shush/pat him back to sleep. 
We'll keep working on this together.  Glad to have you with us.

[amheusser]

Has it just started that he is acting "starving"?  It could be a growth spurt.   

Otherwise, I'd try to wait a little (start with maybe 15 min) between wakeup and feeding, maybe even try pat/shh to get him back to sleep.  With one of mine, I could go in a couple minutes before the 45 min mark and sshh her back to sleep before she was quite awake, though it didn't work with the second child. 

Are you sure he's getting full feeds?  It's hard to tell with breastfeeding, but you should feel very full before and pretty well empty afterward.  Maybe you could try a quick snack before nap, then when he wakes you'll know he isn't hungry, or better yet he might sleep longer.

At 12 weeks, it's still really hard to know what they need - try changing one or two things, and give it a few days to see how that goes.   I hope it gets better for you soon!!!

[Erin (redstarfalling)]

You've had some great suggestions already.  I'll see what I can add about the breastfeeding issues, though.

Aubrey had a good question about how long it's been going on.  If it's only been a few days, it could definitely be a growth spurt.  If he's always been so starving, it could have to do with supply. Actually, a lot of moms may not feel that full, so that's not always a good way to judge your supply.  Same goes with pumping - some moms can't pump much but have normal supply.

First, a few questions...  How is his weight gain?  Does he have lots of wet and dirty diapers? Are you single or double sided feeding?  Do you do breast compression to make sure you're really emptying a side before switching? If supply is a concern, there are lots of ways to help that.

Another option is to do EAEASY.  In other words, you feed, have some activity, then feed again before the nap (although not to sleep - so really brief A before sleep).  This will make sure that hungry won't wake him.  Then you can be confident using pat/shh, swaddling etc, to extend the naps.  If he's having 45 min naps all day, as the day goes on, he'll be getting fussier and fussier, and may just be asking to nurse to calm and soothe himself.

Let me know if that helps at all, and if you have more questions!

[melalyse]

Thanks for the suggestions. 
This has been going on for some time now - I wish that it was a growth spurt so I could just deal with it and know that it will end.
I do feel at times, especially in the afternoon that he does want to nurse more (I feed on both sides) but there is nothing left to give him.  But - he does the same thing when he is with the babysitter ( I work 2.5 days a week) and he gets a 4-5 oz bottle.
His weight gain is great.  Born at 7 lbs.  11.5 lbs as of 2 weeks ago.
He does have reflux and is taking pepcid which has been working very well. 
I have thought about giving a snack before a nap, but I thought that would encourage snacking instead of taking full meals.  And I also don't want to feel like I am feeding even more than I am now.
I have tried wake to sleep and I haven't had any luck with it.  I usually do pat/sh to go to sleep in my arms and put him down drowsy which I usually don't have much of a problem with.  But when I try that the second time around he doesn't want to know from it.
I am thinking about trying PU/PD in about a week.
I am dreaming that one day I will wake up and he will start sleeping for an hour and a half and eat every three hours.

[Erin (redstarfalling)]

Sometimes it seems like it takes forever, but they DO get better!