How many times should I nurse at night?

[banderson]

My 2.5 mo old DD wakes up every 2 hours.  If I don't feed her she freaks out.  She likes to eat every 2 hours during the day as well.  Question is - how many feedings at night should she REALLY be having at this point?  One, two?

[Shdef]

Well... a dreamfeed at 11 pm and then another one around 4ish would maybe be possible... Do you do the dreamfeed? For me it worked better with expressed breastmilk, I must admit, because he just got more milk and didn't need to wake up properly...

Do you nurse to sleep or do you put her in her cot awake? Do you nurse with the light switched off and no talking and no eye-contact? I don't know if Tracy would say this, but the nursing itself could be the reason for waking up, expressed milk just worked better at night for us. How is the daily schedule?

[Samuel's mum]

At that age I would estimate Sam fed every 2.5 hours during the day and needed perhaps 3 feeds between 8pm and 7am (sometimes more). He was genuinely hungry at night and fed very well. He grew incredibly quickly having been a little baby at birth and I felt as though he really needed those feeds.
I don't think you should feel there is a 'should' about this.

This extract comes from the La Leche league website:
In the early weeks, remember that your baby may not get enough nourishment if he sleeps through the night. Breastfed babies need to breastfeed at least eight to twelve times every 24 hours, usually every two to three hours. Most babies will gradually sleep for longer stretches at night, but they will continue to need night feedings for months.

Now I know that's a bit extreme but the LLL is a pretty influential organisation with a lot of experience of breastfeeding and breastfeeding families - I'm putting it out there!

[banderson]

No, I do not do an actual dream feed.  Meaning, I do not wake her to feed her.  She usually does get up around 11, however and I feed her.  Her days seem to be different from the next.  Her routine is not even close to a schedule, but it does mimic a routine in a sense.  We do the same things each time.  When she gets up, we "chat" and smile at each other, she eats (I let her indicate to me that she is hungry and she is easy to read that way), then we hang out with an activity for 30 minutes or so, then she starts getting sleepy.  We wind down for about 5-10 minutes and then she goes to sleep.  Before this weekend, I was allowing her to fall asleep in her swing.  Now I am doing PU/PD, so she is awake when I put her in her crib.

[daisymelan]

If you are going from say 8pm to 8am, I would say that we were doing 3 feeds at your los age, maybe even more.  But I didn't discover BW until my lo was about 2.5 months.  At that time it was definately 3.

Also, I think 2 months may be a little early to try pu/pd.  Have you tried pat/shh?  I think most parents have better success with this at your los age.

HTH

[JacobMarksMummy]

I'd second pat/shush, I dont think they understand pu'pd at such a young age. I had great sucess with pat/shush up until aroun 6months.

I'd guess that at 2.5months my DS was having around 3 feeds at nigh around 10pm, 2am and then 6am. That would have been on a good night. Often he'd have one more in there. HTH

[jules_is_cute]

my 10 week old also nurses 3-4 times at night...I put a stop to one feeding by giving the pacifier, because she wasn't eating very long (only 5 minutes) then she'd wake up again 90 minutes later wanting more...My fault really, I was letting her sleep with me until 2 weeks ago.  It just worked for me early on.  It doesn't anymore. 

She tried to stay on a 90 minute eating schedule during the day as well, giving her lactose/gas issues by the 4th feed, not to mention driving me insane.  I put a stop to this by spending 2 days pumping out 1-2 ounces before EACH feeding and giving her more hindmilk to help balance her out, and to make the meal more substantial.  I also paid closer attn to her cues, and fed her only when I was certain she was hungry.  Now she eats every 3 - 4 hours, mostly, at night before bed she cluster feeds a little, eating at 6, 8, and 10...the 10 is really the 1st night feeding, but it seems to take her to 2 am most nights.

my problem is that she will start a feed and then take a 20-30 minute break, then finish up eating.  so we end up doing more of a e.a.e.s.y program.  I'm fine with it, but it means that I am stuck where ever I am when she starts a feed for that entire hour, otherwise we're back where we were with the foremilk imbalance.

any advice?   

[Shdef]

In the first weeks I didn't know the babywhisperer because I gave birth in Germany and stayed in Germany for the first weeks. But then we came to Britain and I saw Tracy on the telly and just got into it.

In these first weeks however, he was very very tired after a feed and straight went to sleep and slept for 3 hours every time. I nursed him on one side, then changed his nappy and then nursed him on the other. I made sure he wasn't asleep when I put him in his cot but he was very drwosy. It worked though, he was an angel...

[banderson]

Thank you, girls. Jules_is_cute - that is a great idea about pumping a bit before you nurse to get your baby the hindmilk.  Never even thought of that!  Ok, I do feel much better about how often I feed now. I dont feel like I am doing it too mucu, so thank you. 

I guess I thought I didnt see what difference 2 weeks was until she was 3 mo old for the PU/PD.  BUT it didnt work for her and only got her more frustrated.  In fact today she is just NOW asleep - about 4 hours AFTER I attempted to put her down for her nap.  She just refuses.  So I did end up taking a break, nursing her and pytting her back down.  She should be hungry soon, so I am going to try and pump a bit so when she does eat she gets the good stuff. 

[jules_is_cute]

Hi banderson, glad I helped someone out.  How old was your lo when you tried pu/pd...I'm trying it today and mine is 10 weeks old...I've gotten her out of our bed, now I need her to fall asleep w/out 40 minutes of rocking, and failed attempts at transferring her to her own bed.  So far it's been 2 hours of trying...this mornings 1st nap took 35 minutes.  Should I give up and wait a few weeks?   help!!!

[Samuel's mum]

Don't forget though that pumping to get rid of foremilk, while being a useful tool, in some situations can also mean less foremilk being received by your baby when it's needed. When (if!) the weather starts to warm up a breastfed baby needs foremilk to remain hydrated. It has a valuable role to play too!
I'm not saying don't do it in your situation but I just want to stick up for foremilk IYKWIM!

[jules_is_cute]

Yes Samuel's Mom you are right, let me clarify   ...I did this while I waited for my milk supply to regulate to my lo's new eating schedule...I was fixing 2 problems 1 the foremilk imbalance Jules was suffering from as a result of me miss reading her cues...and then the engorgement I suffered when she started to go a little longer between feedings...you should be pumping out very little only an ounce or two and this milk is probably not worth consolidating to store as it is all foremilk... and is very high in lactose it will result in a gassy tummy no matter when your lo gets it.  I just tossed it out each time. 

I only had to do this for aboutt 2-3 days and now my body is regulated and Jules eats at more regular intervals for her age, about every 2-4 hours depending on the time of day.
Also nevermind about the other   I posted I read up more myself and gave up on the idea of getting her napping with any regularity for now...she's just to young.  Thanks though.