Having a stress today - is this normal?

[Jus]

Hey, just need to offload a bit. DD has started waking again at 2 am for a lovely long feed. Problem is, she won't take much during day-time feeds. The past month has been an ongoing saga of breast refusal, teething & fast feeds, which I was stressed about but came to terms with.

I don't really mind fast feeds (3 min max for many feeds!?!) in themselves, but am not impressed about the lengthy 2 am thing - she's now 16 weeks, and has been going from a dream-feed to 4 / 5 am for ages now (yes, I should count my blessings), but I'm just so stressed by the 2 am thing that I can't sleep when I go to bed myself. Last night stayed up & cleaned the house. Didn't get back to bed til 8 this morning after her next feed. Sounds crazy I know, but by the time the feed takes forever, and I'm starving, so I eat, then I'm awake - feeling about as good as at any other time of the day (not that good) so I figure might as well do something useful as go back to bed & lie there feeling crappy & frustrated.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I feel so tired as it is (I seem to need more sleep than the average human, so this newborn thing has been pretty wearing).

I've been trying to wake her to feed her while she's still drowsy, but she's also not been sleeping properly - feels like a descent into chaos from a bub who was quite settled initially. Am feeding in dark room, before she's fully awake to try to reduce distractions.

I know I'm way over-reacting but I thought things started to get a little easier at some point soon. Feel like we're going backwards here & don't have much patience left.

[mickyndan]

:hugs: hugs to you... I know how you feel. I have no probs with the middle of the night / early morning feeds because I am still half asleep myself. Maybe just close your eyes yourself and see if you can 1/2 doze off while she is feeding (I am sure you have tried this). What about taking her into bed with you for the 2am feed, therefore you are comfortable and can 1/2 sleep lying down therefore you won't fully wake up..... SOrry but I really don't have anything. Maybe we should swap phone numbers and give eachother a call at that hour... LOL Good Luck and I am sure it will pass.... xxoo

[Jus]

Hey thanks for the encouragement! At least I can be thinking of you now when I'm up at night. It's good to know you're not alone. I haven't tried the bed feeding as I've had too much milk til now, but it might work now that's settling down! Thanks again!

[taralee]

I had a similar prob, though evie was about 8 months when it became an issue. She wouldnt feed much during the day but keep waking up all night. like she was thinking 'i'd rather feed at night when i can have special hugs with mum than during the day when there's far too much to do!' i just started slowly (like over a couple of weeks) cutting down the length of time that i fed at night for. for example, i went from 6mins to 5 mins for 4 nights then 4 mins for 4 nights etc...or how ever long you need to. If you can do that then she might start feeding more during the day and not relying on the night feed to fill up.
Above all else, dont stress about it, they change so much in that first year that what works one day doesnt work the next day/week/month etc. in a couple of months you'll be thinking..huh? i dont remember any of that.
Hope that helps and good luck

[Jus]

Hey, thank you so much for the suggestions girls. I went with snoozing while she fed, and that helped me to chill a bit (& sleep) - she must have been going thru a growth spurt, as she has settled down again, but I really appreciated your encouragement. I'm also giving her the dummy to see if it keeps her going a little longer. Obviously I feed her if she's definitely hungry! Will keep these ideas in mind for the next growth spurt (hopefully I'll remember it will pass, but I get stressed & worry she'll never sleep again - good to keep things in perspective!)