I'm breastfeeding my ds, he's now just over 2 weeks old, born 7th May.
My problem is he won't stay awake for feeds at night. He wakes up grizzly and crying ever 1-2hrs through the night, I can't get him to feed for more than 5-10mins at a time before he falls asleep! I've tried everything to wake him up from tickling his feet to stripping him down to a nappy. This has been happening pretty much since we got home from hospital and I'm exhausted! Dh is off work for another week but I'm already freaking out about when he goes back and how I'm going to cope with no sleep and a 4yr old as well.
During the day he'll feed approx every 3 hours and for about 20-25mins a time. He's only having 1 breast each time, I tried giving him both but after that amount of time he's over it and doesn't want anymore.
How do I 'fix' the nighttime feeding so he gets a full tummy and we both get some sleep?
He's also really windy, ds1 had silent reflux, although ds2 is windy it doesn't seem to be reflux IMO. There's not much burping going on but a LOT of farting!!!
Hope this has made sense, I'm exhausted at the moment and think I'm rambling. I feel like I've now hit the 'crying tired' stage and want to get this sorted asap.
There's nothing like that mind numbing period of the newborn, is there? I feel your pain!!
Do you sleep together? If you can do so safely, that can help you get through things while he sorts out his internal clockworks
It may be that he is just waking for comfort - what is his bedtime environment like? Where does he sleep during the day? It may mean you need to make his nighttime environment more like his daytime one, and his daytime one less like it! If you know what I mean! I suspect that the answer isn't to wake the baby up for longer feeds, but to help him not need to comfort suck *quite* so often. (Although at this age, to be honest, it's not all that unusual.)
I have always made a point of showing babies just what night and day is - I always start off with a routine that reflects our own, while still respecting the baby's own cycle. So, during the day, baby wears day clothes, I don't shut up a whole lot during day sleeps. At nighttime, there's very little interaction. As a result, even though I've had some shockers for waking up and needing a feed for a long time, there's very little required in the way of settling.
So at the moment if I were you, I'd take the long view - your baby has been inside you and near you for such a long time, and on the outside for such a short time. he wants to be near you, and that's fair enough, you are lovely and soft and warm and you have nice tasty milk If things don't settle down of their own accord in a few weeks, consider reflux - you don't have to have vomiting or burping. You might want to look at your diet, make sure there's nothing you are eating at dinner time that might be unsettling his tummy like brassicas (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, etc) or tea or coffee. And maybe try raising the head of his bed a little - that helped Tom a lot with his reflux.
Sharon, that sounds very tiring Toomany has made a good point that it might be more about comfort than feeding. This is really common in the early days as babies get used to totally new surroundings. How many feeds would you say he has in 24 hours? How many wet nappies and dirty nappies? If he is having at least 5 heavily wet disposables (or 6 - 8 pale wet cloth nappies) in 24 hours, and 2 or more poos a day, then he is getting enough milk overall, even with the short night feeds. It might just be that you need to keep up the frequent feeding until he gets a bit bigger and more secure - hopefully it won't take too long As Toomany has said, sometimes co-sleeping can help mums to get some more rest during this tiring time.
While your DH is home, are you able to nap during the day at all? Does your 4yo go to kindy or day care some days so you can rest after he goes back to work? Sometimes it can help to organise for a friend or relative to come and help out during the day, or to take the older child sometimes so you can rest. It is very hard going with two little ones so please don't feel bad for asking for help, or letting the housework slide. Looking after you is far more important right now
Toomanytoomany - I don't think co-sleeping is something I could do, it's just not something I feel comfortable with. Dh is a very heavy sleeper and I'd be terrified something would happen. At the moment we have ds2 in a bassinet next to our bed so I can reach him easily if need be. Eventually he'll go into his cot in his room when he outgrows this.
During the day he sleeps in the bassinet but out in the lounge area where we are. The telly might be on or the radio, there's always people talking, plus ds1 (4yrs) running around and the blinds are open to let in the light. I also don't wrap him during the day but wrap him for nighttime. When he's in our room at night it's dark apart from a dim lamp I use to feed from.
I've cut out all caffine and chocolate from my diet and have been really careful with things like onion and garlic as those are what set off ds1. We've been eating a bit of take-away lately for convenience, could this cause wind do you think?
Mantaray - he has at LEAST 4 pooey nappies a day and each feed we change him and he's wet everytime! I'm positive he's getting enough from me, the CHN came out and weighed him last Mon and he'd put on 200grams in 4 days!!! I've been napping on and off during the day and yes, ds1 goes to kindy.
Last night was heaps better! He fed every 4 hours and we made a big effort to make sure he burped properly after each feed. He seems to be really windy in the evenings, was quite unsettled last night from about 8pm to 10pm, but every baby has an unsettled period at some stage during the day right?
Thanks again for taking the time to reply, I usually hang out in my bellybuddies thread and don't venture out into the big wide world of other forums!
Yeah, the witching hour(s) is normal, and you may find he wants to cluster feed duirng this period - which might help him to go longer between feeds overnight (if you're lucky). He is still very small yet, so as MR says, he'll need frequent feeds for the time being. One other thing you might want to consider is squeezing in an extra feed or two during the day (ie, 2-hourly), which also may help him stretch out the overnight feeds.
Sounds like he's doing great anyway!
Breastfeeding help for night feeds
Reply With QuoteIf things don't settle down of their own accord in a few weeks, consider reflux - you don't have to have vomiting or burping. You might want to look at your diet, make sure there's nothing you are eating at dinner time that might be unsettling his tummy like brassicas (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, etc) or tea or coffee. And maybe try raising the head of his bed a little - that helped Tom a lot with his reflux.
Toomany has made a good point that it might be more about comfort than feeding. This is really common in the early days as babies get used to totally new surroundings. How many feeds would you say he has in 24 hours? How many wet nappies and dirty nappies? If he is having at least 5 heavily wet disposables (or 6 - 8 pale wet cloth nappies) in 24 hours, and 2 or more poos a day, then he is getting enough milk overall, even with the short night feeds. It might just be that you need to keep up the frequent feeding until he gets a bit bigger and more secure - hopefully it won't take too long 
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