A big sleep then lots of feeds...

[{sarah}]

I'm trying to demand feed Juliette, but wondered if this is normal & ok for her to do.... She's a great sleeper & overnight goes for quite a long time. Last night she slept from 10pm until 6.15am when I had to wake her to feed because my boobs were killing me. She fed for around half an hour on one side & went back to sleep. She woke up an hour later hungry again. Since then (so for about 4 hours) she has been on & off constantly, maybe half an hour feeding, half an hour dozing or looking round & then repeating. Se's fallen asleep now & is in bed. I figured because she had such a big sleep she was extra hungry this morning so feeding more. Is this ok for her to work like this? I have no problem with it, but wondered if it's an alright way of feeding.

[Barb Glare]

Hi,

We hear that babies need 8-12 feeds in 24 hours, - and then our adult brains do the maths and decide that a baby will feed every 3 hours or so (we live in hope that it won't be 2 hourly!) But, what is more normal is that babies will have one "longish" sleep in 24 hours. At this age 3 hours might be as good as it gets. 4 hours would be great, especially if it is overnight, but this is not necessarily likely! You seem to have hit the (very rare) jackpot.
At another time of the day or night, babies will tend to have a cluster of feeds over a few hours. This is completely normal. At other times they will space their feeds out a bit more.
have you had the little darling weighed yet? It can be reassuring to see they are gaining wieght. But otherwise, if there are plenty of wet and dirty nappies it's a good sign all is well

Regards
Barb

[{sarah}]

She was weighed a week after she was born & had lost only 200gm (birth 4485gm, 1 week 4265gm) and then she's going to be weighed again on Monday. She has heaps of week & dirty nappies, so no concerns there.

[MantaRay]

Sounds great to me Sarah. Enjoy that sleep - your bbs will adjust soon and you won't feel so full. FWIW J did the same thing - a long overnight feed and cluster feeds during the day. Didn't do him any harm!!

[Zee]

Sarah in the 1st week that DD was born and I was able to BF I did demand feeding with her and she would have 1 really big nap somewhere in 24 hrs so she would want to cluster feed after that big nap. Sounds like you are going well.

[mbear]

My older two girls were great sleepers right from day 1 (another story with DD#3....). anyway, they always slept good chunks in the night, therefore in the day i seemed to always be feeding them - i guess they were stocking up for the night....ive always fed my girls on demand, and never let them go longer than 2 hrs.....

[Beach Mama]

Sarah, Izzy was sleeping 8-10 hours from 6 weeks, a bit later than Juliette but still, and then i would demand feed her during the day. She would cluster feed from about 4-7 most nights, almost like she was stocking up for her nice big sleep and I didn't really mind. During the day she would go around 3 hourly or so. As you said, if she is having lots of wet and dirty nappies and seems to be gaining weight I would enjoy the sleep!!!! When she was a bit older, about 10 weeks, I would let her sleep because it was working for us and I would express either before I went to bed so my bb's wouldn't kill, or else I would wake up and do it in the night. I preferred to do it at around 10ish before I went to sleep though just in case I expressed at 3am and she woke up at 4!
Good luck working it out but sounds like your princess has it all worked out!

[Snacks]

Oh wow, Sarah, I missed your announcement! Congratulations on the birth of Juliette - she is just gorgeous!
I too think it sounds great. I used to wake Natty up for feeds at night, but given my time again I wouldn't. I suppose it is just about what you feel comfortable with. If you are happy doing the cluster if it means you and Juliette get a good block of sleep, then by all means do it. I would agree with you that she's just using the time after the big sleep to 'catch up' by feeding more often.

[{sarah}]

Had a bit of a shocker yesterday / last night. She cluster fed in the morning, then cluster fed in the evening as wel. Problem was that there was just nothinng left for her in the evening - she kept puling off & screaming but wanted more. I ended up giving her an 60ml EBM bottle that she guzzled. She then did her 10pm-6am and all was good again. Just waiting for her to wake now.

[MantaRay]

Oh dear. But don't worry, that cluster feeding is normal. Things will settle down. And wow at her night sleeping!!

[Sammiejane]

Molly Jane has done the same thing... she cluster feeds morning and night, but will sleep from 8.30am right through until 7.30am sometimes!!! i get up and express sometimes to relieve the pressure in my boobs so i dont have to wake her.

I have been told that i should try and feed her more consistently (not to cluster) but i figure she knows what she wants, so she gets when she asks - i would rather feed her a lot all day and have her sleep through the night, better for my sanity! (and DH )

Hopefully Juliette is the same - the only down side is that i have already had a visit from AF as there are no overnight feeds!

[{sarah}]

Sammiejane, Aaron & I were discussing exactly that yesterday, is it better to have her attached for most of the day & actually get sleep at night or have it spread evenly. We think this way is working ok for the moment so we'll stick to doing it how she wants.

[MantaRay]

Sarah, FWIW, I think that way is better too. That night sleep makes such a difference to you. Especially if bubs is night waking for months at a time! The number of feeds in 24 hours will settle down too, so you won't have a baby on your breast non-stop for 12 months LOL!

[{sarah}]

This is just all so different than with Zander, he was bottle fed pretty much every four hours & woke overnight several times until he was two and then at least once a night until he was around three. It's all very weird.

[MantaRay]

My boys were/are chalk and cheese too Sarah. One slept through from 6 weeks, the other from 12 months (and he is now the better sleeper of the two by far, go figure!!). It came as a huge shock to me to find out how different T is to J. I wasn't expecting it at all. It's great to have two such different kids and I think it's better that way so they aren't competing in the same areas as such, but each doing different things, but in some ways it is like being a parent for the first time again LOL!

[Rouge]

Wow what a great lil girl you've got there. Go Juliette!!!!

My one piece of advice would be to avoid EBM if you can, because even though you may have a couple of crappy days and she may be unsettled its the best way to get your milk happening at the right times (but I know you know this just thought I'd share )

I'm so glad everything is going so well, like I said you so deserve it