top up feed

would giving a top of feed of formula of a night b4 bed help DS sleep longer?
he is BFing every 2hrs and i am exhusted.

I don't know if that will help
One thing that should help is to really really encourage him to cluster feed before he goes to bed - i.e. if his likely "bedtime" is 8 then feed him at 6, 6.30, 7, 7.30.

Hope you get some more sleep soon.

It's no guarantee, no. Is he feeding every 2 hours round the clock? Cluster feeding in the evening might help, as Kmn says - if he's typically fussy at the witching hours you might find constant feeding helps settle him and gets him to go longer between feeds at least for the first half of the night.

yeah he was cluster feeding between about 6 to 8 but then he changed all of a sudden from 9 to 1130. i have tried tonight to feed him heaps from 6 again so we will see how we go. And yes he feeds 2hrs ALL the time.

It sounds like your little man has hit the 6 week wonder week hun. This is one of those periods of rapid brain development that used to be called growth spurts or fussy periods. Unfortunately they can be very tiring times as babies need to feed more to fuel the development. Luckily they do pass though, and it can be exciting to know that milestones start to follow - like increased awareness and sitting is coming up too. Sometimes babies do sleep longer on formula, but the latest studies show that parents of fully breastfed babies get the most sleep (which I know is probably hard to believe right now for you :hug: ). Another thing to consider is that formula is based on cows' milk, so the proteins in it are designed to bulk up baby cows (ie develop muscles), whereas Mason's need for extra feeds now is to fuel brain development - which the proteins in breast milk are perfect for. Do you think you can ride it out for a bit longer? Is there any way you can nap during the day? :hug:

thanks for the reply mantaray. Yeah i can see this time through. it is hard to sleep during the day because of DD she has a sleep at a different time. i get a sleep when sh eis at daycare so 3 out of the 7 days.
I have been tryin to cluster feed him early tonight to try to get him back int that routine in hope it will fill him up for the night, well not the whole night but ykwim lol

Yeah, it's definitely harder with number 2. Mine used to tag team day sleeps for a while too :hug: You are doing a great job hun, I hope it settles down really soon for you.

I remember my DD doing almost exactly the same thing at that age, and I was a walking talking zombie, and I didn't have another little one to look after :hug: you're doing a great job! It did settle down eventually, but I found the only thing that helped me get more sleep was keeping the bassinett right next to my bed and popping her in with me to BF then putting her back between feeds (co-sleeping just wasn't my thing) this did help me snooze whilst she fed and I got a bit more rest in. Naturally it did pass but at the time it felt like it would never end!

Hope you get some more sleep soon!

I second (or third fourth fifth) the cluster feeding. Ds did that and would sleep thru the whole night from about two weeks. He's fully breastfed.

IMO they don't sleep longer. Both mine fully bf, one slept 6-7 hours at night by 3 weeks, the other 3 hourly till 4 months, my sisters both ff, one 6 hours by a couple of months, the other 2-3 hourly till 6 months :o Its just pot luck.

It will calm down, promise, its not having a newborn if their isn't some kind of sleep deprivation :lol: Ooh and I love cluster feeders, good sleeping afterwards.

There is a chance than formula will upset the digestive system to, try to steer clear as long as possible. If you want a break, maybe a bottle of ebm for one early night feed and you can go to bed early.

holy doly last night was insane. i tried to cluster feed him from about 630 but everytime i put him on he was only one for about 10min if that. finally got him to sleep at 930 and was so excited rang DH at work and was like i have both kids in bed b4 1130 so i was so excited but told him i had prob jinxed myself by ringing him. As soon as i got off the phone DS woke and from then till 930 this morning we fed 10 times!!!!!!!!!!!!

HB: we have DS cot in our room so it does help heaps. By midnight last night i ended up just puttin in with me because DH was at work.

Doh! I hate it when that happens!
Sometimes the best thign is to just bring them to bed with you, get some rest and start over in the morning. I hope this little phase passes quickly

I'm just wondering if you have resorted to tea or coffee or coke to cope with the sleep deprivation and inadvertently made it worse? I found that my bub was horribly sensitive to my caffeine intake, and so I had set up a cycle where I was awake half the night and hence having more tea and hence making a more awake baby.....
I also hope it settles soon.