3 hour breastfeeding session

Hi guys,

Yep me again, sorry for so many posts.

Dd2 has a 3 hr breastfeeding session. I read from the aba website that its normal to have a long feeding session, but its starting to take its toll on me.

Her session starts at around 12 am and finishes around 3am then her next feed is around 5 or 6 am

This is how it usually goes, she wakes up and I feed her one side. She poops so after she stops drinking I burp and change her, she then wants more milk so I offer her the same boob.

She stops I burp her then she poops again
I change her and offer a comfort feed to get her to sleep.

She sleep for like 1 minute and then wakes up so I repeat the above on the other boob

After emptying both boobs she still does not seem content and won't sleep no matter what I do until 3 long hrs is up.

Oh in between she would also throw some milk up.

I try to get some rest by feeding her in lying down position but can't do it when I have dd1 in the bed whom I still cosleep with.

How do I stop this from happening so I can get some rest?

I don't mind if its during the day but finding it very hard during then night.

Thanks in advance

The first weeks with a new baby are tough going - more so when you have another little one to mother. Your baby really has no idea yet of day and night. It all seems fair game for her - she doesn't know that we prefer to sleep at night and feed during the day! It will come, though. She won't be like this forever. You can't stop it as such. You need to work with it. Do you remember, how did you cope with your first little one when she was going through this stage?
Can you set another bed or mattress up in another room for you and the baby so you two can sleep and feed there? Do you have friends or family who could help with your other little one so you can get a rest in the day?
Lots of mothers feel guilty that they are some-how neglecting their older child when a new baby comes. Nothing could be further from the truth. You are teaching her a really important lesson by sharing her time with her sister. So don't let that worry you.

Thanks barb, mum looks after dd1 some nights so I can concentrate on the little one.

The thing is I am also scared of suffocating the little one if I sleep and feed her as I usually find myself falling asleep before she does.

I also don't want to make it a habit for dd2 to be sleeping n my bed as dd1 has really bad habits which I'm too ashamed to admit.

Also, is feeding for three hours normal?and pooping at east three times during that session?

Yes all normal. Your first daughter sounds normal Children sleep with their parents the world over. I still sleep with my daughter (and my husband) and she's quite a bit older. I'm not ashamed to admit it! It's a precious and shortlived experience for all of you. It's not safe for your little one to sleep in bed with your toddler, but perfectly safe and normal for her to sleep with you. At this stage your baby has no circadian rhythm at all. it will come as she is exposed to day and night and the rhythm of your household.

oh no Barb dont get me wrong, its not the co-sleeping i am ashamed of, infact i encourage it, its the fact I still have to scratch her back to sleep that Im ashamed of (she's 4.5) and it doesnt look like that habit will be kicked =(

No advice but I wanted to come in & give you a huge hug. You must be exhausted :-( I hope your little one can settle with her feeding & sleeping soon. Can you offer more feeds prior to going to bed ie: cluster feed her at her last night feed? Just a thought... (but obviously Barb is the expert here.)

That doesn't sound very fun :( The only think I can suggest is keeping all her curtains open when she is having a day nap so her body can learn the day/night rhythm.

And don't beat yourself up about settling your older girl to bed. Lots of kids still need help at that age :hug:

Thanks ladies
I really shouldnt be complaining because she's sooo gorgeous but i think i just forgot how sleep deprived I can get with a newborn.

Love you all for making me feel better =)

Thank you!!

No advice but :hugs:
All sounds normal. My DD (7weeks) does this between 8pm and midnight. I think some of it is comfort suckling rather than just feeding.
I agree with the other suggestions. Just need to find a way to work around it whether it's safe bed sharing or adjusting the rest of your sleep around it. Super hard when you have DD1 to deal with too though.

My DD2 was a notorious mega-feeder overnight. It is so draining (and not just in the literal sense lol).

We had quite a few nights where I set up a mattress in our lounge-room so that DD2 and I could just feed and sleep with no concerns about anyone else. It was good for those times in the newborn craze phase where you just gotta get the sleep in where you can.

One other thing I was thinking was: do you need to change her poo nappy straightaway? Generally I would be inclined to wait until knew that she was super close to the end of the feed (unless the poop happened right at the beginning), that way, you can cut down on the interruptions. On a similar note, does she need the burping? I will admit that i have never ever burped either of my girls...could save you some disruption on that front too.

and finally: BIG PHAT :hug: sleep deprivation is the PITS. it is, for me, the hardest part so far of the parenting caper. I just dont do well without my beauty sleep :lol:

Ive tried not changing her nappy then the next poop she does usually goes through her clothes which makes it more work to change all her clothes lol

Did your DD2 ever throw up milk if you dont burp? I found DD2 does that thats why i burp her but im not sure because sometimes when I burp her she still spits milk out.

DS was chucky, but there was less if we held him sitiing up for awhile after a feed, but not actually burping (patting) him. It kinda gently got any bubbles up, and you can do it if they are asleep too.

If i fed him lying down i wouldn't move him after a feed, and often the milk just stayed in.

i found the first few weeks difficult but it got easier.

yeah we did pretty much what HotI described. if she was awake we *might* on the odd occasion sit her up gently with no patting...also gave her 'thinking time' to decide what she really wanted to do lol. otherwise if she was asleep (i pretty much always fed her lying down) then i would just have her sleep with no burping.

I guess the double poop is a no go then :rofl:

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Hi guys,

Yep me again, sorry for so many posts.

Dd2 has a 3 hr breastfeeding session. I read from the aba website that its normal to have a long feeding session, but its starting to take its toll on me.

Her session starts at around 12 am and finishes around 3am then her next feed is around 5 or 6 am

This is how it usually goes, she wakes up and I feed her one side. She poops so after she stops drinking I burp and change her, she then wants more milk so I offer her the same boob.

She stops I burp her then she poops again
I change her and offer a comfort feed to get her to sleep.

She sleep for like 1 minute and then wakes up so I repeat the above on the other boob

After emptying both boobs she still does not seem content and won't sleep no matter what I do until 3 long hrs is up.

Oh in between she would also throw some milk up.

I try to get some rest by feeding her in lying down position but can't do it when I have dd1 in the bed whom I still cosleep with.

How do I stop this from happening so I can get some rest?

I don't mind if its during the day but finding it very hard during then night.

Thanks in advance

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Sounds all too familiar to me.... DS3 cluster feeds/constant feeds most nights. Around 2am -5am. Some times I feed him in the bed, other times I sit in my glider chair (it's a 'pappa bear' style so wraps around you more than most, great for feeding in) and I have a feeding pillow I use while in the chair. If I'm awake enough I'll read while he feeds, or I'll put the tv on super quiet. My other 3 all did something similar.

Also could it be a 'wonder week' thing?

My DD was an awake for hours in the night kind. It does pass but it's bloody hard. All I can suggest is take whatever help you can get and do whatever makes things easier for now :hug:

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oh no Barb dont get me wrong, its not the co-sleeping i am ashamed of, infact i encourage it, its the fact I still have to scratch her back to sleep that Im ashamed of (she's 4.5) and it doesnt look like that habit will be kicked =(

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I just went through all of this with DD as well.. Back scratching, cuddling on the couch then being transfered to her bed once asleep. It all came to a head one week when she simply wouldn't sleep before 10 at night and we were exhausted and in desperate need for ME time.

It was tough but first we lay in our bed with her and did the same routine as the couch. If she refused the bed we would turn the lights out and tv off..

Then once we weaned her off the loungeroom we moved everything to her bed, then the back scratching weaning began.. That was tough. I just sat on her bed and played a lullaby. I would place my hand on her foot so there was still touch there. I won't say it was easy because it was damn frustrating some nights..

But I can say after a few weeks we now have a little almost 5 year old that gets tucked into her own bed and goes to sleep. The last couple of nights we have slipped back into the habit of couch sleeping then transferring but she has been exhausted and is cuddling up well before her normal bed time..

It would be tough to try all this with a new born but maybe you can sit on her bed with baby and see how that goes..

I felt like I would still be scratching her back when she was 15 lol. but I was wrong. (ps I miss the night cuddles and how she would fall asleep on me but I know that for her and me it was the best thing to do)

(sorry for hijacking your thread)

How are you going? Have you been able to get any rest?

I'm feeling really tired today, just had brekky. She fed at 10.30 pm or 1.5 hrs but slept until 1am until 3am (must be a magic number). Then woke up at 8 am for a feed while dd1 played loud games on the tablet.

Aussienic thank you so much. I really thought I was the only one who has a dd that needed to be scratched in the back before she can sleep.

The thing is, she had severe eczema when she was little and still does but I think thaT she doesn't need scratching but just feel warmth of my hands.

I know she can sleep on her own as a few months ago we tried to put her in her bed and she was mostly fine but some nights I had to sleep with her.

Then at one stage she didn't need me and guess what I did? Because I missed cosleeping with her so much I brought her back in my bed!

Now do I regret that.

I think I'm so sleep deprived I've just jibber jabbered on about nothing to do with this thread lol.

Seriously, you are far from the only one that does that for her child. I actually VERY much love having my back rubbed to go to sleep - and fall asleep best that way. Eczema is a very horrible, itchy condition - it's so hard to get comfortable or get sleep. And it's entirely normal to want to sleep with others. The happiest time of my day is snuggling down to sleep with my youngest daughter and my husband. It's a short and precious time that we can hold them in our arms. You have done such an amazing job with your first child.