What is Ages 0-1 Newborns Infants
This community is focused on the joys, challenges and frustrations faced by parents of infants (0 - 12 months). The major areas of child development during this time period include...
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Night feed frequency increasing!
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I'm exclusively breastfeeding my 17wk old.
From the beginning he would always fall soundly asleep about 11pm and I'd pop him in his cot no trouble. From about 8 weeks he would sleep through to 5-6am occasionally waking for a night feed about 3-4am. I thought we were really lucky! At about 14 weeks, the night feed came back and got earlier then a second one appeared. The last few nights he's woken to feed 3 times between 11pm and 6am. I haven't changed anything I'm doing and just feed on demand. He knows it's nighttime and goes back to sleep easily after each feed. When he wakes at night I wait for his eyes to open and the grizzle to become a definite cry for assistance (although I don't let him get to the point of proper crying). When I pick him up out of the cot at night, I bounce/rock him gently to see if he'll go back to sleep but usually he looks for the breast and will have a feed 5-10min. Last time he was weighed he was just dropping below his centile (on the formula fed chart) - he's about the 25th centile so I don't want to withhold food if he's hungry. He gets weighed again next week and I've ordered the bf chart but it hasn't arrived yet :( So - I think what I'm doing is sensible but can anyone reassure me that I'm not reinforcing this pattern of night waking? Has anyone else had this reintroduction of night feeds after a reasonably settled few weeks? It doesn't feel like a growth spurt as it's been more gradual and lasting but he's my first so I'm open to any ideas! Please tell me that he's likely to go back to sleeping in longer chunks!! My husband's being wonderful and looks after him for an hour or two in the morning before he goes to work so I can catch up so I can keep on like this but it would be nice to know that others have gone through this! Thanks for any advice (and sorry for the long post)! Posted on 09/26/09, 06:09 am |
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I definitely think you are doing the right thing, especially since he is so low on the weight charts. My daughter was sleeping through the night at about 9 weeks, but stopped at about 14 weeks (she's now 21 weeks). She wakes up usually once a night, sometimes twice, and once in a while (like last night!) sleeps right through. It is very likely that he is just hungry and may be making up for not eating as much during the day. You could try encouraging cluster feeding in the hours before bedtime and see if that helps. But I doubt you are encouraging a bad behavior to develop, this young they don't understand cause and effect so he can't really comprehend, oh if I cry momma will come get me up. They aren't capable of that manipulation yet! 
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Thanks alh071! We had a much better night last night. I suspect he was just having a hungry couple of days :)
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I think it's normal. My DD was sleeping 8 hours straight from 8 weeks until 13 weeks, then for a week she started waking up again, and now she is sleeping from about 8pm-6am again , She's 15 weeks now.
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If you want (its a touchy subject for nursing mothers) Enfamil has a nighttime formula that thickens in the babys tummy to keep them full longer. I've never tried it, my daughter is 19 months old now. So maybe a nighttime feed with that right before you're ready to turn in for the night?
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Thanks.
We've been back to a 7h night the last couple of nights. A night feed last night I suspect was due to my husband coming to bed noisily at 3am :) All good!
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AbiW, you are doing just great! Just remember to feed on demand. Follow his cues, evne if it is driving u nuts. And do not be afraid that you are "teaching" him bad habits....of night waking, etc. Most babies wake until about 2 years of age in the middle of the night. If ever the scenario happens again and you are really dying, then you may consider just bf lying donw, and falling asleep together in bed...Better that than losing your sanity! :)
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My son is 9 months, and still has nights like this. I would enourage more daytime feeding, but I know all too well, you can't make them if they aren't hungry!
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My son is almost 8 months and still nurses 4-5 times per night. I do think he needs to though since during day he's too busy playing to nurse well. He nurses about 5 times during day but these are quite short sessions and I doubt he gets more than 2-3 oz per session. He also gets 3 meals of solids. I can't make him nurse longer during day though - he will eat when he wants only :) I'm kinda waiting for him to start walking and running and I bet he'll be more tired then and sleep longer forcing him to eat more by day.
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