Nursing moms

[pigget74]

DD 5mths has reversed her day and nightime feedings. Starting around 10 p.m. she is up every 2 to 2.5 hours to nurse. She goes right back to sleep. At about 4:30/5:00 she will sleep until we wake her to go to daycare. She will eat maybe around 8 or 8:30 then she will go maybe 4 hours and not eat all of the bottle. Total from morning until we pick her up is only 3 bottles of no more than 5 ounces if we are that lucky. Most of the time it is just 3 ounces. I pump 3 times a day and send that the next day. Around 7 she will nurse and then I will try to top her off again before I put her down. She sleeps until around 11 and then the cycle of feeding begins. HOW DO I CHANGE THIS???? Between her feeding and DS waking up I am getting maybe 4 hours of sleep total. DH has offered to feed her a bottle, but then I would still have to get up and pump at least once during the night--so I have not taken him up on that. Any insight on this would be great.

 

[raysnkaysmom]

My only guess/advice would be to monitor her sleep schedule at the daycare.. You may see if you can ask them to keep her up more...try to alter feedings adding 15m increments until you can change them where they need to be. I nursed my last DD for 8 months....but was lucky enough to be a SAHM so I NEVER pumped. This baby DS(3weeks old) I'm only going to breastfeed until I go back to work at 6weeks... just can't do the pump thing...LOL
Speaking of which...thinking I need to wake him up and feed him... LOL

 

[CastleCreations]

I'm not a nursing mom, anymore...but I was thinking the same thing. They may have her sleeping too much during the day. Look out for a swing..LOL. I sware they make the babies sleep too long. Ask them to keep a schedule for you, if they don't already, so you can check out her sleep and awake cycles.
Good luck and enjoy your little one.

 

[hmacmahony]

I am a nursing mom, and have done tons of time in daycare as well.
Maybe she is just teeting, and will work through it.
Also, I know when I worked in daycare, I did lots of time in the infant rooms,some nursing babies will take from the bottle, but only a little bit. They want it from the straight from the source. So, she might just be eating as little as possible, to get her through the day, and then when she gets home she bulks up. I don't know what you would do to change this.
Have you thought about letting your husband give her one bottle of forumla sometime during the night, just to buy you some more sleep.
We have a 7 month old (he is our 4), he is a HORRIBLE sleeper. Up until about 4 weeks ago, he would go to bed at 7, and be up by 10:30, and I would nurse him, then he would nurse every hour the rest of the night (we still have nights like this). If I am really tired, and just need at least an hour without him on me, I will give him to my husband to give him a quick formula bottle. Now, that he seems to be sleeping slightly better, we have dropped that bottle. But, for about 8 weeks, I needed it so I would not run in front of a truck screaming from the lack of sleep.
Good luck, I hope you figure out something that works...

 

[bumbershoot]

Do you have a family bed, or even a co-sleeping sidecar? Having baby in the room (especially right next to you) can make so much difference. Being able to nurse while lying on your side isn't something that comes naturally to everyone, but it sure got me more sleep!

http://kellymom.com/babyconcerns/fussy-evening.html

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/normal/reverse-cycling.html

That's a really interesting page, especially this.

If mom is away from baby during the day, baby may take just enough milk (by bottle or cup) to "take the edge off" his hunger, then wait for mom to return to get the bulk of his calories. Baby will typically nurse more often and/or longer than usual once mom returns. Some mothers encourage reverse cycling so they won't need to pump as much milk. Reverse cycling is common for breastfed babies who are away from mom part of the day, especially those just starting out with the bottle.

 

[pigget74]

Do you have a family bed, or even a co-sleeping sidecar? Having baby in the room (especially right next to you) can make so much difference. Being able to nurse while lying on your side isn't something that comes naturally to everyone, but it sure got me more sleep!

http://kellymom.com/babyconcerns/fussy-evening.html

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/normal/reverse-cycling.html

That's a really interesting page, especially this.

She is in a cradle next to our bed for now. When she wakes I put I put her in bed with us to try and get some more sleep --- then I put her back in her cradle sometimes not always. I just do not sleep well with her next to me--she sooms to root all the time this way. Thanks for the links.

 

[DisneyGoddess]

Sounds like she is reverse cycling - which means she is getting all her milk when she is with you rather from a bottle. She knows that if she waits, she can nurse which she obviously prefers so she ignores the bottles and waits for mommy to eat.

As to how to fix it - I would refer to Kellymom.com for tips on what to do to get her to rely more on the bottles during the day rather than waiting to nurse and keeping you up all night long.

 

[DIZBOUND]

This same senerio happend with my first. Luckily, I work only 1/2 blocks away from the sitters, so I ended up going over there to nurse on my lunch and my breaks. That seemed to help for a while. I seem to remember that having him sleep with us helped and then when he started to eat real food, really helped. We started him at 4 months with cereal at the sitters only and then at 6 we started adding some more items more frequently. It did not last forever, infact when he turned 3 (I believe) he actually slept through the entire night! Do not give up, I know it is alot of work and takes a lot of commitment, but it was one of the best times I had with my son and the best food for him. I do believe that she misses you and that is why she wants to eat every couple of hours once you get home

 

[emh1129]

I was going to post exactly what bumbershoot posted. Sounds like she's just eating enough during the day to stave off hunger and is waiting to get most of her nutrition right from you (and cuddle time, too )! I'm sure she misses you and it's also a way for her to reconnect with you each night.
I have a 6 week old and she wakes up every 3 hours to nurse, but she sleeps right next to me and I nurse her while lying on my side. When she wakes up for the next feeding, I turn over with her and we nurse on the other side. Takes a bit to get used to it, but it's so peaceful and comfortable & it's how we all get the most sleep (takes me a little while to get used to it with each baby, though). But we also have a king size bed, so we have the extra room.
If I had to physically get up to feed her every three hours, I'd be exhausted, too.
Hopefully she'll start sleeping more for you really soon.

 

[SueM in MN]

DD 5mths has reversed her day and nightime feedings. Starting around 10 p.m. she is up every 2 to 2.5 hours to nurse. She goes right back to sleep. At about 4:30/5:00 she will sleep until we wake her to go to daycare. She will eat maybe around 8 or 8:30 then she will go maybe 4 hours and not eat all of the bottle.[/b] Total from morning until we pick her up is only 3 bottles of no more than 5 ounces if we are that lucky. Most of the time it is just 3 ounces. I pump 3 times a day and send that the next day. Around 7 she will nurse and then I will try to top her off again before I put her down. She sleeps until around 11 and then the cycle of feeding begins. HOW DO I CHANGE THIS???? Between her feeding and DS waking up I am getting maybe 4 hours of sleep total. DH has offered to feed her a bottle, but then I would still have to get up and pump at least once during the night--so I have not taken him up on that. Any insight on this would be great.

I can't quite figure out when she's nursing.
If I understand, it sounds like she nurses at 7pm, before you put her down for bed and then at 10pm and every 2-2.5 hours until 4:30-5.
Gets a bottle at daycare at about 8-8:30 and then doesn't want to eat any more.
I worked and BF both of my DDs until a year old (one chose to stop at that point, one I had to stop because of some medication I was on).
Both of my DDs liked it as hmacmahony said "straight from the source."
Even though I pumped, they seldom drank more than 3-4 ounces during the day.
I got them to nurse more in the hours I was home and they didn't wake as much during the night then. I nursed right away when we got home, about 2 hours later and then 2-3 times more, the last time right before I went to bed . They were satisfied then for the rest of the night. I fed them again before I got ready for work and then sometimes right before I left for work.
So, they actually got all the feedings in during the time I was home (but, not asleep). When they were teething or going thru a growth spurt, they wanted to feed more often (frequent feeding increases the milk supply to meet the new need for calories).

 

[Rylee]

DD 5mths has reversed her day and nightime feedings. Starting around 10 p.m. she is up every 2 to 2.5 hours to nurse. She goes right back to sleep. At about 4:30/5:00 she will sleep until we wake her to go to daycare. She will eat maybe around 8 or 8:30 then she will go maybe 4 hours and not eat all of the bottle. Total from morning until we pick her up is only 3 bottles of no more than 5 ounces if we are that lucky. Most of the time it is just 3 ounces. I pump 3 times a day and send that the next day. Around 7 she will nurse and then I will try to top her off again before I put her down. She sleeps until around 11 and then the cycle of feeding begins. HOW DO I CHANGE THIS???? Between her feeding and DS waking up I am getting maybe 4 hours of sleep total. DH has offered to feed her a bottle, but then I would still have to get up and pump at least once during the night--so I have not taken him up on that. Any insight on this would be great.

Try switching her bath time. Sometimes when babies have night and day mixed up, switching their bath time (evenings to mornings or mornings to evenings) makes a difference.

I agree with the other posters... she would probably rather nurse with you, than take a bottle, all 5 of my children did. Also, try talking to her daycare providers... ask about their schedule and see if they can provide a little more stimulation to keep her awake for longer periods of time.

 

[tzolkin]

is this a new thing? was she sleeping more at night before? i don't have too much experience with the pumping and bottles, since my kids got it almost exclusively "straight from the tap". however every few months or so they would go through a period of wanting to nurse in bed with me for hours every night even if they had been sleeping well before. if you weren't having the issue with her refusing the bottle during the day, i would just think that maybe she's going through a growth spurt and needs to nurse more.

everyone else has offered some great suggestions as well. i hope you're able to help the situation soon. i know it's no fun being up all night.

 

[pigget74]

She was only waking up once maybe twice a night. She is doing great during the day. She only takes 2 naps at daycare. I am letting them know to not let her sleep through any feedings. At night she still sleeps--as soon as she is done she goes right back to sleep--it is me that can't lol. Last night I changed things up a bit. She got a bath and then she ate. I put her down about 8:30 and sure enough she slept until 11:00. After she ate she went right back to sleep and was up again at 2:00 and then at 4:00 (not for long). I got out of the shower at 5:30 and heard her crying so I got her up and she nursed again. We will see how things go this week.


Yesterday I went shopping and left her a bottle at the house for DH to feed her. She woke from her nap and he tried to feed her. She did the same thing that she does for daycare---ate great for the first 2 ounces and then played with it for another 20 minutes only to drink about another ounce.

SO it looks like --getting her calories at night from me----she really likes the one on one time and cuddling. Eventually she will start sleeping more

Thanks for all the information and tips.

 

[Minniemouse07]

She may be spurting as well. I know both of mine became chow hounds when spurting. As previous posters said, they also nursed more when teething, I think the sucking helped w/ the mouth pain.

I WOHM and pumped for both kids through their first birthday. I would have LOVED to have your problem since I barely pumped enough for them during the day. Both generally took about 9-15oz during the day, depending on their age.

I agree that Kellymom is probably your best resource. There are also some pumping mom resources online. I've found that the pumpmom's group on Yahoo is EXTREMELY helpful and they are really nice as well!

HTH

 

[Manda]

My son never took much from bottles at day care. He preferred to just get whatever he could while he was with me. I usually nursed frequently between when he got home and went to bed. He usually woke once or twice at night, but if he was teething or sick or growing, it was much more frequent. Once he started solids at school (around 6 months), it helped because he would take finger food much more willingly than a bottle and his eating schedule normalized a bit. We didn't regularly do solids at home until he was older because he got most of his milk in it at home with me and most of his solids in at school with them. It worked out well.

Editing to add: After he started solids at school, I also started sending his breastmilk in sippies and he ended up drinking more of it that way, too.

 

[staci]

I just want to agree with what a lot of others said - when I read it my first thought was 'she is waiting for the good stuff "

My ds was older when he went to daycare (10 months) but he NEVER took a bottle there, as much as they tried. He would just wait for me.

Many bfed babies simply prefer getting it straight from the source, they will eat from a bottle just enough to take the 'edge' off, and will just catch up when mom comes back. I would just try to make it a priority as much as you can to let her nurse during the daytime hours you are with her - early morning and afternoon and see if that decreases her nighttime nursings.

As far as co-sleeping, as she gets bigger and outgrows her bassinett, you could try what we did. We moved her crib into our room, and took off the one side (like we were converting it to a toddler bed) and then adjusted her mattress to the height of our bed, and shoved the two together. She can roll over and nurse,and then I can gently urge her back into her crib when she is done, without sitting up. I find the nights I leave her in our bed she is up more freqently rooting around, but when she is in her crib right next to me she sleeps more soundly.

HTH!

 

[gabriellyn]

I am going to go a bit against popular opinion here - only because it worked for me! My youngest DS was going through pretty much the same as the OP's DD - and I was just plain exhausted! Then we moved to a larger home and decided to go ahead and put him in his room instead of sleeping in ours, so we moved his crib over. It saved my life!!!!!!! He started sleeping through the night very quickly (he was 6 mos. at the time.) I really think that all of the noises he heard from us during the night woke him up and he needed to nurse to go back to sleep. Once he was in a quieter place he was able to sleep for longer periods, nurse less at night, and eat more during the day. My first two did not sleep through the night until they were 1 - co-slept w/DD but didn't w/older DS. Every child is different, you just have to experiment. Anyway, it might be worth a try. Good luck!

 

[Minniemouse07]

I am going to go a bit against popular opinion here - only because it worked for me! My youngest DS was going through pretty much the same as the OP's DD - and I was just plain exhausted! Then we moved to a larger home and decided to go ahead and put him in his room instead of sleeping in ours, so we moved his crib over. It saved my life!!!!!!! He started sleeping through the night very quickly (he was 6 mos. at the time.) I really think that all of the noises he heard from us during the night woke him up and he needed to nurse to go back to sleep. Once he was in a quieter place he was able to sleep for longer periods, nurse less at night, and eat more during the day. My first two did not sleep through the night until they were 1 - co-slept w/DD but didn't w/older DS. Every child is different, you just have to experiment. Anyway, it might be worth a try. Good luck!

We moved dd (now 6.5yo and a great sleeper) to her own room at 6mo as well (was in a cosleeper next to me until then). I'll never do it again!

She hated being by herself, she hated the crib and just wanted to be w/ us. Dd didn't sleep through the night until she was 3.5yo. It was awful and I really regret putting her in her own room at such a young age.

Ds on the other hand... was in a cosleeper next to me until about 6 or 7mo and then we did as Staci did... sidecarred the crib to our bed. What a godsend! Ds has been sleeping through the night from about 3mo and is now 2yo. He rarely wakes up in the middle of the night, but when he does he just crawls up and snuggles next to me...no crying and doesn't even really wake up!

YMMV

 

[dis-happy]

Is he getting burped after the 2 oz on the bottle? I wonder if his tummy is uncomfortable.

My ds nurses at night, and when he falls asleep at the breast I move him off and tuck a paci into his mouth. It keeps him satisfied and lets him keep on sleeping. Maybe you could give this a try....

Also, at 5.5 months I got desparate from the marathon night nursing and started giving a small portion of baby cereal. It's helped a lot. He's 6 months old today and my original intent was to wait until 6 mos. but the past two weeks have been so much better.

Wishing you the best...

 

[Zeebs]

We are currently going through the same type of thing at the moment. Seth is 4 months and has been in his own room since about week 6 as NO BODY was getting any sleep when he was in our room. As a SAHM he gets feeds from me during the day and seems to feed quite well. He was doing really well at night sleeping from about 8 weeks from 8pm to 4.30/5.30 then he started at about 3 months waking up and feeding 3-4 times a night. I think he is needing something extra but due to allergies in our family I am trying to hold off as long as possible before giving him some baby rice. I express milk in the morning and give him a bottle before bed as he was feeding over this time for nearly 3 hours enjoying the food and the comfort. However, with another small child this just wasn't practical so he has breast after his bath for 10 mins or so and then 140 mils by bottle and then if he needs more I will top him up again before he goes off to sleep.

So basically I don't have any suggestions for you but just wanted to let you know that you aren't alone and I hope you start getting some sleep soon as I am hopeful I will soon as well.

Kirsten