Ask:
How do you get your child to nurse longer at night? My ds will nurse for 5-10 minutes right before bed - then wake up several times a night for a 'snack'.
DH took him for one feeding Friday night. I was able to get him to nurse for closer to 15 minutes before we layed down. DS slept 4 hours - then took a bottle, dh was able to keep him awake and make him eat more than a snack by forcing the bottle in his mouth (among other things). And he slept 3 hours- after I fed him he slept about 2 hours.
I tried forcing him to eat more last night -but it's much harder to force your boob in his mouth than a bottle - and nothing I tried could wake him for more than 1-2 sucks at a time.
Ideas?
Answer:
How old is your baby? I would say that is great> The goal is to get them to eat more during the day so they will nurse less or not at all at night. Depending on the babies age. I would be trying to get the baby to sleep another way without bottle or nursing (rocking, singing, lullaby's, favorite toy,musical mobile etc.) Then eventually baby will be able to comfort themselves to sleep and learn how to put themselves back to sleep in the night. This went well with my first child. my second got used to nursing to sleep and I became a human binky and every few hours she would wake up looking for me or rather crying for me. It was very hard to break the habit. I wish I would not have done that. It would have been easier to have one rough week of getting her a new routine than the months of retraining her.
Answer:
A trick an ICU nurse taught my sil, who in turn taught me when I had trouble with my youngest only eating 1 oz at a time, every hour *with a bottle!* Rubbing your finger underneath their chin,, in the soft part, just behind the bone, stimulated them to eat. It worked for my sil with her preemie babies and worked for me with my 'sleepy/lazy' baby lol
Answer:
He's 4.5 mos - a good 15 lbs.
I've tried rubbing under his chin, tapping his cheeks, sitting him up, rubbing his feet, stroking his face. I don't want to get out my newborn arsenal - changing diapers, cold cloths, - but I may start.
Oh - and he did great the night dh took him for one feeding - it was last night that he was up after 2 hours - then again every 1-1.5 the rest of the night.
Answer:
Welll..Think about how he feels. Mommy's arms, soft breast, warmth, cuddling.....ahhhhhh rest..... Daddy isn't quite the same, but very close.
The other thing that has been suggested is to uncover him a little so he's not so warm and cozy. Personally, I cosleep - that way, I just turn over to feed, so we all got sleep.
It will get better as he gets older and his tummy grows. Plus, once he's 4 months, your Dr. should OK getting him on cereal. I saw a HUGE difference in my daughter's attitude and sleeping patterns once I did that. A feeding just before bed (Of course, 10-15 mins. of upright time afterward) helped a bit.
Answer:
The doc did ok cereal - I was hoping to wait until 5 mos -but we tried it. He ate a whole tablespoon and a few bites and it didn't help. I can handle night wakings - just not every 1.5-2 hours please!
I'm very tempted to do a bottle right before bed - but I don't want to risk damaging supply or his latch.
Answer:
No helpful advice here, I cosleep to b/c of this. I can tell you it will get better as he gets older! I've been sleep deprived for 5 years now so I don't even remember what more than 2 hours at a time feels like!
Answer:
I honestly dont think that your little one is doing this because they are hungry, they are doing it because it is comforting. If he were truely hungry he would wake up and take a real meal. It sounds like he is waking up and looking for comfort. I would try getting him to sleep with something else like rocking or patting his back, you might want to let daddy do this because sometimes if they realize its not you they will go to sleep without the nursing. Hope this helps and just remember this to shall pass.
Answer:
Thanks!
I was hoping to have him in his room soon (and I hope that helps too) - I'm not against co-sleeping - we did w/ds #1 until we found out about the 2nd pregnancy. But ds #2 has almost always seemed to rest better on his own - until recently. I want to encourage that so we don't have to break him of our bed later.
He's been putting himself to sleep about half the time since he was a couple months old. But I guess in the middle of the night he needs momma...
Answer:
It's great that he at least knows how to put himself to sleep. DD is really just starting to do well w/that.
I just had a thought. At this age, the teeth are starting to come in. Those first buggers are really painful. Perhaps you can try a night of the correct dosage of ibuprofen/Motrin for babies just before bedtime and see if that helps.