Advice for night time feedings...

Ok, here I am already venting due to lack of sleep and the little one is only 8 days old. I know I have many more months ahead of me to deal with this but how did you new Moms handle the night time feedings when they want to eat every 1-2 hours?? I am breast feeding and Quinn would be content to stay latched on for an hour each time which results in no sleep for Mommy.
Also how long does these frequent feedings last?? When can I expect maybe all of 3 hours of steady sleep? Or is that wishful thinking?

[BusyMom92960206]

I did the same thing.  I am a light sleeper as well and would just put Zachary in the bed with me, let him latch on and sleep til he was content and if I fell asleep, I would wake up if he started moving or whining.  That was the best thing for me.  Except now, even at 6 months he sometimes wants someone to lay down with him at night, and he is bottle fed now. :)  But that is ok, I don't mind the extra cuddling.  Best of luck to you!

[Elicam]

I don't have any advise for you as I am not due for another ten weeks, but I have been following your story and I just wanted to say congratulations.

Was Quinn born on Christmas day?

I haven't been online for a while so I just found out now.

Well done and glad to hear you are both healthly.

Good luck with the night feeds.

[HIS GIFT TO US~]

Oh Harley I know Jordan sleeps about 3hrs now at night & he's 5wks but Jesse did the 2 hrs thing for mo.'s.  
With Jordan I pump 2oz btw 10 & 11pm & by 1am he's up & I pump 2 oz again (this way I know how much he gets & I know he shouldn't be hungry for a little while longer then off to bed we go & when he wakes again he gets boob bc he is sleepy by this time so he doesn't feed 4ever. Hope this helps. BF babies snuggle up to a warm boob & will stay 4ever so I say pump (don't know if u do already) w/Jordan I pumped right away so he got used to a bottle & my boob so we didn't have a problem. Also many people go ahead & mix rice cereal in milk for the night time bottle but this will stop there hinies up (did this w/ds#1 at 6wks but he didn't sleep any better so I stopped him up for 3 days 4 nothing :( Good Luck it gets better, I keep telling myself this too. :)

[twiceadopt]

i know this sounds a bit weird but if you're co-sleeping, you'll probably learn to feed her in your sleep. my partner did this with both boys... she'd wake up enough to roll over and latch the baby on, then she'd doze for the hour (or whatever) the baby was eating. helps that she's a pretty light sleeper and this takes some practice, but within a few weeks they were both more or less sleeping through the feedings :) good luck!

[aridza]

no real answer here, my DD would fall asleep after being at the breast for 5 minutes so she would wake up every 20 minutes for the first 2 weeks, then I would just sleep while she would eat, my boob would be available to her at anytime and I would barely even wake up to give it to her.
Then at 6weeks I got her the miracle blanket (to swaddle her) and she slept 4 hours straight in it! then a week later she would sleep through the night.
Good luck and hang in there, it will get better

[Harley-girl]

Thanks for all the responses. For some reason I am having a very hard time pumping. Nothing comes out yet if I manually express my breast it shoots out so I know it is there.  I have also cheated and have given formula at night in a bottle and luckily for me she takes to both bottle and breast. I will just keep at it and will be jumping for joy when I can get a good nights rest when she is 18.

[BusyMom92960206]

Now, you know you will not get a good night's rest when she is 18, you will be worrying about what she is doing and who she is with....LOL.  Pumping for me was hard too, I went ahead and bought an automatic dual pump from Target that seemed to help and didn't take as long.

[amy524]

So glad to hear from you!  Unfortuntely, every baby is SOOO different in their sleeping habits/patterns.  I have my 8 month old DD and 3 other friends/co workers all have babies younger than my Sarah.  Anyway, it's amazing to listen to the differences in how much they each sleep, how easily they fall asleep, etc...Quinn is going to develop her own little schedule and pattern and unfortunately you have to adapt to it.  :)  

I would suggest trying to get comfortable laying down while you nurse through the night so you can both get some sleep.  Also, if possible, try to sleep during her longer naps each day.  Hopefully within the next few weeks/months she'll adapt to a more normal pattern and her body won't require so many calories during the night.  

Good luck and hang in there!  It really does get easier...I PROMISE!  :)
Amy

[aridza]

pumping is a pain, when I first started nothing would come out as well, try for 10 minutes everyday and I'm sure it will work.
I don't know about your milk supply but I had enough milk to feed the whole neighborhood for the first 3 months so I stacked up in the freezer.
That's lucky that your baby doesn't have any problem with taking the bottle and the breast as it is recommended to wait about 4 weeks before doing the bottle not to cause nipple confusion