Nursing at night (or lack thereof)

[udphirho98]

My DD will be 4 weeks old tomorrow. We had some problems nursing in the beginning because of my low supply and her latch issues (she has a very high palate) and she lost 15 oz by the time we went to the peds office when she was 5 days old (she was 9lbs 2oz at birth). Luckily the peds office has 2 LCs, so we worked with them and finally as of yesterday, DD is above her birth weight, although not by much (9lbs 5.5oz). So they told us we can do demand feedings now, rather than waking her at 2-3 hour intervals. During the day, this is fine and I usually feed her every 1-3 hours, and occasionally have to supplement with expressed BM because my supply still isn't great, especially when she wants to cluster feed in the afternoon.

At night, however, she sleeps like the dead. The LC said we could let her go up to 5 hours at night, but I think she could very well sleep 8 hours straight without a feeding. She just doesn't wake herself at night for some reason, even though she will during the day. Did anyone else have this problem and did your LO ever eventually start waking themselves during the night to eat? I don't want to compromise her weight gain or my supply. At this point, I'm going to wake her after 4-5 hours at night, but I'd prefer if she woke herself before that . . . wow, I never thought I'd have a problem where I wanted my LO not to sleep through the night . . .

TIA,
Melissa

[RedheadbyChoice]

You've got weight issues, I'd definitely wake her. Absolutely. And I'd honestly do every 3-4 at night, rather than letting her go 5.

Something else to think of sugar, is the cluster feeding. No need to supplement with EBM for those, just keep putting her to the breast! Nurse both sides, and when she's hungry again, put her back on the first side; lather, rinse, and repeat.

[momoffaith]

I wouldn't supplement if you already have supply issues NURSE NURSE and NURSE.

Everything else RED said ITA.

[KerryS]

You've got weight issues, I'd definitely wake her. Absolutely. And I'd honestly do every 3-4 at night, rather than letting her go 5.

I agree. Especially with weight issues, and ESPECIALLY with supply issues.

Last night my son went 4 hours and I about freaked (not in a good way) when I saw how long it had been!

As long as her weight gain continues to be appropriate, I would eliminate the supplements. I would only recommend supplementation if her weight gain isn't what it should be (although you may not want to stop pumping just yet).

[RedheadbyChoice]

Ahhhh, found some great info for you.

Click on this linky: all about cluster feedings (http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/fussy-evening.html)

Biggest part of that, besides cluster feedings being normal, is this:

Does this mean that baby needs more milk than I can provide?

No. Don't give baby a bottle -- supplementation will only tell your body that you need LESS milk at this time, and that will not help matters.

Trust that body of yours, sugar.

[udphirho98]

Thanks, everyone. When she wants to cluster feed, I definitely put her on, but at times she just doesn't seem satisfied and I've had her on both sides for 30 minutes each. We were supplementing mainly because the ped wanted us to because of her slow gain. We were actually giving her a little formula for a week (1.5-3.5 oz per day in 0.5 oz increments) after each BF session, which is minimal, but not what I wanted at all. I was very upset when the ped wanted us to supplement at all, but yesterday she said we don't need to anymore, so I was very happy about that.

I was nervous about the 5 hour stretches too, and really the max I want to go is 4. My MIL and DH keep telling me that 5 is fine and not to set the alarm, but I can't do that. I know what's best for my baby and I just can't handle more than 4 hours.

Is there any way my DD will start waking herself up, or am I destined to have to be her alarm clock at night?

[udphirho98]

Also, today has been interesting because DD has not been cluster feeding as usual and she has been sleeping during the day more than in the past couple of days. I think she was going through the three week growth spurt and maybe my supply is now enough after her crazy feedings the past week.

[RedheadbyChoice]

As for waking her at night, some babes do, some don't. If you still have growth issues, then yes, you'll need to keep waking her. Once those are on the right track, I see no reason to wake a sleeping babe at night *as long as all is well*. Some babes (though it's rare) don't eat much at night and make up for it in the day. My kids (save for my son) slept a lot at night, and early. Meredith was giving me 5-6 hours stretches at a week old. *gasp*

No gain issues here (though mine gain on the lower end of the scale) so we let her sleep. I've got 4 kids, though, and all have gained at this rate; just a bit slower than the norm.

Just keep nursin' momma, you're doing great!

[KerryS]

Also, today has been interesting because DD has not been cluster feeding as usual and she has been sleeping during the day more than in the past couple of days. I think she was going through the three week growth spurt and maybe my supply is now enough after her crazy feedings the past week.

I'm dealing with slow gain/low supply issues too, and I've noticed that after my baby's had a couple days of eating/nursing a lot, he'll have a day or two where it seems he sleeps a lot more. Today is one of those days - he's normally really fussy in the evenings, but today he nursed CONSTANTLY and this evening he's crashed.

[trylyn5]

My daughter and I had almost this exact problem. Her weight issues did not resolve and I had to keep supplementing her until I starting waking her in the middle of the night to nurse. She is 12 weeks old now and would sleep 8 hours but we wake her after 4 and will continue to until she hits at least 12 pounds. Then we'll see if her weight gain stays okay letting her sleep through the night. I thought I had supply issues and did all sorts of things and as soon as I started waking her at night those seemed to go away too. Good luck!