5 month old not sleeping, supply low

[SaraEA]

I would appreciate any and all advice...

My 5 month old has not been sleeping well for about 3 weeks now. She wakes up at least every 3 hours, but usually every 1 or 2 hours. During the day, she usually only needs to nurse every 4 hours, but has gone as long as 6 hours without eating. She does not seem to be over-tired, but her naps during the day are usually only about 30-45 minutes, but she takes 3-4 naps each day. During the night, my milk supply is very low, because she is always waking up to eat. The past few nights, she has woken up after only 1 hour, at least twice in the night.
Our routine: she nurses then goes to sleep, usually wakes in about 1 hour to eat again, then goes right back to sleep for about 3-4 hours. Then comes the fun (and often varied) part. She might sleep for about 3 hours, but lately it has only been about 2 hours at a time.
I know she can go longer (6 hours during the day!), why doesn't she?
About a month ago, she had several days (not quite a week) where she was sleeping for about 6 hours...I don't know what has changed.
We are going to start cereal for the first time tomorrow, maybe this will help?
I am so sleep deprived and really need help!
Thank you, thank you!

[lolabear]

i had 2 girls that slept thru the night at 2 months and never gave me an issue since. then i had a boy and my world is turned upside down. he wakes up all weird hours and has no schedule really except for the 530 am feed. he wakes up anywhere between 1 and 6 times a night, a couple times only woke up in the morning to eat. and i go to school full time plus work and both are hurting right now b/c of lack of sleep! so i dont have much advice other than it will get better (i really hope)

some people think cerreal will hold them over longer, so it might help. my girls slept thru so i never tried cereal at night.

i hope you get some sleep soon!

[madelsmama]

It is a myth that solids/cereal will help babies sleep longer. In fact, b/c often cereal is so binding, it often causes increased waking during the night. And actually, solids are not recommended prior to 6 months of age by the AAP and most other medical organizations.
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/index.html
http://www.kellymom.com/parenting/sleep/sleep.html


Tell me more about why you think that you have low supply. B/c she's waking more at night? If so, that is not an indication of supply, but rather usually teething or meeting a milestones that cause babe to wake often and need comforting during the night. Every time one of my kids got a solid routine down, it would change, leaving me to wonder what happened. :) Is your baby having 5-6 wet diapers per day? Gaining weight? Happy? If so, then you don't have low supply.
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/enoughmilk-older.html

Also, it's really not a great idea (for baby or for your supply's sake) to go 6 hrs. between feeds during the day, unless that baby is reverse cycling due to mom being at work all day. For a 5 month old, every 3-4 hrs is probably more common.

I know it's tiring, but babies often need comforting during the night. I would suggest moving her closer to you, either in bed with you or next to your bed to give you more rest.
http://www.kellymom.com/pantley/pantley21.html

Hang in there!

[Sweetbabs]

I agree about the solid food. Do not buy in to the myth. I did and made things worse. instead of waking every 3 hours in became every hour. My dd had horrible gas and tummy pain. Also made her constipated. It could be a number of things. New milestone, teething or just comfort feeding. Have you changed your diet recently??? Could be a change in your milk fat or taste of your milk due to you eating newer spicier foods. You may have to play detective if you think that may be the cause. I had to and just figured out what it was. You would be amazed at how what you eat changes your babies willingness to nurse. My dd didn't like nursing during the afternoon after I had eaten the food she hated. I was trying to eat healthier with more veggies and she hated it. She would down right refuse to eat but at night after the bad taste had cleared or she was to sleepy to care she would eat every hour to make up for the lack of nursing during the day. All the while I too had low milk supply due to her not nursing. My breast felt really soft and like they were almost empty. I posted on here looking for help but was unable to really get any good answers cause other people just do not know...you know. You need to play detective I think. Figure out when you baby started doing this and try to find the cause, Is it as simple as milestone reaching could be but it could also be something with the taste of your milk. If you wait to long your baby like mine may just refuse to nurse all together. I hope this helps.

[Sweetbabs]

Okay after reading my post I realized that I was not very helpful about starting solid food. I will tell you what worked for me. At 5 months my dd was doing the same thing yours is. I talked to my dd ped and got the no solid food till 6 months talk. So i started talking to family and they all told me to try it so I did. I started with rice cereal. Which is the most binding of all cereals so it made her constipated. So i went to Oatmeal. Much easier on her tummy. So cause there is no real time frame on when and how to progress with solid food I will tell you what I did. First off I did way to much to soon. I talked to family again and they told me twice a day. Not a good idea. Also after only two weeks of cereal I started veggies also not a good idea. My dd had horrible gas and was so fussy I couldn't take it. So here is my real world advice not taken from a book but from my life. Once taking a good look at what I was giving her I knew at that point it was to much. So I scaled way down. If you do make the choice to try food which could very well be the issue with your baby. I would start with Oatmeal once a day in the morning. I would also only give a couple of bites maybe 3 or 4 to start off with to see how she will handle the new food. Also I would wait on all foods colored till 6 months. Now I realize that every baby is different so this time frame may not be good for you but that is where I should have started with my dd. They really need to make a unbiased book for these things. You know like a mothers account of solid food feeding. Like a when, how much, over how long of a time frame. The Dr. just give guide lines so when it comes to this stuff your are most likely going to get the general response. Also if your milk supply is truly low I would hold off on starting cereal. If you still can not figure out what is going on I would recommend making an appointment with a Lactation Consultant in your area. Once again I hope this helps.

[jodyvo]

Trying feeding your baby every 2-3 hours during the day even if ti means waking up. It sounds like your baby isn't getting what she needs during the day so she is making uo for it at night.
Good luck and I agree with everyone and the food really won't help. Just nurse as much as you can during the day