Help me! my 3 1/2 month old snacks on the breast all day..i can't seem to get him to eat a full meal, and then i go to give him a nap, put him down and he's out but only to wake up within the next 5 minutes. then he wants to eat again only to fall asleep on the breast cause he's so exhausted..and around we go again! i try to give him a full meal sometimes and he spits out my breast not wanting anymore. so all i do all day is try to feed and nap him! i love taking care of him, it's just not working for the both of us. he's still a happy baby, but so tired all the time. and for some reason now he won't really take a bottle of which he use to down. but last night he drank 5 oz for my husband which was amazing. it's just really hard to plan my day cause i have absolutely no idea when he will want to eat. i started reading "baby wise" but wonder if it's to late to start. any ideas? i will take any suggestions you all have! oh and he's not taking the pacifier anymore!
I would also consider that he might have acid reflux. Both of my kids did (and still do) and had very similar issues. You can find more info here:
http://www.medicinenet.com/gerd_in_infants_and_children/a...
Hello!
I highly, highly, recommend reading "Secrets of the Baby Whisperer" by Tracy Hogg - she addresses exactly this issue in one of her chapters and how to correct the course. If my memory serves my correctly I believe that what the previous Mom suggested with the pacifier was one of the tricks the book recommended, and one I have used myself when my daughter was an infant, and it worked.
Good luck!
R.
I would give him a pacifier for some of the "snacking." I am thinking that is it just the sucking that he wants. Then he will be hungry for the next meal and eat a little longer.
I am not sure that the pacifier method will work, in my case, my son never took one and never wanted one either. He'd spit it out.
Have you tried pumping some milk and giving it to him in a bottle?
It is much less exhausting for the baby to drink from the bottle.
That way you will also see how much he actually drinks during his "snack" and if it's more then he may be able to sleep longer.
Breast milk digests differently and much faster than formula, that's why he may be hungry more often.
Well, first I would talk to a lactation consultant. Your hospital may have one or your pediatrician's office.
My daughter use to do that at night around 5 until 9 and I just started keeping her occupied with different things, even if it meant that I had to do different things every five minutes. My body couldn't take being sucked on for that long. Eventually she stopped wanting to do that, but sometimes she still wants to do it about every hour or two, but I try to notice if it is around the time for a growth spurt. (which happens around 3 months) If you were going to spread out his feedings, maybe take him for a walk, or a ride in the car after you feed him to keep him busy between feedings. Walking seemed to help with her, even if we just walked around the house or out in the yard.
Good Luck!
Around 3 months of age babies often go through a growth spurt & seem to nurse ALL of the time. Both of my sons did the same. I just kept breastfeeding on demand & eventually it stopped when the growth spurt was over - a week or so, I think. I heard somewhere that they do it to increase your milk supply for how much they will need next. It does disrupt their nap schedule for a little while, but when it stops, they will readjust & find a new schedule. Don't give up!
My son did the same thing and it can be really hard. Not only was he tired so was I. I had a good solution after I did this for a while. It took some perseverance but we got through it. I kept introducing a bottle with glucose water in it. None of my kids(I have 3) ever used a pacifier. They still had the need to suck though. Instead of leaving my son snack, I would breast feed him, then offer the bottle in between. It took a while but he eventually took the bottle again. It took about a week or 2 to get this on track. When he nursed he really nursed because he was hungry. The water helped him with the need to suck and I think he felt more satisfied all the way around. Hope this helps!!
Hi C.,
Your son sounds a lot like my son at that age. My son literally nursed every hour and he only took 15-30 minute naps throughout the day. Some babies don't like to fill their bellies and prefer to eat small snacks. I would say it is pretty normal and just follow his cues. For the napping, when I really needed my son to rest (or I needed to rest), I would lay down with him and let him wake up and nurse whenever he wanted - that way both of us would get some sleep. I didn't do it everyday, but when I did do in once in a while, he would sleep for an hour or two. When I would put him down by himself, he would only sleep 15-30 minutes. Every baby is different, so try to follow your baby's cues and before you know it you will be in a pretty good routine. Another thing that helped with my son was to swaddle him. You may want to try swaddling him so that his involuntary movements don't wake him up from his naps. I also started putting my son down to nap in his swing - which helped to get longer naps out of him - but it was a very hard habbit to break later when he only wanted to nap in his swing but was too big for it!
J.
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If you are really concerned talk to your dr. But to my this sounds more like cluster feeding, it sounds like your baby is hitting a growth spurt and trying to build up you milk supply he should be sleeping more normal in a few days.
Ditto on Secrets of the Baby Whisperer. It's not too late for Babywise either.
You are overfeeding him. You need to spread out feedings to at least every 2 1/2 to 3 hours, so that he will get a full feeding with foremilk and hindmilk. If he snacks all day he is just getting the foremilk, which doesn't have the rich fat and calories to sustain him until the next meal. It will be difficult the first few hours, but it is very important to get him on a schedule. He may also have reflux....I suggest doing some internet research on reflux in infants. He may not like sleeping on his back....our daughter slept in her car seat until she was almost 5 months....eventually she slept in her crib.
Good Luck!
J. Whittemore
STOP reading Babywise and call you local chapter of La Leche League. That's the best thing you could do for you and your baby. It's never to late to STOP reading Babywise. Also, before you attempt to use babywise, do you're research on the author. check out www.ezzo.info before you put your baby's health in his hands.
talk to a lactation consultant, maybe through your hospital. It's so tough but maybe if you kept a log of how often he ate and on what breast and for how long that would help you know if he need a pacifier or is actually hungry. also it could be a growth spurt where he needs to suck to get you to produce more milk. I think around 3 mo is usually when that happens and again at 6 mo good luck
How is his weight gain? If he is doing well with gaining weight, I would start not feeding him again for about an hour and a half, even if he cries. He's old enough to begin to learn he needs to eat - and if he is snacking constantly, he probably isn't getting full ever. Let him cry it out (who knows, he may even fall asleep and take a real nap for you then) and when he wakes up - he might actually be hungry enough to eat a good meal.
We used Babywise & have we happy and health kiddos. I absolutely LOVED the sleep I was able to get. My now 4 month old is sleeping 8 hours a night and is on a great schedule (she eats every 4 1/2 to 5 hours & she is breastfed). I don't think it is too late to use Babywise, just give it a try. Good luck!!
