Hello, I am in need of suggestions. I have a beautiful, health and enjoy little lady who I BF. I work outside the home and pump while at work so at daycare she takes a bottle of Breast milk. She is also eating cereal in the morning and baby food at lunch. I send 2 5 oz bottles at daycare but; My problem is she will only take one 5oz bottle at daycare from (0630 until 330pm) so when she gets home she is super ready to nurse. NO problem she will nurse from both sides and seems full. I will feed her dinner and by 630-700 she is ready for bed. I give her a cereal bottle of about 4oz at that time. She sleeps good for 4 to maybe 5 hours then she starts sucking and wants to nurse. Again NO problem. Here is the problem from midnight or so she wants to nurse every 1 1/2 hours until 530. What can I do stop such frequent nusring at night? She only takes one side when she wakes up and she is the one that pulls away. How can I take both sides to help her sleep more or WHAT can I do?
groups to join:
PumpMoms http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/PumpMoms/
breastfeeding and working mothers: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bfworkingmoms/
& here's sights to help you:
www.kellymom.com
http://www.mobimotherhood.org/
Just curious... why does she only take one bottle at daycare? That is 9 hours! 5 oz isn't even a full feeding for a 7 month old, if memory serves.. Does she just go without anything else during that time? What is in the bottle (expressed milk, or formula)? I would try to work with the daycare to get her consuming more milk during her time there. It sounds to me like she has her feeding schedule reversed. If she takes more during the day, she shouldn't be so hungry during the night.
How old is you beautiful daughter? My daughter when she was 2 1/2mth old she was doing the 12-5:30 am feeding every 1 1/2 hour. I finally stopped coming to her demand by only getting up at 3:30am and feeding her then. The first couple of night she sat in her crib crying herself to sleep and sucking her hand, and it just killed me hearing this however she sleeps through the night from the last feeding at 8:30pm all the way till 7:30am. Im not sure if this helps or not!
Personally, I believe its a good thing for your baby to want to nurse so often. She's probably making up for missed time with you during the day. It does sound like cluster feeding, since she's not eating much during the day. Babies usually fast once time per day (usually when the sleep at night) but it sounds like your baby is fasting at day care. I bedshare with my 6 mo old and have since day one. She's never been rolled over on or come to close to suffocating in the sheets. I learned how to nurse on my side so that I can sleep and baby can nurse. My daughter will only take one side all night because she's not doing vigorous sucking, she needs to only take one side to insure getting enough hindmilk. Too much foremilk can cause a tummy ache too.
W.
BF is more then nutrition-full tummy of milk
Your daughter needs you and is bonding maybe to make up when she doesn't have you in the day
Call LaLeche League
They are always willing to share whenever I called
Google LaLeche and get the local chapter #'s
Good Luck
J. Hagman Nurse Practitioner
It sounds like she is doing that constant nursing in the middle of the night because she misses you during the day. Why not try only breastfeeding when you are home and not giving bottles unless she is at the daycare. She is just nursing to soothe herself not to eat.
HTH
S.
I'm curious how old your baby is. When you say you give her a cereal bottle, do you mean that you mix cereal IN her bottle? I would suggest that you not feed food from a bottle. Babies need to learn that food comes from a bowl and something to quench their thirst comes from a bottle/cup. Are you feeding her a real meal at dinner or is she just nursing? I would say if you are just nursing and not giving her something substantial, she could very well be hungry and would explain why she is waking up so hungry. If you are feeding her a solid meal in addition to nursing her and she's going to sleep right away, you have to consider that from 7 P.M. to midnight is a long span for a very young baby. She could be waking because she's hungry. What time does she wake up for the day? Babies, in general, after about 6 months should be sleeping through the night but sleeping from about 7 P.M. to 6 A.M. is really long span. You can expect a baby to wake up periodically because of hunger. Perhaps you could keep her up a little longer so you can squeeze in one more meal before bedtime. I always fed my babies a bowl of cereal just before nursing them to sleep for the night.
Perhaps she isn't getting enough at night? She gets tired just like you and then realizes, 'Whoops, I am STILL hungry'(?)...I was a SAH Mom when my girls were BFing so it didn't matter about the feedings so much, I would just get up, change a diaper and get into the rocking chair and away we would go until the next time...
What about using the pump to get as many Oz's as you need for a normal feeding and use that the first nighttime feeding(?) maybe the bottle will be a change and perhaps she will finish it off??? you didn't say her age so perhaps she is just so small still that this is her normal feedings in which case you just must wait until she is older(sorry)...
My DH is also a MM so I know how difficult being the only parent can be, I am a 56 yr. young Granni raising three of my Grans and boy it is a challenge at times!
Best to you & your beautiful daughter!
A.
She could be in a growth spurt, or she could be so into night nursing because it is time spent with good old cuddly mama. Either way, I think she needs the night time calories, especially since she won't consume much at daycare. All I can think of is for you to go to bed a little earlier so that you can get more sleep around all the nursings. Hooray for you for breastfeeding!
It would be good for you to get a true grip on her actual nourishment, to see if she's nursing out of habit or is actually hungry. Learn what a child her age should be eating to be healthy so you can be confident. A child who eats food like that should be at least 1 yr or over, and should sleep through the night. This means her stomach is big enough and she holds enough food to carry her through the night. At this point she could drink regular milk and breast milk is optional. So, it's not too big a deal if she doesn't drink it all at day care - if she has food for breakfast and lunch, she probably isn't hungry.
It might be good for you to feed her her baby food for dinner, then bathe her and keep her up a little longer until 7:30 or 8. Give her a last, warm bottle and read her a story, then place her in a crib in another room than your own. She needs to begin learning to put herself to sleep. Turn out the light, close the door. Give her 10 minutes of crying, if needed, before you go in and rub her back to quiet her, then leave again. Do this until your bedtime, then go to bed. If she's fed, clean, and changed, there is no reason for you to go back into the room. But if you must, wait until she falls asleep and sneak in to make sure she's okay.
I want to read the answers. Thank you.
Take away the rice bottle. It may be giving her a tummy ache and she's waking to be comforted.
Hi W.,
A great book which has helped me is The Baby Whisperer. She says that if a baby wants to eat at night it is because they are not getting enough during the day. Maybe the daycare can encourage her to have that second bottle...
You can also "cluster feed" at night before bed and/or do a "dream feed" at 10:30-11pm to see if that helps. It is exlained in more detail in the book. (I'd be happy to explain if you are interestd). Also, I nurse but at night I pump and give my little guy a bottle so I know FOR SURE that he is getting enough to eat. He sleeps from 8pm-3am and then from 3:30am-7:00am at 14 weeks.
Again, the book is called THE BABY WHISPERER and is WONDERFUL!
Good Luck!
S.
Hi W.,
Your pediatrician's office can probably best advise you based on your daughter's age and weight, but I'll tell you what mine had me do when I found myself in the same situation. First off, my son was over four months old. If your daughter is under our months, then she really needs to continue to eat on demand, even during the night. If she is over four months, then you can work on adjusting her feeding schedule to eliminate the night feedings.
Cereal actually has fewer calories and fat than breast milk, so while it might temporarily make her feel fuller, she is actually getting fewer calories, and her body is telling her to make up for those calories by nursing more (which happens to be at night). Cereal is a training food, not a nutritional food, so if she has gotten to a point where she is taking baby food just fine, there really is no need for the cereal, especially in her bottle.
1) Replace the two cereal feedings with breast feedings so she gets more calories during the day.
2) Eliminate the night feedings, and work with your day care to make sure they are encouraging her to take more breast milk during the day. She will likely protest giving up the night feedings at first, but she will adjust to taking more during the day.
Agian, that is what I did based on my ped.'s advice. We eliminated the night feedings cold turkey and used a sleep training technique for that. It did work, although it was tough at first.
She is definitely doing what's called "reverse cycling." It can happen with working moms. And she's consuming most of her calories at night. So she IS nursing because she's hungry, not just because she misses you. Here are some tips from kellymom.com:
I agree with Clarissa. My daughter slept with me for years. She and I slept really well. She nursed, she slept, I slept. It was a beautiful thing.
I would guess that she is nursing after midnight to make up for what she is not getting at daycare in the daytime. Does she sleep a big part of the time at daycare. Maybe she is getting more sleep than just normal naps at daycare so she is not tired enough after she sleeps five hours at night.
