Sleeping...

this is ok! babies will change their sleep habits - nothing stays the same for very long.

www.askdrsears.com has good information on sleep habits and sleep solutions.

if you can - check out the other questions ive answered regarding sleep. im too tired to go into detail right now. but basically, it sounds like you are making her schedule work for your family - which is important. my son didnt go to bed before us until about a month ago - he is 18 1/2 months old. so theres nothing wrong with letting them stay up with you as long as its working for you. we chose to now give him a bedtime cuz we were getting cranky at him by 9 pm... and didnt want to keep yelling at him all night. since i never let him cry it out and we coslept, he now goes to bed almost on his own - can lay down in the crib and go right to sleep without any trouble!

good luck be patient, this too will pass.

T.,
My son went through a really rough time with sleep around 4 months as well. I'd already been back to work for a month and had stopped breastfeeding (which he didn't seem to notice at all :-) ), so for us, that wasn't the issue. I have another friend who's little one is almost 4 months and they're going through similar issues themselves. Just when we think we know what's going on, everything changes! Hang in there, I'm sure she'll adapt. It took my son a few weeks to get back to a "normal" sleep schedule.
Good luck!

I had the same experience when I went back to work. My son was waking up once to eat before I went back to work and then he started waking 3-4 times a night. I agree with other people you have talked to. She is probably just stocking up. You could try only feeding her one or two of the times she wakes up and just rocking her the other times, so she doesn't get used to eating so much at night. But from my experience I was too tired to care, so I just fed him. At about 9 months, I didn't let him nurse at night anymore, I just rocked him. Within a few weeks, he was sleeping through the night.

I have heard of some people who wake the baby up right before they go to bed to let the baby eat, so that when you go to bed, you at least get a nice stretch of sleep before the baby wakes up again.

Good luck.

What she is stocking up on is not milk T., it's YOU! Babies get even more comfort than nutrition from nursing, which is why it is such a great option. It also creates advanced brain development, which cannot be duplicated with a bottle.

If you don't want to cut her off (and I would strongly advise that you don't) take her to bed with you so you can get some sleep. When she wakes to nurse, you will fall asleep after she latches on.

YES, you will have to wean her later from the boob AND the bed, but this will be easy compared with working full time on just a few hours of sleep.

Also, you will have the added benefit of bonding with her while you sleep. Read books about the Family Bed if you want read sleep studies around families sleeping together. They are interesting.

It's not just about 'having' to take a bottle during the day, but she misses that contact with you. When moms return to work, it is extremely common for breastfed babies to want mom more at night to make up for the time they miss with mom during the day. I do a lot of social research on breastfeeding and actually can tell you that returning to work is one of the number one reasons that moms stop breastfeeding. It is hard and not all workplaces are 'family friendly'. I know that it may seem like you are getting NO sleep, but hang in there. She just wants to be close to you. She is also only 4 months old. She is goin g to still nurse often. Don't listen to people that tell you she should be sleeping through the night. With breastfed babies it is likely that she may continuie to wake up at least once in the middle of the night for a feeding. Several times right now seems like a lot, but she will soon get used to this schedule of you working and nighttime feedings should drop to just one or so as she gets older as well.
Stick in there. Breastfeeding is one of the best things you can do for the both of you right now!

A similar thing w/sleep happened to us around 4 months and it turned out she just needed MORE sleep, and to be put to bed way earlier - like around 7:00! We had her up 'til 10 & had a great routine too, then she started fighting it. It might stink, especially for your DH, but try a much earlier bedtime for 2-3 nights and see if it helps!
GOOD LUCK! :-)

T. - Have you considered weaning from the breast feeding to a bottle? It could possibly be that the baby realizes you are gone more now, and this is her way of trying to get more of your attention. I suggest going to a bottle and having others feed her when possible so as to break her from becoming too dependent on you and eventually manipulating your time with her. I know maybe it sounds ridiculous, but children learn at a very early age the art of manipulation. In the meantime, give her lots of hugs and kisses so that she is secure in the fact that mommy still loves her much. H. that helps

Both my kids have done this too! The other moms you talked to are right. She misses you and breastfeeding is important emotional bonding for babies too - it does not just meet their nutritional demands. So she is making up for it at night. DOes she sleep better on the weekend when you've nursed her during the day. (Depending on how long you've been back at work, you may not have noticed.)

I suggest putting her to sleep in her own room/bed and then taking her to bed with you when she wakes up. You probably will learn to fall asleep (or be too exhausted to stay awake) after she latches on and she can spend as much time as she wants nursing. However, I sometimes can't sleep as well when my daughter is in bed with me - so I sometimes will put her back in her bed.

I'd also encourage as much nursing as possible in the evening and make sure she is napping well during the day. Depending on when you get home, you also might be able to take a nap with your daughter before your husband gets home so you make up a bit for your loss of sleep.

Alternatively, you could have your husband try getting up with her first and see if he can get her back to sleep. If after 10-15 min that isn't working, he could bring her back to you.

This is a tough part of being a nursing, working FT mom. But it will be relatively short time in your life as a mother. You will make a lot of sacrifices to do what is best for your child. This is just one of them - it is harder than some others because you do need sleep! But there are ways to meet her needs and yours. If you need more ideas, I highly recommend the book the 'no cry sleep solution' by Pantley. Good Luck!!

She could also be going through a growth spurt. When they go through growth spurts they tend to cluster feed to increase your supply. Another thought,maybe she's sensing that you don't have enough milk. It's difficult to maintain production while pumping. You could try to increase your production by drinking mothers milk tea or pumping more frequently.

T.,
Your child is telling you she needs her mommy...Is it possible to stay at home or at least work a different shift than you husband...Is she getting breast milk during the day? If not, I suggest pumping, so she at least gets that until you can make a change to staying home with her...You may have to make sacrifices, but it will be worth it in the long run if you can be home with her now...Maybe you can just do it for a year or so and then go back...

Best of Luck to you and God Bless..

A.

T.,

It's possible she's going through a growth spurt, that happens often in the first months. It's also possible that now that she isn't with you all day she misses you. I suspect it's a growth spurt though, because she wouldn't be nursing so long if it was just for comfort.

Good luck! It will end soon.

J.

We discovered when our kids were waking up, they weren't getting enough sleep. We started putting them (twins) to bed earlier... WAY earlier (we also had been putting them down at 10 pm). 7:30 or 8 pm was the new bed time. I know it is hard when daddy works late, but babies and kids NEED sleep. Putting them to bed earlier actually helps them sleeper longer. I think we started doing this at 5-6 months or so...

I see your baby is four months, so I am not sure that is it, but something I don't see posted by others which you may want to consider.... I also worked full time and breast feed/pumped for a year (no formula). Not knowing your daycare, is your child also getting less sleep during the day depending on the envirnment.

I agree that it could be a growth spurt. If your "about me" is up to date, 4 months is about the age when growth spurts hit.

It could be a growth spurt, but those are usually at 3 months and 6 months. Who's to say, not all babies follow the 1week, 3week, 6week, 3month, 6month, 1yr pattern?.

My guess is that she misses you during the day. What time do you get home from work? I would try to feed and cuddle her as much as possible from that time to bed time. Eventually she will get used to the new schedule.

My son fed every 2 hours at night when I went back to work. Why? That was when he was getting most of his milk. He drank around 10-15 ounces when away from me. Since he needed 30-40 at 4 months, most was coming at night. I would look at how much she is having during the day and compare to how much overall all for 24 hours she should have.

At night too, once you notice the active/productive sucking stopping, you can work at unlatching her. My son would stay on forever if I didn't release the suction.

Good luck.