Frequent waking up at night??

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yuukalim0404

Registered User
My baby is 2.5mths.
She usually drinks her milk (BF) on 2hrs interval in the day and aftering drinking last feed around 9pm+ she will sleep for about 6hrs and get up once at night at 3am or 4am and sleep again till morning.(6 or 7am)

However, since I started working 1 week ago, she still drinks my EBM from caretaker and I bf at night.
But she seems to wake up on a 2-3hrs interval at night, or waking up at least 2 times a night!
Wonder if anyone have similar experience and what can be done. Some friends suggested not feeding her even when she wakes up and let her cry back to sleep.....I don't feel too good about that, but with the lack of sleep, I am struggling in the day as my job is pretty hectic too
 
Your baby is 2.5 months old, give her time. Most babies don't 'sleep through' til they are 6 months old and many not til later. And remember that sleeping through for a baby means 6 hours, not 8 or more.

You need to decide which type of parent you are. The one that believes in letting your child cry when she is hungry so long as it teaches her to sleep or someone who believes babies cry for a reason and need to be attended to. Be it for hunger, for love, because they are cold/hot etc.

Personally I am the latter but I know plenty of people who put their babies on strict routines early on and the babies seem fine. I think that being tougher on babies that are a bit older (say 4 months) is ok but any younger and who knows what message it is sending your child by not responding to its cries.
 
yuukalim0404,
From what I understand, a baby makes up for not being able to breastfeed during the day by wanting to breastfeed a lot at night. So I think that is why this started happening when you went back to work...even though you are feeding her EBM from a bottle, she is just missing getting the milk directly from you since that is what she is used to. I am with aussiegal that 2.5 months is too early to not meet her needs. Just think of it as your baby really missing you and making up for lost time at night. Give it some time.
 
thanks gals, I agree so that's why I am hanging in there without much sleep...I love my bb so I understand she wants to be close to me whatever she can.

my only concern, this lack of sleep has made me so tired that my supply has dropped drastically, any bright ideas to remedy this?
 
I don't know whether it can help you, but it may be a good idea to do a baby massage to your bb before sleep. I know baby massage can help bb to sleep better and you can have a good bonding time with your baby to make up the time in the day. I massage my baby everynight and I enjoy this time alot. But remember to buy some good baby massage oil, I use the organic ones.
 
I'm not sure how many days this has been going on for, but she could also be having a growth spurt - fairly common at 2.5 months, so it may be genuine hunger that is causing her to act this way.

For massage oils you can just use natural oil such as grapeseed or even olive oil. The grapeseed oil doesn't smell and is really good for their skin, I use it on my girls.
 
yuukalim0404, the massage procedure is quite easy. From bottom up, gently massage the feet, then leg, then stomach, then the back and finally lower back. (I learn this from a book, maybe other mom has different methods)

I used to use Cherub Rubs calm oil, but my recent favourite is Mei Mei baby oil. They are both certified organic.

If you want me to email a copy of the massage method to you, just let me know. I can PM you.
 
Are you jumping out of bed as soon as baby wakes during the night? I am not sure if you are doing this, but maybe let your baby sook for 5 or 10 minutes, and then if she doesn't resettle, spend maybe 10 minutes trying to resettle (I found just rubbing the top of my babies head sent her back to sleep within around 5 minutes). If she still is unsettled, I would then feed baby. I also agree that although it can be extremely tiring, baby is still quite young at 2.5 months. Have you also tried a dream feed/rollover feed at around say 11? I found this extremely effective and as a result got a decent nights sleep as baby was fed later and lasted longer. In regards to milk drying up, have you also considered expressing during the day (you may already be doing this but just thought I would also recommend this if not). I had an electronic breast pump and once I got the hang of it, could get around 250mls in 10 minutes. Finally, I have a friend who is also doing the massage course at Annerley and is finding it extremely good.
http://www.annerley.com.hk/babymassage.htm
I also did massage every night after a bath and both my baby and I really loved it (and Dad even enjoyed it too!). In the end, remember bubs is still young and it sounds like you are doing well surviving both working full time and taking care of bubs. Hang in there and Good luck. They improve every week!
 
As for the tiredness, I completely understand. It is the hardest thing to deal with and something people can't understand unless they've had a baby wake every few hours for months on end. With two children close together I feel like I haven't had a decent sleep in three years!
The only advice that I can give is take things one day at a time, nap whenever you can and definitely get other people involved with night feeds. My hubbie has always been great, in fact i was going completely insane from tiredness (a colicky baby who cried all night long) and he really stepped up and did a lot of feeds at night. I would express and store them ready for him to use. Even today with a toddler and an almost 3 year old we alternate waking up when one of our boys needs us. He's a champ!
 
my boy (now 9 mos) still wakes at night a few times and my toddler (2 yrs) also wakes up (though she can sleep through tht night occassionally. since i had mine so close, i really haven't slept thru the night in over 2 yrs and i'm not so sure i remember how. but the woman's body is amazing and will adjust.

my daughter was a quicker eater at night so she was easy, but my son takes his time. i got so tired that i just started nursing him while lying down at night. i found that i could get more rest that way and even fell asleep in that position (exposed and all after he was done).

if i remember correctly, i think the milk producing hormones are at their strongest at night so nursing often at night might be helping you keep up your supply. also, the composiition of milk changes with the baby's needs so even though your pumping less in quantity, it may be that the milk is more concentrated in nutrition.
 
are you sure your baby is not just hungry? cos in the other post, you said your supply is decreasing and milk supply is lowest at the end of the day. perhaps your last breastfeeding session is just not enough to tie her over as before?
 
First of all, thanks for all the advice and support.
I think my baby is still adjusting cos the night before she went back to her old schedule, drank at 9pm(BF) and slept through till 5am. Then last night I woke her up at 12pm for a feed (BF) but she still wakes up at 4am!
Usually I do feed her before sleep 11 or 12pm(BF) and usually she gets up once 4am or 5am, but the 3 times waking was really a little "abnormal" for her that's why I posted earlier.
Seems like my baby is still young and adjusting. And because my supply has dropped after I started work fulltime (8am-7pm) I think I must also re-adjust together with her.
Btw I am pumping at work, at least 2X and each time 30-45mins at least (will try to up 3X or4X) and I BF her totally at night and on weekends as well. Hopefully my supply will increase though its tough with lack of sleep, no helper and all.
Btw my DO is great, he helps with diaper change and rocking baby to sleep at night if I am just too tired.

I think mummies are incredible for all the sacrifice and hardwork put in and here's a salute to all mummies!!
 
btw, am sure you have found out already, but you can get more milk by pumping more frequently with less time than doing away with less pumps, but pump for 1 hour. Usually 20 min or so is enough.
 
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