I know I've talked about this before- but need more support please (too long, sorry)...

OK- I thought she was finally going to start sleeping through the ngiht. But in the past 2 weeks she has totally regressed. She is now waking up every 3 hours. Last night she woke at 10, 1, 4:30 (and then slept til 9). I have tried letting her fuss, then just rubbing her back, and finally picking her up (all the while refusing to fed her). She absolutely LOSES her mind until I nurse her.

I really do think she's hungry as she will actively suck for a LONG time. Then she goes right back to sleep, but is up in another 3 hours.

Is it possible she has her day/night feeding schedule screwed up? During the day, she won't nurse as often or as long (because she's NOSY- always distracted).

Today I said, "That's it- you are eating every 3 hours if it KILLS me." She barely ate upon waking, and at her 11am feeding it was quite a game trying to get her to nurse for longer than a few minutes without her pulling off to "check things out".

I'm not kidding- the lack of sleep is REALLY starting to get to me. I WANT(read:NEED) to start working out again and I CAN'T because I am just too tired after work to go to the gym. I feel like garbage all the time. I am starting to feel my old anxiety issues creeping back into my life because of this.

I know I should just have DH go in and feed her with a bottle on the nights before I go to work- but KNOWING she's up disrupts my sleep anyway- and I just feel like it's easier for me to just nurse.

And the craziest frustration? I WANT to get pg again, but as long as she's nursing like this- that ain't happenin'.

Sorry this was so long- I just needed to vent....

Re: I know I've talked about this before- but need more support please (too long, sorry)...

I am so sorry you are going through this.
I have no advice, but, can offer some

Re: I know I've talked about this before- but need more support please (too long, sorry)...

Jaidyn is 11 months old and still wakes a few times a night to nurse. I know she is doing it for comfort. My solution was to co-sleep, we all get sleep this way. I know it is not for everyone but it works for us

Re: I know I've talked about this before- but need more support please (too long, sorry)...

How old is she again?

Honestly, Cailen did not get a good solid sleeping schedule until he was 5 mts old... I began working out when he was 4 mts old even without sleep because I felt the same way... but once he hit 5 mts, and I felt more comfortable letting him sleep on his belly, he really slept well..

I would have been happy if he woke up every 3 hrs when he went thru his sleep issues He would take 1 hr cat naps at night, and then would be up for 2 hours... it was awful... and he NEVER took naps during the day - he would doze off and then wake up - even at daycare....

Now, he's a totally different kid at 7 mts - in fact - he is napping right now since around 11 this morning - granted, he was up at 5 and took a little nap in the morning, but he really needs his naps now.... and now he is up until 8 at the lates... then wakes up one time at night for afeeding if he is really hungry - but sometimes he will sleep thru the night - but he still wakes up super early, which I can handle as long as he sleeps thru the night....

I totally know what you are going thru - its a nightmare

Re: I know I've talked about this before- but need more support please (too long, sorry)...

Posted by lipglossjunky73

How old is she again?

Honestly, Cailen did not get a good solid sleeping schedule until he was 5 mts old... I began working out when he was 4 mts old even without sleep because I felt the same way... but once he hit 5 mts, and I felt more comfortable letting him sleep on his belly, he really slept well..

I would have been happy if he woke up every 3 hrs when he went thru his sleep issues He would take 1 hr cat naps at night, and then would be up for 2 hours... it was awful... and he NEVER took naps during the day - he would doze off and then wake up - even at daycare....

Now, he's a totally different kid at 7 mts - in fact - he is napping right now since around 11 this morning - granted, he was up at 5 and took a little nap in the morning, but he really needs his naps now.... and now he is up until 8 at the lates... then wakes up one time at night for afeeding if he is really hungry - but sometimes he will sleep thru the night - but he still wakes up super early, which I can handle as long as he sleeps thru the night....

I totally know what you are going thru - its a nightmare

Re: I know I've talked about this before- but need more support please (too long, sorry)...

Give it a few more weeks - it made a huge difference for us!!! Good luck!!!

Re: I know I've talked about this before- but need more support please (too long, sorry)...

DS is the exact same way...he was so good for 4 nights only waking up once then last night it was 11:30, 2:30, 4:30 and then 7:30..i send DH in there first to see if he can settle him..if he's not hungry he usually can if he is which is 99.9% of the time i have to go and feed him..i know its part hungry, part comfort but I dont know what to do anymore..i try to feed him more during the day but GEEZE..he wont' take more then 4.5 oz from the bottle adn he only nurses for 10 minutes so I have no idea!!!

Re: I know I've talked about this before- but need more support please (too long, sorry)...

Re: I know I've talked about this before- but need more support please (too long, sorry)...

first of all, . i imagine how frustrating this phase must be.

the only thing i can think of is trying to nurse her more often during the day, which you're doing... if you haven't tried it already, you might also try making her daytime feeding environment as boring as possible to minimize distractions.

hang in there... and even though you're awake, i would have your dh feed her with a bottle during the night when possible. i'm thinking that not having to deal with the situation directly might make this a little less frustrating and anxiety provoking for you...

Re: I know I've talked about this before- but need more support please (too long, sorry)...

My DD is the same but she is only 5 1/2 weeks. I can only offer some

Re: I know I've talked about this before- but need more support please (too long, sorry)...

Re: I know I've talked about this before- but need more support please (too long, sorry)...

I am right there with you!!

DH and I have now resorted to rocking DD in the rocking chair and let her such on her pacifier to help skip feedings. Luckily it seems to be working and we are getting closer to 4 and 5 hours of sleep at a time. If she goes to sleep at 9pm and wakes at 12 - we rock her with the pacifier. At first we just delayed her feeding for a little while but now she lets us put her back down for some more sleep.

DD is 3 months right now and I am worried about what to do if this doesn't work for too long.

Re: I know I've talked about this before- but need more support please (too long, sorry)...

Aw, that really is tough Amy

I'm sure you do it, but you keep it completely dark when she nurses at night, right? And quiet? What about her last feeding before 'bedtime'? I nurse DD for her last meal of the day, and shut off the TV, lights, and the house is quiet. That really helped establish her 'bedtime' sleeping. I at this point could probably keep all the lights & TV on, but that really made the difference in starting her habit. Again, I'm guessing you've tried it all, just checking.

Do you think she's just not satisfied with BM? Maybe she needs cereal before bedtime? Have you asked your ped?

Re: I know I've talked about this before- but need more support please (too long, sorry)...

Posted by nbc188

Aw, that really is tough Amy

I'm sure you do it, but you keep it completely dark when she nurses at night, right? And quiet? What about her last feeding before 'bedtime'? I nurse DD for her last meal of the day, and shut off the TV, lights, and the house is quiet. That really helped establish her 'bedtime' sleeping. I at this point could probably keep all the lights & TV on, but that really made the difference in starting her habit. Again, I'm guessing you've tried it all, just checking.

Do you think she's just not satisfied with BM? Maybe she needs cereal before bedtime? Have you asked your ped?

Yeah- her routine is all about relaxing. No lights, no TV, no talking.....

I'm going to call the PED tomorrow about starting cereal. She wanted to wait to 6 months, but I think I'd like to start sooner...

Re: I know I've talked about this before- but need more support please (too long, sorry)...

Posted by Porrruss

Posted by nbc188

Aw, that really is tough Amy

I'm sure you do it, but you keep it completely dark when she nurses at night, right? And quiet? What about her last feeding before 'bedtime'? I nurse DD for her last meal of the day, and shut off the TV, lights, and the house is quiet. That really helped establish her 'bedtime' sleeping. I at this point could probably keep all the lights & TV on, but that really made the difference in starting her habit. Again, I'm guessing you've tried it all, just checking.

Do you think she's just not satisfied with BM? Maybe she needs cereal before bedtime? Have you asked your ped?

Yeah- her routine is all about relaxing. No lights, no TV, no talking.....

I'm going to call the PED tomorrow about starting cereal. She wanted to wait to 6 months, but I think I'd like to start sooner...

Re: I know I've talked about this before- but need more support please (too long, sorry)...

I BF, my DS is 6 months old and he doesn't STTN. When I was PG, I thought that he would be in his crib at 3 months old, however, I have found that it makes my life much easier to continue co-sleeping.

Anyway, I am not saying this to say that you should do what I do. I just wanted you to know that you are not alone with having a baby that doesn't STTN.

Here are some articles that relate to this developmental stage in BF babies. I hope you find them helpful, and that you're DC starts sleeping for longer stretches soon.

The Distractible Baby

Wakeful 4 Month Olds

Re: I know I've talked about this before- but need more support please (too long, sorry)...

Re: I know I've talked about this before- but need more support please (too long, sorry)...

Could she possibly be teething? When Ainsley was cutting her first tooth she was up every few hours and the only thing that would soothe her was nursing - she really wasnt getting much milk, she just wanted to suck.

Is it possible to give her a bottle as her last feeding before bedtime and make it larger than usual, so that she can maybe sleep a little longer?

Re: I know I've talked about this before- but need more support please (too long, sorry)...

I'm sure she's teething as she's started biting me too....

Thank you for those articles- they were a definite help.

One day I'm going to get up to NY to meet my Spring/Summer 2007 mommies....

Message edited 11/4/2007 4:26:48 PM.