Cracker

LO is 8 wks today and weighs over 12 lbs. She is bf except her bottle at 10.30pm which is ebm and topped up with aptamil.

She gets up at 7 and feeds every 3 hours all day except she has a feed at 5 and another at 6ish after her bath - she then goes down like a dream by 7pm. OH normally wakes her at 10ish and she takes a good 100-120ml. She had a growth spurt from hell at 6 weeks and after that would wake at 3am and feed and then about 6.30 which was perfect and lasted about a week but the last few nights she hasbeen waking at 2.30, 4.30 and then 6.30.... Aghhh
tried soothing her instead of just feeding but doesn't work and she feeds for about 10mins before dropping off - but she does feed like crazy in those 10mins.

Do I just have a very hungry baby? She has never gone longer than 4.5 hours at night and at 2 weeks old she was going 4hours and her stomach must be much bigger now - she has put on near 4lbs!!!

I just can't handle all these night feeds and am going back to work soon....

Any help/advice would be great xx

MelanieF

Night feeds are really difficult! And yet they are also really necessary, babies need them to sustain growth, your boobs need them to encourage supply and ensure you avoid mastitis; the fat content of night milk is higher, the prolactin levels within you are higher, and many babies are fed at night way into toddler hood. Introducing even a small amount of FF at night can have massive negative consequences on the breastfeeding relationship. Sorry!!!! There's a great link here to explain what I mean: http://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/bfinfo/sleep.html

Mel