I feel I am feeding my baby constantly. He is hungry every second hour-even in the night!!He wakes up 5 times every night for milk.
I have been told that my milk isnt “fat” enough…is there anything I can do so he doesnt get so hungry all the time and I can get some rest during the nights?!
Re: Constant breastfeeding
How old is your baby?
Re: Constant breastfeeding
How long does he nurse for especially at night? Who told you that your milk didn't have enough "fat"
If he's not getting enough hind milk (the fatty kind) then he'll be hungrier soonner.....I know it sounds gross but what colour are is bowel movements ? My midwife said that if the poop is more green then yellow it means he's not getting enough of the fatty milk...this is only true for babies that haven't started solids yet.
Also how much does he weigh now ?
Re: Constant breastfeeding
Do cluster feeding from 5PM onwards that way hopefully by bedtime he will be more full so will sleep for longer.
Re: Constant breastfeeding
How old is he?
Have you considered supplementing?
Are you sure he is hungry (as opposed to comfort feeding)?
How long has this been going on? Could he be going through a growth spurt?
Re: Constant breastfeeding
He is 5 months now. It all started when he was 3 and a half months old and in the beginning I thought he was going through a growth spurt but this has been going on for over an month now and I am going crazy. met some other mothers of 5 months babies and they all told me that their babies only wake up ONCE during the night!!
We started supplementing 2 weeks ago but he is still in the phase where he isgetting used to the taste etc of the baby food.
Re: Constant breastfeeding
Do cluster feeding from 5PM onwards that way hopefully by bedtime he will be more full so will sleep for longer.
what is cluser feeding?
Re: Constant breastfeeding
How long does he nurse for especially at night? Who told you that your milk didn't have enough "fat"
If he's not getting enough hind milk (the fatty kind) then he'll be hungrier soonner.....I know it sounds gross but what colour are is bowel movements ? My midwife said that if the poop is more green then yellow it means he's not getting enough of the fatty milk...this is only true for babies that haven't started solids yet.
Also how much does he weigh now ?
It was a nurse who I spke to yesterday. she said that if there isnt enough fat in the milk then baby gets hungry much sooner.
color is greenish but we have started supplemening with baby food ..before we did that it was mustard yellow:p but sometimes it could be a little spinach green mixed in the yellow..
Re: Constant breastfeeding
How long does he nurse for especially at night? Who told you that your milk didn't have enough "fat"
If he's not getting enough hind milk (the fatty kind) then he'll be hungrier soonner.....I know it sounds gross but what colour are is bowel movements ? My midwife said that if the poop is more green then yellow it means he's not getting enough of the fatty milk...this is only true for babies that haven't started solids yet.
Also how much does he weigh now ?
oh and henurses around half an hours sometimes during the night but mostly 15 min...during day time he is done in 5-10 min....
he is soon 8 kg and weighing a bit more than average 5 months babies I was told...
Re: Constant breastfeeding
my kid is the same age as yours and he sleeps through the night mA. our paed told us not to automatically assume he was hungry if he woke up and fussed because it was teaching him that he needed to get up and eat even though kids his age do not need to eat every 2/3/4/5 hours etc. they can easily go 6-8 hours without eating. so initially when he was waking up, i would assume he was hungry and feed him. after speaking with his paed, i'd give him his paci first and 9 times out of 10 he settled down within minutes of taking the paci and went back to sleep! have you tried the soothing him back to sleep instead of offering food? it might take a few nights in a row before he realises he's not hungry and doesn't need to wake up.
regarding the supplementing, at his age, you should be able to mix in some rice cereal into his last feed before bedtime. this will keep him fuller for longer too. have you talked to his paed about trying that?
Re: Constant breastfeeding
oh and henurses around half an hours sometimes during the night but mostly 15 min...during day time he is done in 5-10 min....
he is soon 8 kg and weighing a bit more than average 5 months babies I was told...
it seems like he's not getting enough during the day.....5-10 minutes is not going to be sufficient enough for him. Try nursing him for as long as he will and then try again in 15 minutes. Is he latching off or are you finishing the nursing? If he tends to latch off try again in 15 minutes or so. Also you cn try breast compressions during the feed to encourage the hindmilk to come out faster.
Re: Constant breastfeeding
Oh and I'm sorry but the nurse is an idiot for saying that to you. There are a million reasons why some babies tend to nurse more frequently then others and none of those reasons have anything to do with how much fat your milk has.
Unless she's gone ahead and tested your milk there is no way for her to know, so don't worry about that part.
If he's gaining weight then your fine.
Re: Constant breastfeeding
start offering cereal once a day. do not mix it in his bottle tho.
Re: Constant breastfeeding
I am literally about to collapse very soon...he woke up 7 times last night. i cant sleep during day time so I am extremely tired and exhausted!!!!
He doesnt take paci or the bottle..only breast ...I have started to give him a new paci from today that he was more willing to take than the others we have tried to far...so I hope that he will start taking it regularly soon.
I tried to sooth him last night without offering him milk but he screamed and cried loudly which he doesnt do usually..
I dont know what I am doing wrong. my diet is good. I m trying to loose weight but do et properly and exercise a lot to loose the extra kilos so its not like I am not eating any fat..mum told me to eat halwa but thats a big NO NO for me!!!
Re: Constant breastfeeding
Oh and I'm sorry but the nurse is an idiot for saying that to you. There are a million reasons why some babies tend to nurse more frequently then others and none of those reasons have anything to do with how much fat your milk has.
Unless she's gone ahead and tested your milk there is no way for her to know, so don't worry about that part.
If he's gaining weight then your fine.
she didnt test it...
he is gaining wieght fine..almost 8 kg and 5 months
Re: Constant breastfeeding
Do you have any reason to think your production is the issue?
Re: Constant breastfeeding
I am not sure..I used to have too much milk and needed pads to avoid leakage. He used to be like that even then...now I dont have extra milk but seem to have enough for every feed...though I m not sure if it might be the issue here....
Re: Constant breastfeeding
On nights like those I would just bring her into bed and let her nurse and doze. I needed my rest. I know there are many people who are not comfortable with this, so if you're not, then don't do it.
Re: Constant breastfeeding
Have you considered pumping for the night feeds.... that way atleast on the weekends the husband can take a feed or two so you can rest......
I use to pump, and on weekdays my husband would take the 11:00 pm and the 7:00 am feeds so I could rest and then on the weekend he would take the one in the middle of the night as well....
Re: Constant breastfeeding
On nights like those I would just bring her into bed and let her nurse and doze. I needed my rest. I know there are many people who are not comfortable with this, so if you're not, then don't do it.
Sahar, he sleeps with me every night so I dont understand why he needs even more comfort.
Last night we gave him one half mashed potato mixed with breastmilk and he had milk from both breast before sleeping. But the kid was up again after 2 hours. I tried to comfort him and gave him paci but he refused to take it and SCREAMED!!!