Hello readers,
This post is to address a common question from one of my readers... How do we expand the time our baby's can go between feedings. Ultimately the goal is to teach them to sleep through the night and to help us as parents get more sleep as well. Here was the question sent to me...
"Michelle,
I have read your blog and have questions about my son's sleeping habits. He will be 16 weeks this Sunday and is waking up anywhere from 4-6 or more times a night. He is wanting to eat (exclusively breastfed) and will eat for 5-7 minutes. He falls back asleep and is then awake again 2-3 hours later. He was 10 pounds when he was born and now weighs over 18 pounds. He seems to constantly be hungry. He can go about 2 hours during the day before he eats again. I had him going 2.5 hours up until about 2 weeks ago. He naps about 4 times during the day. The length ranges from 20 minutes to just over an hour. In order for him to fall asleep during the day he has to be bounced or rocked with white noise. Do you have any suggestions as I am about to lose my mind from lack of sleep and my back is killing me! :)"
Hello Mia,
Wow it sounds like you are spending a lot of time feeding your little one and you are not getting much sleep at all. I have a few simple suggestions which I will address for you in this post. I hope they are helpful.
Few suggestions...
1. First off, his weight is telling me that he is getting plenty to eat. This is the first indication that he is ready for a more consistent eating routine.
2. Based off his age and weight, his routine should include breastfeeding/bottle feeding him every 3-4 hours. It sounds like this is one of the issues for you right now. Think of it like this... If he eats every 2 hours he is probably only eating about 2-4 oz per feeding because your body does not have enough time to make the full 5-8 oz he needs to get through a 4 hour stretch. You have to stretch the feedings. He also seems like he is ready to start considering 2-3 tablespoons of rice cereal mixed with .5 oz breast milk or warm water. He is just a hungry boy which is okay.
3. At night...because he is eating every two hours through out the day in snack size portions...he is not getting enough food during the day to create a long stretch of not eating at night. To fix this is staying on a routine and feeding him every 3 hours to start during the day.
To start a routine it should be based on his current schedule and your ideal schedule...
example:
7am wake up breast feed
10am breastfeed
1pm breastfeed
4pm breastfeed
5pm (cereal) We want them to get a full belly for bedtime. we wouldn't want to sleep hungry either:)
7pm breastfeed
7:30pm bedtime
10pm (This usually is the last feeding before a long stretch or this feeding will be pushed back as his long stretch. Do not wake him up. Just see how long he can go. It will just get longer and longer if you can be consistent with the eating schedule.
4. He is nursing every few hours for a few minutes as a snack and as a way to soothe. To solve this you must increase the food and length between feedings during the day. This will decrease.
Hopefully this information is helpful for you. Family's can feel overwhelmed when creating and following through with a new routine which is why I suggest setting up a sleep consult with a doula or professional.
Good luck with everything and I hope you start to get more sleep.
Thank you,
Michelle Chrastil MA CPD
Honest Family Services LLC.
#303-669-0893
