Advice from other working mamas??

kray

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My baby is a month old and currently sleeps at night for 3-3.5 hour stretches. She typically goes down to bed between 9 and 10, then wakes between 12:30 and 1:30 for first feeding, then 4-5 for second feeding. However, I am returning to work in about two weeks and I teach first grade, which is very demanding, as you can imagine. I know that sleeping for that length is typical for a baby so young, but is there any way I can get her to wake for her last night feeding earlier in the night? For instance, I'd like her to wake around 3 or so (or 5 am consistently would be great), but I don't want to get up more than I have to at night in order to feed (putting her to bed earlier but waking 3 or 4 times to eat). If she continues to wake around 4 to eat, which takes about an hour with feeding, burping, putting back down, then I will probably just stay up so I can get ready for work, but I'm worried about how this will wear on me.

Please help!! Going back to work has me stressed enough! :)
 
Didn't want to read and run, I think when they're a month you just have to go with their own routine really.
LO is my first so I was pretty clueless and woke her every 4 hours on the dot to feed and change her. Sometimes she was so tired she wouldn't feed at all and just got upset at being woken up and disturbed. I believed my HV who said she MUST be fed every four hours, when I grew more confidant and just let her wake in her own time she was much more content.
Anyway, enough waffling, not sure what your situation is but can anyone help you with the night feed while your working? I wouldn't have managed working and doing the nightshift when she was new. Or can someone have her in the afternoon so you can have a sleep when you get home to make up for the loss at night?
Hope you sort something out and manage to get some rest :)
 
Have you thought about giving a dream feed as you go to bed? That could well eliminate the midnight feed. Also, how about trying to get that bedtime earlier? You're going to need a little time to yourself in the evenings once your back at work so if your LO was in bed by 7pm that would really help you. Try bringing bedtime forward by ten mins every other night so it's a gradual process.

Good luck going back. I went back for the three weeks before our schools broke up for the summer a.and taught Year 1 (our equivalent to First Grade) so I know how tiring, yet rewarding, it is! Xx
 
I don't know how much you can push things since all kids are different. I ended up with a really great sleeper and I don't know if it's luck or what I did. We started with a daily bath before bed, a little playtime then a feed and bed. We put him down in his own room while hes still awake but calm. Any night feedings we kept the room dark, no eye contact, no interaction. By 2 months he was sleeping through the night. He wouldn't do a dream feed and hated being woken when he wasn't ready. He even chose the early bedtime on his own. I think it was a lot of luck but if our routine could help you at all it might be worth trying?

Dream feeds work for some people so that's worth a try too.
 

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