Boob rocks and nightmare sleeper

[Phoenix82]

Hey ladies

I'm looking for advice please - my LO is 5 wks & 2 days and does not sleep at night.

So I'm only breastfeeding and LO put on 2lbs at 4 weeks from her birth weight which means she's feeding well.

However she wakes all night and it's driving me mad.
She barely has an hour and wakes up moaning,grunting and straining.
i need her to get more sleep but if I put her in the Moses basket she doesn't settle but on me she'd do 3 hours.

Her nappies are green and sometimes explosive - she's very noisy!!! And somewhat fishy smelling!!!

She did have a kind of routine where it was 1.5 hrs before but that's vanished!!

However she's got a phlegmy cold (no runny nose but coughing stuff and bunged up). But I can't say if that's what's changed things as there was no real routine before it.

I have a forceful letdown which causes her to take on air, guzzle, gag and cry while feeding due to the fast flow and becoming engorged, She also does not give up her wind.- infacol didn't work, I started to use gripe water but didn't want to use it while using the drops from the doctor to unblock her nose.

Help I'm frazzled.

 

[noon_child]

At that age my LO wouldn't settle at night either. I have a partner, so we were able to do shifts. Although LO seemed to want to cluster feed she'd often conk out if on OH's chest after about 8:30/9:00 pm, so he'd play video games with her on his chest and I'd go to bed. Then he'd come upstairs with her at about midnight, I'd feed her and he'd go to sleep and then it was my 'shift' either trying to get her down in her moses basket (which she was more likely to after a chunk of sleep on Daddy) or staying awake with her on my chest. I wish I'd investigated safe co-sleeping more - not necessarily for every night, just for those times when I was so exhausted I was at risk of unsafe co-sleeping.

If you're letdown is very forceful and have a lot of milk, this may be the reason for the green nappies (although swallowing mucous when they have a cold is often the culprit for green explosive nappies which are only temporary i.e. 4-7 days then return to yellow). As she is putting on weight so well it isn't necessarily a "problem" that you have oversupply and a forceful letdown except for the fact that you are concerned she is uncomfortable and feeding so frequently.

All milk contains fat, hence why she is putting weight on so well, but very occasionally too much fast flowing milk fill LO's up with volume of liquid before they are truly full of enough fat. This volume is easily digested and the LO will be hungry again. I want to stress this is not abnormal or a problem, because it is a system that works very efficiently to keep your LO healthy and thriving (all babies wake frequently because they have digested their milk already). It can just be a strain on Mum to have LO wake just that little bit more frequently.

Have you tried:
1) a reclined feeding position so the milk is having to work against gravity when you let down. This can slow the flow enough to stop LO taking on air etc.
2) letting down in to a towel at the beginning of a feed and then latching LO when the flow slows a little
3) feeding before you get engorged - I know MORE frequent feeding may sound like a mad suggestion but if LO can feed when you aren't engorged she'll not get overwhelmed or over full.

Please bear in mind that it is completely normal for babies to not want to settle in a cot and to wake through the night for food/comfort. It doesn't mean you are doing anything wrong and it won't last forever.

 

[Phoenix82]

At that age my LO wouldn't settle at night either. I have a partner, so we were able to do shifts. Although LO seemed to want to cluster feed she'd often conk out if on OH's chest after about 8:30/9:00 pm, so he'd play video games with her on his chest and I'd go to bed. Then he'd come upstairs with her at about midnight, I'd feed her and he'd go to sleep and then it was my 'shift' either trying to get her down in her moses basket (which she was more likely to after a chunk of sleep on Daddy) or staying awake with her on my chest. I wish I'd investigated safe co-sleeping more - not necessarily for every night, just for those times when I was so exhausted I was at risk of unsafe co-sleeping.

If you're letdown is very forceful and have a lot of milk, this may be the reason for the green nappies (although swallowing mucous when they have a cold is often the culprit for green explosive nappies which are only temporary i.e. 4-7 days then return to yellow). As she is putting on weight so well it isn't necessarily a "problem" that you have oversupply and a forceful letdown except for the fact that you are concerned she is uncomfortable and feeding so frequently.

All milk contains fat, hence why she is putting weight on so well, but very occasionally too much fast flowing milk fill LO's up with volume of liquid before they are truly full of enough fat. This volume is easily digested and the LO will be hungry again. I want to stress this is not abnormal or a problem, because it is a system that works very efficiently to keep your LO healthy and thriving (all babies wake frequently because they have digested their milk already). It can just be a strain on Mum to have LO wake just that little bit more frequently.

Have you tried:
1) a reclined feeding position so the milk is having to work against gravity when you let down. This can slow the flow enough to stop LO taking on air etc.
2) letting down in to a towel at the beginning of a feed and then latching LO when the flow slows a little
3) feeding before you get engorged - I know MORE frequent feeding may sound like a mad suggestion but if LO can feed when you aren't engorged she'll not get overwhelmed or over full.

Please bear in mind that it is completely normal for babies to not want to settle in a cot and to wake through the night for food/comfort. It doesn't mean you are doing anything wrong and it won't last forever.

Yeah my oh hasn't embraced the workload as I'd hoped. My lil one defo cluster feeds, 6.30, 7.15, 8pm and I'm sure around 10pm too. I've been told to try a formula feed for bedtime to see if it fills her up for longer but with her straining at night it might cause more problems

I do the whole night, all day and when he comes home he doesn't offer to take on anything except a cuddle!!! I should probably say he sleeps in a spare room sun-thurs. then at weekends he joins us but doesn't take on the work, he just does one feed at 12pm - I think it's an adjustment thing but he doesn't get how hard it is on me and I'm resenting him for being so selfish!
Phew went out in the drink from and came home sat pm and said he was tired and could just go to bed!!! I nearly killed him. He's never been like this before.

Thank you for your message, I really appreciate it.
Yeah I do feed reclined and sometimes lying down
I try and express a bit before LO latches but she goes to hungry in seconds!! When it pours I let some out into a towel but it doesn't fix it.
Once she gets a routine I'll be able to offer food before getting to that point but it's all over the place at the mo.
X

 

[noon_child]

Yeah my oh hasn't embraced the workload as I'd hoped. My lil one defo cluster feeds, 6.30, 7.15, 8pm and I'm sure around 10pm too. I've been told to try a formula feed for bedtime to see if it fills her up for longer but with her straining at night it might cause more problems

I do the whole night, all day and when he comes home he doesn't offer to take on anything except a cuddle!!! I should probably say he sleeps in a spare room sun-thurs. then at weekends he joins us but doesn't take on the work, he just does one feed at 12pm - I think it's an adjustment thing but he doesn't get how hard it is on me and I'm resenting him for being so selfish!
Phew went out in the drink from and came home sat pm and said he was tired and could just go to bed!!! I nearly killed him. He's never been like this before.

Thank you for your message, I really appreciate it.
Yeah I do feed reclined and sometimes lying down
I try and express a bit before LO latches but she goes to hungry in seconds!! When it pours I let some out into a towel but it doesn't fix it.
Once she gets a routine I'll be able to offer food before getting to that point but it's all over the place at the mo.
X

There is no evidence formula will help her sleep. Generations ago it used to be hard to digest so babies seemed to be settled more, but in fact their digestive systems had just slowed down and we're taking all the energy just trying to move the stuff through. Formula is much closer to breastmilk now (although still completely different) and digests in a similar amount of time, so doesn't have the effect it used to.

Sometimes OHs seem like they have checked out but really they just don't know what to do. The baby appears to be "yours" and there's nithing they can do as the spare wheel. You just need to be brutally blunt "I'm so tired I think I'm at risk of harming LO. I need you to hold her while I get some sleep." Type thing.

I had a suddenly hungry baby. 0-60 I thought of her as. I never could read feeding cues. There were some I learnt afterwards that I didn't know about. Apparently hungry babies have clenched fists and these relax in to open palms as they feed! So if she seems happy but has clenched fists, get ready to feed then!

 

[Phoenix82]

Thank you

I think my main issue is the straining, grunting distress noises she makes in the night after being put down as,eep after a feed that waked her up.
There's almost no point putting her down or trying to sleep which is do frustrating.

The constant need to feed is hard but the constant distress noises which are apparently normal?? It sounds like she's constipated but has plenty of loose/runny nappies do it can't be that. But poop does usually follow.

Everyone says it could be a dairy allergy as I'm intolerant to dairy but have been ok since being pregnant. However I've been told by my he due to a forceful let down too much lactic could cause gas and tummy ache plus lil one guzzles and takes on too much air. Stumped

 

[noon_child]

Thank you

I think my main issue is the straining, grunting distress noises she makes in the night after being put down as,eep after a feed that waked her up.
There's almost no point putting her down or trying to sleep which is do frustrating.

My LO never did this, she just screamed, but I have heard it often from women with fast letdowns, so trapped air seems a likely culprit. Also young babies can get disturbed by the sensation of needing a poo and the feeling of it moving through their bowels so it could be that too.

Minimising the choking and gasping is really the best thing if she is very distressed -although I couldn't tell if it is her who can't sleep through the grunting or you, or you both? If laid back/reclined feeding every feed isn't working, then letting down in to a towel is a good idea even if LO is screaming that she's hungry. You could give her a finger or even a pacifier for those few moments while you have to unlatch her, just to keep her calmer. Another possibility is nipple shields as they can slow the flow of milk in to LOs mouth. However they can cause other issues, so research whether you feel comfortable using them and get someone to show you how to use them properly (there is a technique) as I'd hate them to cause more problems than they solve.

Intolerance is a possibility but it is usually accompanied by more severe symptoms.

 

[Phoenix82]

Thanks hun - it's both of us who can't sleep she ends up waking herself up and crying to be soothed.

Yeah reclined feeding helps but she still suffers
.it has to be wind related as she's v hard to burp too.

Nightmare

 

[luna_19]

It is very normal for babies to be quite gassy at this age, their digestive.system is brand new and just figuring things out. We.did probiotics, belly massage, bicycle legs to help.the gas move through. Keep in mind you are coming up to the 6 week growth spurt which is pretty brutal. Get sleep when you can, likely baby sleeps a bit better during the day right now so lay down together and recharge. These early days are really hard but they don't last forever.

 

[Mrsb3]

I think most babies are like that at first- my lo was like that anyway. It will get better in time. My lo is 10 month now and sleeps straight through in her own own room 10 hours straight. No sleep training required.

The grunting and straining will vanish around 3 months and she will start sleeping a bit longer at a time. My lo was 6 months when she started going 2 hours then at 7 month 3 hours then at 8 month 6 hours then 9 month 8 hours... You get my drift. I know this isn't very helpful as to what you are looking for the time being but I hope it gives you dome confidence that things will improve eventually. X