can someone please give me some advice re night feeds

[leahtaba]

Hi, i am currently having a really hard time with night feeds. Baby is two weeks old and very fussy of a night. Of a day she has about 3 ounces every three hours and settles to sleep easily but when she wakes of a night she fusses and fusses and wont re settle. I let her wake on her own to feed, should i wake her up at set times instead? So she isnt hungry and waiting

I tried refridgerating her night feeds and heating them as needed so i wasnt messing about making a bottle while she fussed and it made her sick felt so guilty

Also does keeping boiled water in a flask have any risks of making her ill? Surely theres got to be an easier way of waiting for a kettle to cool at 4 am

Basically any advice reguarding night feeds and a fussy baby who wont re settle are welcome as hvs and midwives are uncontactable and i feel lost

 

[Ktothema]

I double flask for the night feed. One hot water, one cold. I measure out half the water needed hot, add all the formula powder and mix, then measure and add half cold water. Instant bottle at a good temperature and any bacteria should have been killed by the hot water in the first go.

Though with dd I used a flask that lost its heat and may not really have been hot enough (hadn't figured out double flask then). She never got ill. I always did her bottles with hot water from a flask, and have done all of ds' too. I just make sure I refresh the water every 12 hrs.

Are you nappy changing at night when feeding too?

 

[leahtaba]

I double flask for the night feed. One hot water, one cold. I measure out half the water needed hot, add all the formula powder and mix, then measure and add half cold water. Instant bottle at a good temperature and any bacteria should have been killed by the hot water in the first go.

Though with dd I used a flask that lost its heat and may not really have been hot enough (hadn't figured out double flask then). She never got ill. I always did her bottles with hot water from a flask, and have done all of ds' too. I just make sure I refresh the water every 12 hrs.

Are you nappy changing at night when feeding too?

I change her as the bottle heats/cools usually. xx

 

[Ktothema]

That may be waking her up. I only changed dd and only do ds at night if they were/are poopy (put them in a bigger size nappy overnight to help too). Dd slept far better for not being fully awoken and ds is sleeping far better now we've stopped as long as he's not windy or poops mid bottle...

 

[mommy0629]

I second the not changing the diaper unless there's poop. I load up lo's bum with preventative rash ointment to protect her from the wetness at her last change right before bed.

You can maybe try heating up a pre-made refrigerated bottle again, if she got sick it was probably just because it was still too cool and her tummy wasn't used to it. A bottle warmer is one of those items I sprung for even though everyone says it's not needed, soooo much faster than a cup of hot water and a life saver for night feeds. It is true that the faster you can start the feeding without lo getting too worked up the easier it will be for her to go back to sleep.

You also have a good idea on waking her to feed before she wakes on her own, or if she's waking at predictable times you can just set an alarm to wake yourself up like 10 minutes or so before that so you have the bottle all ready to go when she does wake up.

 

[mommy0629]

That may be waking her up. I only changed dd and only do ds at night if they were/are poopy (put them in a bigger size nappy overnight to help too). Dd slept far better for not being fully awoken and ds is sleeping far better now we've stopped as long as he's not windy or poops mid bottle...

lol, off topic but I'm glad I'm not the only one with a baby that likes to poop mid-bottle Luckily she doesn't do it at night anymore lol.

 

[Ktothema]

That may be waking her up. I only changed dd and only do ds at night if they were/are poopy (put them in a bigger size nappy overnight to help too). Dd slept far better for not being fully awoken and ds is sleeping far better now we've stopped as long as he's not windy or poops mid bottle...

lol, off topic but I'm glad I'm not the only one with a baby that likes to poop mid-bottle Luckily she doesn't do it at night anymore lol.

I can't wait till he stops it. It's not every night but as soon as you hear it your heart sinks knowing you'll be up pacing for ages to get him to settle down again.

 

[stephanyox]

For my two week old babys feeds through the day and the night i do the following: (hes on 4oz)

Get 6 bottles and sterilize etc. boil the kettle and put two oz's boiling water in the bottle and put the teats lids etc on. Leave on the side to cool to room temperature. Put remaining boiling water in a thermal flask and measure out his powder into separate little tubs. When hes ready for a feed i just go into the kitchen, put two oz's of the boiling water in a sterilized bottle, add the ready measured formula and mix, then add this to the cooled boiled water, this makes the bottle in less than a minute, and makes it warm, not too hot not too cold. Alternatively you can just boil the kettle, make up from fresh, add boiling hot water and run under a cold tap, but i found this lengthy especially at 3am! but i had my health visitor come today and told me making bottles up and putting them in the fridge for up to 24 hours and using when needed is fine and that some people are a little over the top with everything. as long as everythings sterilized nothing can enter the bottle to cause bacteria when its in the fridge! Just do whats best for you and what your happy with!

 

[Anaconda]

I always make up my feeds to last a full 24 hours. I use either liquide concentrate or ready-to-feed, which ever I can find first (the enfamil brand I use sells out REALLY supper fast around here, so sometimes I get liquide and sometimes ready).

My doctor has said that boiling water, letting it cool to room temperature, filling the bottles with the water and formula, and then putting them in the fridge is perfectly fine. I then just heat them up as the day goes by and she needs them.

At night OH will change her diaper, while I heat a bottle up. This kept her less fussy as OH was able to calm her down while I heated her bottle. A soother generally works for her to keep her calm before I come with the bottle too. We also switch (I diaper change, OH heats bottle). This has worked for us.

As for a gassy baby, maybe try a different bottle. My daughter isn't a very gassy baby, so we just use regular tommee tippee bottles, but I know they make ones for babies with lots of gas and fussiness.

For resettling, sometimes I'll rock my baby after a feeding (I gotta get a rocking chair for this). Sometimes I sing or put her mobile on with music. And sometimes a soother works. And sometimes you just got to let them fuss it out. Its normal for a baby, this small, to fuss before fallng asleep. There is still so much for them to get used to.

Oh, and maybe she fusses and won't settle because she isn't tired? If this might be the case, then try to keeo her up a little more throughout the day. This might make her extra tired come time bedtime.

Hope I helped

 

[jaymarie1991]

I use room temperature water, so I boil and fill 6-10 bottles to 4oz and put them along with the formula mix on my night table beside my bed along with a stack of diapers then when he cries its as easy as 2 scoops and a shake takes about 20seconds then if his diaper is too wet I just change it no wipe unless he pooped, I don't even have to sit up sometimes as we co-sleep