cant take no more lack of sleep, any ideas before I cave?

[x-li-x]

Noah is currently feeding pretty much on n off all night, so im awake majoirty of the night, and its killing me!! my husband is army and is currently away soon to be deployed and i have two other children too, who themselves are a nightmare to get to bed, so noah goes down at 7 then at 7.30 which normally takes until about 9 to actually get them asleep and then noah is awake shortly after then on n off all night until one child is awake about 6am for the day, now im in the process of gettign the other two to start settling for me better, however i am getting no where with noah on his night feedings i just dont know what to do, surely he doesnt need to feed on n off all night its just a habit?

has anyone been through similar and have any suggestions, as i seriously cant take anymore lack of sleep on top of everything else and am close to just buying formula inthe hopes it settles him better, i want to avoid this as i know it settles them for all the wrong reasons however it may be my only option

 

[cat_reversing]

hey, sorry to hear things are difficult.
I only have 1 lo and luckily her wake ups for feeding at night are gradually getting less, but she's always been a rubbish sleeper and I always would feed her to keep her quiet as we live with family.
Firstly make sure he's getting enough milk during the day, if not he'll take it at night instead!
Make him wait for a feed a bit longer each night until you have a longer time between feeds and maybe offer only water if he always wakes at the same time as it may only be habit rather than hunger.
If you're cosleeping and baby can smell you, wear something to cover yourself up.
any changes take a few days for baby to adjust so try to stay with whatever you choose and hopefully baby will settle.
you've come this far, don't stop now!

 

[x-li-x]

Thank you so much for the reply, i think im going to try feed him tad more in day see if that helps and try settle him without a feed at night. obviously will feed him but try space it out more, gradually until hes maybe having 2-3 feeds a night, less if he can, but at them mo 3 sounds even better then what hes doing at the moment x

 

[Dime Cuando]

I'm certainly no expert....I've only just started out. However I get cranky if I don't sleep so what I've been doing is pumping and giving LO a breast milk bottle during the night feeds. She drinks more and stats satisfied for much longer.

My midwife is telling me to 'stick to breast' but I had my baby Friday and was back working (from home but busy!) by Wednesday so I do need to sleep. My midwife needs to come and clean my house and run my company then I'll go 100% breast.

 

[designer]

How old is Noah? My LO is 6 months old now so he's eating solids. He had been doing the same thing — waking up every 2 hours to feed and I was at my wits end. People kept telling me it was because he wasn't getting full enough before bed. So this is what I started doing. In the evening, just before putting him to bed, I would breastfeed him, give him a bath, then feed him rice cereal mixed with fruit puree (he doesn't like the rice by itself). Then I would wait maybe 20–30 minutes, then I would breastfeed him again. It holds him for about 4–5 hours. Then he starts waking up to feed again. It's better than before and at least I'm getting a little more sleep.

 

[Janers]

It isn't for everyone, but do you cosleep? My LO has always fed on and off all night, every two hours, sometimes more. I quit trying to get her to sleep in her crib, now she just sleeps in bed with me, and I don't even wake up when she nurses anymore. She is able to just help herself! I am back at work, and this has really been a life saver for me.

It's so exhausting, I really do feel for you, and I wish you all the luck! I hope you find something that works!

Remember, formula isn't going to be a magic solution, it could just make your nights worst. You might end up dealing with upset tummy, instead of just a hungry baby.

 

[MommyJogger]

I second the bedsharing recommendation and offering more feeds during the day. From my understanding, formula is a band-aid for sleep anyway. It might knock them out at first for all the wrong reasons, but then eventually they get used to it and you're back to square one on sleeping problems... only then you'd have to get up and prepare a bottle instead of just rolling to the side and offering a boob.

I'm certainly no expert....I've only just started out. However I get cranky if I don't sleep so what I've been doing is pumping and giving LO a breast milk bottle during the night feeds. She drinks more and stats satisfied for much longer.

My midwife is telling me to 'stick to breast' but I had my baby Friday and was back working (from home but busy!) by Wednesday so I do need to sleep. My midwife needs to come and clean my house and run my company then I'll go 100% breast.

I wanted to reply to this that skipping night feeds at a week old is actually dangerous for your milk supply. Removal of milk from the breast and nipple stimulation at night is important for building your supply and assuring that you'll be able to produce enough milk long-term. Prolactin levels are highest at night, so by nursing at night, you're creating the highest level of prolactin receptors possible, which will help make more milk later when baby is taking higher volumes of milk. I would let the house go and delegate a little more of your work if possible. Maybe if you were a few more months in, I'd say not to sweat it, but it's very early to be skipping night feeds. I'm not trying to wag my finger at you, I just wanted to share in case you hadn't come across this information or in case your midwife was giving instructions without explaining the reasoning.

 

[lmp1505768]

Do you nurse laying down? I'm actually able to fall back asleep now if we do this.

I was hardly keeping mg eyes open, and with a three year old up at 6am, I was not a pleasant person lol this saved me.

Not sure how old your LO is , but around 10 weeks it got a lot better

 

[x-li-x]

Hi thanks for replies , Noah is about 5 and a half months now, and we've always co sleep as he plain outright refuse his cot , though lately we've been tying to put him in his cot here n there, mainly as his is beyond clingy n although I don't mind , with hubby of on tour for 8-9 months I felt we needed to try get him to like it for those nights I'm beyond exhausted but this is mainly at naps as he much prefers our bed.
I have to wake at night as he will cry until I literally put the boob in his mouth n he's on n off constantly so I'm constantly have to wake and do this otherwise he just latches anywhere haha

 

[blake12336]

I second the co sleeping, since about 6 months LO has learnt to just help himself, I sleep topless, and on my side, so he sort of just wriggles over and I may stir slightly to help get into position then I go back to sleep, it's fab! Worth a try xx

 

[Dime Cuando]

I second the bedsharing recommendation and offering more feeds during the day. From my understanding, formula is a band-aid for sleep anyway. It might knock them out at first for all the wrong reasons, but then eventually they get used to it and you're back to square one on sleeping problems... only then you'd have to get up and prepare a bottle instead of just rolling to the side and offering a boob.

I'm certainly no expert....I've only just started out. However I get cranky if I don't sleep so what I've been doing is pumping and giving LO a breast milk bottle during the night feeds. She drinks more and stats satisfied for much longer.

My midwife is telling me to 'stick to breast' but I had my baby Friday and was back working (from home but busy!) by Wednesday so I do need to sleep. My midwife needs to come and clean my house and run my company then I'll go 100% breast.

I wanted to reply to this that skipping night feeds at a week old is actually dangerous for your milk supply. Removal of milk from the breast and nipple stimulation at night is important for building your supply and assuring that you'll be able to produce enough milk long-term. Prolactin levels are highest at night, so by nursing at night, you're creating the highest level of prolactin receptors possible, which will help make more milk later when baby is taking higher volumes of milk. I would let the house go and delegate a little more of your work if possible. Maybe if you were a few more months in, I'd say not to sweat it, but it's very early to be skipping night feeds. I'm not trying to wag my finger at you, I just wanted to share in case you hadn't come across this information or in case your midwife was giving instructions without explaining the reasoning.

Thanks, all advice is appreciated. She actually does 'lazily' latch on at night but then I always have to pump at 4am so it's still being stimulated and coming out. I am producing a rather ridiculous amount of milk so I have to pump through the night.