I need help!

[SophL]

I don't even know what I am asking for or what I need but any pearls of wisdom would be greatly appreciated. My baby girl was born at 33+4 and is now 11 weeks old. She is fully breastfed and I get no let up at all, I also have a 20 month old who is all go. She feeds all day and night and is such an unsettled baby, I have not yet achieved getting her to sleep in her own cot/ Moses basket. I am so so tired and just want to run away. Some one please help. 11 weeks of no sleep, how long can it go on?

 

[BabyMaybe917]

if you have a look back at my journal you'll see I've written the exact same for my 25 weeker. She came home at 36w1d. She was on 3 fortified bottles and breastfed the rest. Our problem was that she just wasn't transferring the milk. She would nurse for up to 2 hrs and still be hungry. Lactation said it was a growth spurt but it lasted for weeks. Finally I switched to exclusively pumping and I have a baby that is MUCH happier. I can typically, not always, lay her in her bed to sleep or bouncer beside me while I pump or do other stuff. I also wear her in a Moby wrap quite a bit during the day. I can't say that these things would fix your problem but they did mine. It will get better. You will figure out why.

 

[jandksmommy]

This may not be a popular answer but here it is... I switched to formula for this very reason. When my twins came home from the NICU they had not yet become successful breastfeeders, so every 3 hours, I would try to breastfeed them, then give them a bottle, then pump for 15-30 minutes to try and increase my supply... basically in a 3 hour period, 2 hours was all about feeding... all day and all night long. I was exhausted, the twins were miserable, I was frustrated and felt like a failure and wanted to cry all the time. The lack of sleep was destroying my mental health, I couldn't even enjoy these 2 beautiful babies I had been blessed with.

I finally gave up trying to breastfeed and it was the best thing I could do for all of us. They still ate every 3 hours but it took me 30-45 minute to feed the two of them so we ALL got more sleep at night... and the best thing... when I really needed more then 2 hours sleep at a time... my hubby could feed them!!!! They started to thrive on the formula. Gained weight appropriately, were healthy and happy. I could increase their intake as they needed and soon they were eating more throughout the day and sleeping longer at night. Best thing I could have ever done for us. With more sleep, my emotions stabilized and rational thinking returned and the first time since they had been born, I could finally just enjoy being their mom.

 

[AP]

Massive hugs I cant say I experienced this with my preemie, but my full term baby was very demanding. I was just constantly feeding her , non stop, couldnt settle - and we ended up co-sleeping which saved my sanity - however I would research co-sleeping fully if this is something you want to consider - especially so with a preemie.

 

[lanaross]

I know it's probably too late and you won't see it but I kept going through it day by day. My BF preemie fed every hour or two, woke up at night 2-3 times minimum until he was over six months, I survived. Barely but I did survive. They are just trying to catch up with the weight - he was all caught up by 6 months and now at 90 percentile. You also might want to look into reflux and look into getting ergo -- they fall asleep in the carrier very quick and you can have a walk to a park with your toddler. I know it's hard, try to get outside as much as you could, time goes faster there.

 

[RcdM]

I tried to bf my 30 weeker when she first came home but she was already used to feeding with a bottle while in the NICU, so I kind of gave up and just stuck with exclusively pumping. Granted I didn't try very hard, but I felt like she already had a routine with her feedings, I already had a routine with my pumping, and it just worked better for us. And it was nice because I could always see how much she was drinking, and when she was done she'd just stop eating because she was full. She also had a pacifier that she seemed to really like in the NICU so I just gave her that when I'd lay her down and she was content to sleep for a while.

Exclusively pumping isn't easy. It's almost like double the work because you've got to pump every 3 hours for 15-20 min at a time, even at night, and then still prepare the bottle and feed them so that's another 20 minutes... but if you're struggling so much with feeding and what not, it could be worth a shot.