Night-time troubles

[MemmaJ]

My baby is almost 5 weeks old, but was born at 35+3 - her 'due date' was actually yesterday!

So she's very 'new' and small and I'm not trying to force her into any 'routine' or anything. She's formula/bottle fed and was in NICU for a few days where they obviously fed her at certain intervals, so she just kind-of fell into that.

When we first came home, she fed like a dream; 3-4 hourly and then went 5-6 hourly in the night.
The last couple of weeks she's been going 4 hourly in the day, and 4-5 hourly at night.

But the last few days we have gone backwards even more. She's lasting just under 4 hours in the day (around 3 and three quarter hours), and then after her early-evening feed (around 6.30), she's hungry again 2 hours later and then it just gets worse all night...!
She's wanting to feed constantly all through the night; taking small amounts, falling asleep (to the point I can't get any more into her), and then doing the same again. She doesn't even settle in between. She'll fall asleep on the bottle/on me, but as soon as I put her back in the crib, she squirms and cries constantly until I pick her up and we do it all again.

I'm exhausted (also have a very hectic 19 month old boy!).

Like I said, I know she won't fit into a routine and I'm not trying to 'force' anything - so in the nicest way, please don't tell me 'she's too young for a routine' etc, because I know that.
I'm just hoping someone might know where I've gone wrong?! We've gone backwards twice since she came home and I can't carry on like this - at about 3 o'clock this morning I was a crying mess myself, as I am just so tired

I thought she must be hungry in the night as she's not getting enough through the day - so I tried upping her feed amounts in the daytimes. But she just didn't want/couldn't take that much, so it was just being wasted and we went back to 4oz.
That was last week though when she was only waking slightly more frequently in the night; it's in the last few days that it's got really bad and it's constant all night.

Would appreciate any words of wisdom or advice to help please...!

 

[IchigoMewMew]

Does she arch her back a lot when she's squirming about? She could have reflux or trapped wind which they can mistake for hunger. Have you tried any colic remedies/bottles etc?

 

[MemmaJ]

Funnily enough, my partner is going out tonight to get some MAM Anti Colic bottles as I keep saying to him I think she's got trapped wind! She's constantly farting and her stomach is always quite bloated. We're using Avent bottles at the moment because they were the only ones we got on with last time - but this time, the teats keep getting blocked for some reason - meaning she's probably taking in a lot of air and feeds are taking a long time/not being finished because she's then too tired!

I don't think its reflux as my little boy had that really bad (he had to be medicated for it), and she's not as bad as he was. At least I'm very much crossing my fingers that it's not the beginnings of reflux because that was horrendous with him and went on until he was 5/6 months old.

 

[IchigoMewMew]

Hope the new bottles work for her

 

[Rachel320]

Have you tried the Dr Browns bottles? I BF but express if I'm going out so we needed good bottles because my LO was colicky for the first 2 months and the Dr Browns bottles were the best!

 

[Taurus8484]

Sounds like she has started to snack at night rather than get a full tummy. However saying that she is still young and both my boys were like that but grew out of it. Hang in there......to be honest the first few months of having 2 under 2 is one big blur of sleep deprivation.....I used to just keep repeating to myself that one day it will get better xx

 

[MindUtopia]

I don't think you're doing anything wrong. It's just that when they're really new, especially when they're early, they sleep easily. Mine was also early-ish (37 weeks) and at first she slept loads. It wasn't until maybe around the 2 week mark, which is probably where yours is now, if you take her adjusted age, that she started to be awake enough to snack and want feeds every 2 hours sometimes and not to settle in between. That's normal for most babies, even formula fed babies. It's just that when they are early, they are very sleepy, so it takes a few weeks for them to catch up with themselves. My husband and I actually traded off during the night, holding and feeding her, while the other slept (he'd do 8pm-1am, and then I'd do 1-6am), switching off during the night. I think probably around 6 weeks, it got easier and she would go 3 hours, sometimes 4 at night, and settle in between. I think just hang in there, make sure you have support and sleep when you have the extra set of hands. It will likely even itself out soon.

 

[noon_child]

I agree with MindUtopia, you aren't doing anything wrong. It sounds like pretty normal cluster feeding behaviour, maybe with a bit of trapped wind mixed in. Most babies when they get past the newborn sleepy stage go through a period of never wanting to settle except on a human being. Me and my hubby did exactly what Mind Utopia did (it isn't forever - you will see each other again and have an evening together I promise)!! If you think she's genuinely very hungry at night due to not enough food in the day it would probably be easier to make her day feeds more frequent (maybe offer when she gets to the three hour mark) rather than put more in a bottle.

 

[xdxxtx]

She's wanting to feed constantly all through the night; taking small amounts, falling asleep (to the point I can't get any more into her), and then doing the same again. She doesn't even settle in between. She'll fall asleep on the bottle/on me, but as soon as I put her back in the crib, she squirms and cries constantly until I pick her up and we do it all again.

It sounds to me like she just wants to be with you. She'll soothe with a bottle for a while because it's food, and it makes her calm and happy, but she really misses being on the inside. When she feels your skin against hers, she's calm and happy and will go right to sleep. This is what she's used to - it feels like "home." I breastfeed, so my babies are attached to my body for at least 3 months straight, until they start wanting to explore the world outside of my body. I was unable to breastfeed my second-born, so I still tried to give him just as much contact with my body. I cannot recommend it enough. A cosleeper might be a great choice, since your baby can see, hear and smell you... without having to be in your bed. (Cosleeping with baby in bed can also be done very safely! Do your research, please.) You can even reach in and place your hand against your baby if you use one. I do use a cosleeper just because I'm a very heavy sleeper and don't feel comfortable with a baby in my bed.