please help before i have a breakdown.....

[jenfirstbaby]

I am seriously stressed out here ...

Jessica is 2 weeks old now., and over the last few days her feeding Is ridiculous. She's taking different amounts every time.... yesterday she took 5oz around lunch, then the next feed around 4.5oz.... but then her next feed she's only taking 2oz!

She's falling asleep during EVERY feed, I'm having to try wake her after almost every ounce.... I literally feel like I'm spending every second of the day trying to wake her up to feed! And sometimes she will wake up and just not take any more.

To make it worse, at night time she's lying awake for hours after feeds instead of going back down...

Does anyone have any tips? First of all on trying to keep her awake during feeds, and getting her to take it.. and second on how to get her to sleep at night

 

[aimee-lou]

My tips would be:

Break up the feeds up after every 1-2oz to wind, re-wake and then start again. Changer her in the middle of her feeds if that will wake her up and make her more able to feed effectively.

If she's staying awake at night you need to start the day/night transition. In the evenings turn down the lights, try not to have the TV on loud or at all if you can, do a change of clothes, a warm bottle at bedtime (whenever you choose to do that is up to you) and from that point on it's 'night'. Little or no stimulation. In the day do everything around her, vacuum, have music on, go for walks in the fresh air. Don't force her to stay awake, but the outside stimulation while she's napping will actually sink in.

If you're keeping her more awake for feeds, then she should start to transition into a daytime awake phase quite quickly.

How much time is she having between feeds? She will take different amoutns for different times, so don't be surprised. Until she settles herself into a routine of hunger, sleep etc then she will be fed on demand according to her appetite. You could try adopting an 'EASY' routine - Eat, activity, sleep, you - which may help you to see that she is actually following a pattern, or keep a diary of when she eats/sleeps and is awake for a few days so that you can actually visualise her patterns. Having a newborn is tiring at the best of times, without trying to think when she last fed etc.

Try not to worry. She is still only small and it doesn't last long. With my first I was in the same situation. By the time he was 6 weeks we were in a working routine. It seems like a long way away but try to go with the flow and trust her communication with you.

 

[katiekittykat]

I think most new mammies will have had the same headaches - I certainly did! We're led to believe that only BF babies feed on demand, but that FF babies will drain a bottle and then sleep for 4 hours until their next feed. Not the case!

I'd say what your LO is doing is totally normal for a newborn, and like the the PP said it'll settle down. 2 weeks old is brand new - just go with the flow and try not to worry.

Re - the day/night transition, what I think worked for me is that I kept him downstairs all day and he was only upstairs and in the Moses basket at night time, so he knew the difference. During the day he napped in the pram/his bouncy chair/on the play mat/on me. Having said that it wasn't until he was about 6-7 weeks until he started to show any signs of having a feeding routine, and even then it wasn't at set times or set amounts. That didn't happen until he was 15 weeks

 

[skunkpixie]

Maybe up the teats size as if it is too slow babies tend to get tired sucking and fall asleep mid-feed. Dont worry that she doesnt take the same amount at each feed, we dont eat the same amount at each meal and appetite varies. xxxx

 

[StranjeGirl]

My tips would be:

Break up the feeds up after every 1-2oz to wind, re-wake and then start again. Changer her in the middle of her feeds if that will wake her up and make her more able to feed effectively.

If she's staying awake at night you need to start the day/night transition. In the evenings turn down the lights, try not to have the TV on loud or at all if you can, do a change of clothes, a warm bottle at bedtime (whenever you choose to do that is up to you) and from that point on it's 'night'. Little or no stimulation. In the day do everything around her, vacuum, have music on, go for walks in the fresh air. Don't force her to stay awake, but the outside stimulation while she's napping will actually sink in.

If you're keeping her more awake for feeds, then she should start to transition into a daytime awake phase quite quickly.

How much time is she having between feeds? She will take different amoutns for different times, so don't be surprised. Until she settles herself into a routine of hunger, sleep etc then she will be fed on demand according to her appetite. You could try adopting an 'EASY' routine - Eat, activity, sleep, you - which may help you to see that she is actually following a pattern, or keep a diary of when she eats/sleeps and is awake for a few days so that you can actually visualise her patterns. Having a newborn is tiring at the best of times, without trying to think when she last fed etc.

Try not to worry. She is still only small and it doesn't last long. With my first I was in the same situation. By the time he was 6 weeks we were in a working routine. It seems like a long way away but try to go with the flow and trust her communication with you.

I totally agree with this and by 6 weeks everything had settled down for me too. I had a very very sleepy baby. Part of why I couldn't breast feed is because she would fall asleep at the breast EVERY time lol. CHanging diaper and taking clothes off can help for a moment, but if you have a sleepy baby like I did it might not make much of a difference. I strongly recommend the nighttime routine though and keeping daytime loud and bright with naps, and nightime dark and quiet, or with white noise. It really helps them figure out night and day. Most babies are backwards wiht night and days when they are born because our movement during the day lulls them to sleep....so it take a while before they get on the correct schedule! It seems like forever, but it will be better before you know it!

 

[Darkphaery]

Ava was drinking anything from 1oz to 8oz and going anywhere from 40minutes to 3 hours between feeds.

She was falling asleep a lot too and MW advised us to get vari-flow teats as if she's using too much energy sucking she'll fall asleep before having a good amount. It worked for us in that she took a lot more but her feeding was still varied and random until 6 weeks where it settled down.

 

[baby_mama87]

My LO still does this drinking different amounts all the time, my MW said it was normal and will all settle down around 6-8 weeks I agree with a PP I assumed when I started to bottlefeed after failing with BF that he would go straight into a routine but they still feed on demand. You could always try different teats I got some vari flow ones but he didnt like them and kept spitting up, give them a go and see if it makes a difference.

Xxx