Feeding Schedule a Bit Off...

Have you tried calling the la leche league? They have someone always ready give helpful hints. As far as your milk supply you can keep it up by taking fenugreek capsules (found at any health food store or some pharmacies and supermarkets) you'll know its working when you start smelling like maple syrup lol. I nursed my daughetr for almosy 4 years and worked with organizations aound nyc to promote nursing in public so even though I'm young and only have one child I do have alot of experiance. You can email me at ____@____.com if you need any more help.

Hi M.,

How old is your son and are you still breastfeeding? I ask because he may have been going through a growth spurt. When babies do that, it is important to feed them often in order to keep your milk supply up and to make sure that they get the nutrition they need. They usually need to eat every 2-3 hours (my daughter decided to eat every hour one time AHHHHH). If your son is just a few months, I'd advise against making him wait too long...maybe 10-15 minutes max. If your son is older, say, past 7 months, making him wait a little longer isn't a problem so much anymore. I would suggest try ing to soothe him back to sleep when he is up in the middle of the night. But if he really wakes himself up or just doesn't go back to sleep ypu may wantt o feed him. I started bringing my daughter in bed with me so that she doesn't wake completely up. First I do nothing and see if she rolls over and goes back to sleep, then if not I try to rub her back and sometimes hum. If that doesn't work, I'll nurse her. If she nurses in the middle of the night like that, she usually falls right back to sleep. Sometimes they are just hungry. Other times, it is the sucking that will help them fall back to sleep. My daughter hates pacifiers, so she doesn't use one. Of your son will take one, you can try that as well.
I hope this helps some....I certainly feel for you and your sleep interupted nights. Either way, it will get easier with time.
Take care.

All of our bodies work differently. Some women make a lot of milk at once and their babies space out feedings a lot. But some of us make less at a time and so our babies want to eat more often to get enough. My daughter nursed every hour or two most of the time. She'd occasionally go through periods of spacing out a bit more, but that was her average. This is one reason why it's important to feed on demand. I think you can gently encourage a shift in pattern without forcing it, but err on the side of feeding the baby when he's hungry.

You have to be careful with supplementing, though. It's a downward spiral; it will keep making your supply go down. You should always nurse first, and ideally use an SNS to keep up an appropriate level of nipple stimulation to build your supply back up.

Have you contacted your local La Leche League leader? They'd be the best people to help with this.

I have two kitty cats!

Are you feeding from the breast or from bottles? Remember that you don't get as much milk when you pump as you do when you go straight from the boob. One of the ways to get your milk supply to pick up is to nurse from your breast.

I've got some bad news for you. You said your baby was five months right? Well they still need that midnight feeding until they are about six months and then you can phase it out.

Are you giving any sort of rice ceral? That may help as well.

Hi!

Just a little idea. Make sure he is really hungry right before bedtime. Before feeding him give him a bath. Breastfeed, then supplement him with a bottle..maybe 2 oz formaula and 1 tablespoons for baby ceral. Make sure you pock some wholes in the nipple so it can flow through. I have a 3 month old and she now sleeps throught the night thank god !! : )

Hi M.! I am a first time mom who nurses as well. I nurse during the day and I supplement at night. My daughter is almost four months and drinks about 4-5oz. of formula before bed. She sleeps through the whole night and then is ready for a good feeding in the morning. I get plenty of sleep now that I have done that. Before supplementing her I didn't get any sleep. From what I heard if you give them formula before bed it is a little heavier on their bellies and they sleep longer. My milk supply has slown down a bit too now that I am in school two days a week. Plus my daughter demands more too so I supplement sometimes during the day too. This doesn't happen everyday though. Well good luck! Hopefully this help you and you will get more sleep.

M.

M., i bottlefed my girls at 4 months about 6 oz every 3 hrs. i felt 4 hrs was too long to wait for feeding. so every 3 hrs, put more in the bottle and maybe he will drink it. the fact that he wakes up in the middle of the night doesn't necessarily mean he's hungry. so even if you wake up do not offer a bottle. just try to soothe him, he should start going the entire night without drinking.
vlora