My daughter is 4 months old and recently will wake up to nurse during the night, but will only for 10 or 15 minutes. My pediatrician said that I coud introduce rice cereal but I am hesistant to do that. I want to breastfeed until she is at least 6 months old, but am having trouble - she is very distracted these days while breastfeeding. I need help getting through this troublesome time. I really want to keep breastfeeding, but am finding it very difficult.
you do not need to give her baby cereal until she is 6 months ... and that is only to introduce more iron into her diet. you're fine. And it looks like she is on her way to sleeping through the night. :)
All your child needs at this time is you and your milk. Just before a growth sprurt she will want to nurse more which builds the milk supply to the level she will need. 4 months is normally a growth time. Just remember that is a very short time frame in your child's life. A little inconvence of being woke up for 15 minutes will pass and you will miss it as your child gets older. I didn't want anything in my children below 6-7 months besides my milk. It was made perfect for their needs. No mixing and no bottles to clean. I normally did a diaper change before the feeding to increase the comfort of the next sleep time. Sometimes we as moms just need the incouragement that we are doing what is best for us and the child. After 6 months or so you can start introducing other foods but there's no need to replace the breast milk with man made milks. Just keep on nursing. My daughter's goal was 6 months of nursing in the beginning but once she relised how easy it was even with pumping when she started back to work, she didn't wean until 13 months. Just the thought of her child needing her for something that no once else could give him made her feel so special as a new mom.
The distraction is normal because she is learning about all around her. Just take her to a quite place if possible with less distractions in the area. If out in the public the dressing rooms work great because it's a small private area with little decorations. Good luck and you do have support for breast feeding from others on here. If you would like to contact me please do .I could be just a phone call away. I'm also in Georgia.
Don't give up - and don't start cereal yet... it is normal -she will probably start sleeping through the night!! Yeah for you!
It is normal for babies to get distracted - they are curious and learning about their environment. The mommy who said to limit distractions, low lighting, same spot etc. is totally correct. My son didn't get super distracted until about 11 months - I had to only feed him in a quiet room with just me and him. He would crawl out from under my shirt to see what was going on - he wanted to play and eat... didn't work so great!
You have had some great answers - keep up the great work.
I completely applaud you for wanting to breastfeed until 6 months. I completely disagree with not giving cereal - especially if that's the advice of your pediatrician.
We started both kids on cereal at 4 months because they were thriving on breast milk/formula. We'd mix the cereal with breast milk/formula so they were still benefiting from its nutrition.
I'd intended to nurse my son for 6 months - I ended-up going a year because my only reasons for stopping were selfish (I pumped 5-7 times/day in my car as a working mom) to keep up my production.
Our daughter had to go on formula at 11.5 weeks so I could start chemo, so we had to discontinue breast feeding - it was hard on me at first, but she's thriving (and well-ahead of other kids at 23 months).
It's something people are very opinionated about. There is no reason not to start introducing cereal at this point if the pediatrician is telling you to do it.
The best advice our pediatrician gave us as new parents was to let your child be the one to guide what their needs are nutritionally - when to nurse, how long to nurse. At 4 months, she's completely driven by instincts still and doesn't know she's supposed to be eating longer. Your body will adjust based upon her needs.
Good luck.
Usually cereal is given to supplement feedings to keep a hungry baby staisfied. Why is the Dr. suggesting cereal when it seems she is full and content after feedings? If she is only distracted during feedings but still nursing it sounds like she is satisfied. She is getting older and sounds and surrounding noises will distract her because of the learning curve and need to explore. Does she act hungry? I nursed my third son for 13 months and my fourth son for 23 months. Granted the last few months were more for comfort not nutrition. By four months I was nursing and feeding them some cereal, fruit and some vegetables but I had plenty of milk. Are you still producing a good supply of milk? Are you ingesting plently of water and juices. I think I am missing the real problem, becasue I don't really see one if she is full. She may actually be getting all she needs during the night,and she may be just needing some time with you without the daytime distractions. How long has she been sleepipng during the night because she may also be beginning to teethed. I hope this helps if not feel free to email me. I hope you continue to nurse also, it is awesome. Smile
You daughter is probably getting 4-6 ounces in that 10-15 minutes. If it is bothering you that she is waking up in the middle of the night - bear in mind that a full night's sleep is 5-6 hours. Maybe you can pump and give her the breastmilk in a bottle. My 7 month son is breastfed but is now on solids and cereal. I feed him a veg and nurse before he goes to bed. If I only give him half a jar of food with a tablespoon and a half of cereal at nighttime he will wake in the middle of the night for another nursing session. If I give him a full jar he will sleep 8 hours straight. Your daughter may be going through a growth spurt - hence the extra feeding.
Keep it up though! You are doing great!!! I'm sure you will easily make it to 6 months and then by a year you will have forgotten any stress you had.
***** 7 months and going myself and have had many issues!! ******
My daughter is also 4 months old. About a month ago she started sleeping 6-8 hours at night.. Last night she went to bed at 9:30 and I woke up at 4:30 nursed her for about 8 minutes on each side put her back in her bassinet and she slept until 7:30. My little one is also distracted easily. I think it is just the age. Like right now I am nursing and she hears me typing and keeps turning towards the keyboard to see what I am doing. I plan on waiting until she is 6 months old before I give her anything besides breastmilk. Sounds like you are doing good. Enjoy the sleep. I am just waiting for my little one to hit a growth spurt and be up every 2-3 hours again
Do what your heart tells you: you were physically and now spiritually bound to your precious baby girl. You are doing great and just sounds like you need some moral support -- it's a little lonely and distancing RE adult interaction while nursing, but you're strong enough to enjoy this time with baby. I think most women want the "greener" grass -- I sure did and still do today in all things in my life... why should my motherhood be different?:)
Both my children nursed 15 mos, started SMALL amount of cereal at 5 mos, but took around 32-40 oz of breastmilk during the day while I pumped at work. They would nurse in the morning bf work, 2-3x during evening, and then 2-3x at night to boot -- real honkers! My lactation consultant said when babies were long and lean, and had a "dip" around the hips, they would be hungry until that dip became smaller, and it was true. They had growth spurts, and increased intakes at 4mos, 6mos, 9 mos and 11 mos.
RE distraction, I tried to nurse in a quiet, darkened room, when my son went through this. He hated the coverups, but would not distract when the lights and sound were low.
Keep up the good work mama!
I would also hesitate to start cereal. Once I started cereal with my daughter she did not want to nurse as much anymore and it was a real struggle to continue nursing her. We managed to make it to the 6 month mark.
As long as your daughter is continue to gain weight well and is happy, trust that she is getting enough milk.
Best of luck!
I agree, as long as she is nursing well during the day, sleeping most of the night is a blessing. It sounds like she may be distracted when she is nursing during the day though. This happens as they get older and want to start exploring their world. Try to nurse in a quiet, secluded area so her focus is only on drinking. Cereal can be given anytime between 4 and 6 months. It just depends on your feelings on the matter and how she handles the cereal. Some stomachs are ready for it, others are not. At this age, you would only give a very small amount of cereal each day anyway, so breastfeeding is still 95% of her nutrient intake.
None of my 3 (almost 4) nursed very often at night... All of the older 3 actually slept thru the night from birth... But I have 10 lbs so they are the size of 3 month olds... And they nursed every 2 hours all day...
She is aquiring a new awareness of what is happening around her so she is distracted. Keep the noise low during nursings as much as possible, lights not shining too brightly, try to nurse in the same place as much as possible.
Even if you cover her she will be able to hear the noises and will want to look at them. Keep offering and switching sides... If she gets distracted sit her up, burp her, put her on the other side, start the clock again... sit her up, burp, back on first side, etc until she refuses to latch on. Yes, it is easier to have a baby that will nurse non stop on one side for the whole time then switch, BUT you do what you gotta do. And she will settle back down eventually.
If she is distracted during her daytime feedings she is probably making up foe it during the night. Also your milk has the highest fat content during the night! All 3 of my kids nursed during the night until I weaned them between 15 and 20 months. It was alot easier to let them nurse for 10 min than spend 30 min trying to get them to sleep without it. Not to mention that I was then too stressed to fall back to sleep myself.
She is young enjoy this time!!
How does she do during the other times of the day? If she's not nursing as much at night, I don't see thatbeing a problem, but rather a blessing, so you can get back to sleep sooner! When my son fell asleep after nursing in the middle of the night, I'd pump the rest out and save it for future bottles.
I would not introduce rice cereal yet. Don't they say not until 6 months? I am surprised that a doctor would say this. They say that a young baby's digestive system is not matured enough to deal with rice cereal.
If you want to continue breastfeeding, then do it! If you keep pumping/nursing regularly, you'll be telling your body to have milk ready to go at all of those regular intervals.
Distracted baby - don't have advice there, other than cover her up so she can't look around. Or have a toy she can squeeze/hold in her hand.
Hang in there, as the more breastmilk she gets, the healthier she'll be.
I am still breastfeeding my second daughter - she's almost 9 months. I nursed my first until she was 15 months... It is so hard sometimes, but keep going because it is worth it and you will never regret that your kept breastfeeding, but you may regret stopping.
I started cereals and baby food- once a day (if it fit in our schedule) when they were about 5 months and by six month they were both eating 3 "meals" a day and nursing same to 1 feeding less. It was around 4-6 months I started nursing in my daughters room- with the lights off- because she to wanted to look around (always tough in public when you are trying to stay covered up- wear comfy, easy to manuver shirts and bras and have a good nursing blanket)
Both my girls were up often during the night more for comfort I think, but at 11 months my first started sleeping thru the night and at 3yrs old she is a great sleeper 12 hrs!!! and a nap. My 9 month old is just starting to sleep more at night 7-7 with one feeding around 1 am.
Anyways just wanted to encourage you to keep going and don't start cereals till you want to, but don't feel like you can't try it and then stop if you don't feel good about it either.
