Can breastfed baby overeat? Bfing and sleep issue

[haydn'smommy]

Here's what's happening. The wee babe nurses at 7pm and then I put him in his swing where he sleeps for 3-5 hrs (this is the only place he will sleep other than in my arms/in my bed and he was sleeping 5hrs until 3 days ago and now it's only 3 hrs). After that, I get him up and nurse him and pump the opposite side and then we lay in my bed. He sleeps for 2-3hrs before waking to eat again. I nurse him and then we go back to sleep for another 2-3hrs and then this is where we have the problem. After 3-3:30am, he wants to sleep latched on and sucking. After about an hour of this, during which I will have several letdowns, he will vomit a terrific amount of milk and then want to latch on again. It's gotten so bad that I find myself up at 4am almost every day putting him in the swing again just so he'll stop nursing and sleep and let all that milk digest.
The big problem is, I WOH and I have to be up at 5am. By the time I get him back to sleep and in the swing, I can't sleep so I'm essentially up for the day at 3:30 or 4 am. Wee babe won't let me move away and every single time that the nipple comes out of his mouth during that hour his little eyes fly open and he starts snorting and rooting and gets just frantic if I don't let him latch back on. But I just don't think he's really hungry at that point, and the vomiting makes me think he's overeating and maybe has a tummy ache from it that is making him want to suck for comfort.
Any ideas? Sorry this is a novel.

[mntnmom]

The vomiting could be caused by swallowing air. DS1 would vomit up nearly everything he ate, and have to eat all over again. The frantic rooting when you get up is probably genuinely a comfort/security thing. Try burping him frequently while he eats for a while and see if it helps. It will probably get better as his system matures. How old is he?
Hopefully you get a little more advice. Good Luck

[haydn'smommy]

He's almost 10wks. I just want to be able to sleep from 3 to 5 am. I need to not be up at 3 am when I have to see patients that day. I am laying right beside the munchkin, he's in my arms but he just gets frantic when the boob comes out of his mouth. It only happens after 3am, never in the middle of the night. And he's still so sleepy. If I put him in the swing, he'll sleep for another 2-3hrs.

[zjandosmom]

IN short, yes. My ds2 and ds3 would do this. I had over-supply issues and they would nurse until they vomited. I mean lots of vomit. and usually in the middle of the night. Gross. I would stop pumping...why are you? For me I had to nurse only on one side for 2-3 sessions and then nurse the other side until things 'slowed' down. For ds2 and ds3 (I have 4 kids) their desire to suck was very strong. I am very opposed to pacifiers but for these kids I did use one for a very short time. I wanted to meet their needs and I wanted them NOT to throw up all over the bed in the middle of the night! Nursing on one side to help with over-supply was big. Once that was taken care of the vomiting stopped. HTH

[haydn'smommy]

I'm pumping because I WOH and I can't pump enough, not enough time, during the day sometimes. I'm pumping more than he takes right now but as my schedule gets busier I know I won't be able to keep up the every 2 hrs pumping and going to nurse him at lunch. I'm really full at night so I take advantage and pump once around 10pm. The rest of the night I'm not as full but full enough he can eat from just one side.

[lovepiggie]

My baby is the same age, and does the same thing! He will usually sleep until 3:30 am, and then wake up every 2 hours or so until 9 am to nurse. Sometimes, I can tell he only nursing for comfort, because he will nurse for 15 minutes and then sleep with my nipple in his mouth. When I try and move away, he starts frantically squirming and trying to find me again.

Something I do, which helps, is switch places with my DH at nightime. I will nurse him until he falls asleep, and then my husband will lie beside him. My husband provides comfort, but since he does not smell like mommy or milk, DS doesn't wake himself up trying to nurse. Maybe your partner would be willing to sleep beside him from 3-5 am so you can get enough sleep before you start your day?

[haydn'smommy]

He actually slept in his own bed last night. I'm quite torn on this. On the one hand, I thoroughly enjoy snuggling him all night and waking to that sweet little face. On the other, the 3:30am wake-up is effecting me mentally at work (I'm a PNP and I can't risk hurting someone else's child) and physically (My immune system has plummeted from the lack of sleep and now I'm having a massive asthma flare-up).
I did notice that when I actually had to sit up and feed him last night, he eats fast and then is back off to sleep without that frantic rooting and vomiting he was doing. IDK, he's in his crib tonight for right now but I may bring him to my bed later tonight. I'm going to find a way to do this so that we both get the closeness that we need and both get the sleep that we need.

[leaves]

i know i'm probably just repeating something here, but my ds did/does the same thing, and i would also put him in the swing to sleep just so the milk could digest. he slept a lot better that way, and even if he ate a lot, he didn't spit it up.

it definitely makes a difference if i try to burp him in between. maybe put him in the swing after you feel he's had enough to fill his tummy but not get over-full? my ds would fuss sometimes if he was still awake but if i put the tv on white noise, he would fall asleep almost immediately.

[thedenverduo]

Stuff like this can be so frustrating! Especially for the attachment-minded intune parent!

When we struggled with this there were two things that really helped us get over the hump. Firstly, like a pp said, we kind of block fed at night. So when he would wake up at 2 (his issue time- sounds like yours it 330) I would feed him on the same side as the previous feeding. This way, he could still comfort nurse and get some milk, but not get as full as if he got the other breast. I woke up just exploding from the neglected side... but it made for really easy pumping first thing in the morning.

Another thing is that I would "cut him off" when he was done eating. I know this won't work for all families, but it did for us. I could tell when he made the switch from nursing because he was hungry to comfort nursing because he would suck differently, less of a rhythm. So I would unlatch him and cuddle/stroke/pat him back down. We found that if I let him comfort nurse for awhile he wouldn't want to stop, but if I headed him off he would just quietly fall right back to sleep. I am all for comfort nursing all he wants now that it doesn't make him throw up!

Hope you find a solution that works for you!