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Breastfeeding at night question?

632 Views 13 Replies 9 Participants Last post by  rightkindofme
So here I am, a first timer - and I suppose I'd be asking my mother if she were on Skype right now, but she's not!


So the last couple of nights, my little one - who will be 4 weeks old on Tuesday - seems to have woken up much less frequently at night to breastfeed. Or I should say, when she sleepily wakes, it's actually quite hard to get her to breastfeed when she usually does - she just wants to go back to sleep. When she does, she doesn't seem to do it for very long before dropping off again.

This morning she awoke and was hungry, and sucked voraciously at my one side for about five minutes (I think - I was tired and dozing) and then...back to sleep! Here we are at 10.25am and she is peaceful as a little bug in a rug! We co-sleep so she's in the middle of the big bed, warm and sleeping like a log!

We did have a busy day yesterday - went to the next town, and had a friend come over for a mama-baby photo session in the afternoon, so from about 4.30 until bedtime she was mostly awake, and feeding a lot - despite my ideas about a nap she did not seem to want to sleep and was a bit fussy unless I held her in my arms.

But then last night, I got up to change her diaper after probably four hours of sleep and it was nowhere near as heavy as it normally is. Usually she eats and pees and poops all night long. This is just different, these last couple of nights have been unusually peaceful.

I mean, she's so young: should I be worried about this?

Thanks in advance!
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my lo is only 2 days behind yours (don't look at my ticker, I'm not mentally ready to change it
)
my lo also has a very erratic eating and sleeping schedule. so I wouldn't worry and just get ready for a big nursing session to happen when she does wake.

my dd1 would wake every hour to nurse the first few weeks, that I'm having a hard time getting use to dd2 that can go 3-4hrs between feedings
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If her diaper output isn't as much as it is usually, I'd lean towards trying to get her to nurse, even if that means waking her after 4 hours or so of sleep.
DS eats a lot more greedily during the day - I usually wake up engorged. He is a marathon evening feeder, but sadly doesn't leave me much time to pump in the morning so I worry that I'm wasting milk. He seems to have fallen into a schedule where he sleeps more at night, and since he is happy, poops well during the day and is gaining - I'm not worried. I think if Bella is happy and is gaining - this may just be her schedule. She is changing every day right now. I know many EBF babies start pooping once a week once their digestive system matures a little.
My LO has always eaten more during the day than at night. I think in those early days we would wake up maybe 3-4 times per night (say 9pm to 7am), and she wouldn't necessarily nurse very long. Anywhere from 5-15 minutes each time.
Well I was thinking the same about the diaper output - but then, should I set the alarm? She is waking up, but just sleepy and not sucky to longy... :p I dunno. Diaper output seems okay today... Maybe it was as simple as "what doesn't go in doesn't come out?"

I mean once they start sleeping through the night, does one wake up to one enormously full diaper in the morning - like HUGELY full as though it should have been changed 3 times but wasn't? Curious...
Quote:

Originally Posted by JayJay View Post
Well I was thinking the same about the diaper output - but then, should I set the alarm? She is waking up, but just sleepy and not sucky to longy... :p I dunno. Diaper output seems okay today... Maybe it was as simple as "what doesn't go in doesn't come out?"

I mean once they start sleeping through the night, does one wake up to one enormously full diaper in the morning - like HUGELY full as though it should have been changed 3 times but wasn't? Curious...
I've never had to set the alarm, I find that my 'mamma' alarm goes off or my boobs get really full and my wet clothes wake me up!
Now that DS is 3 months and is gaining well, I'm getting more relaxed about letting him go longer in between feeds.

Re nighttime dipes, I pack his nighttime dipe with doublers and although it's huge and bulky, it doesn't seem to bother him and it gets changed once he's 'awake' for the day. It was hard to judge when to put it on and take it off before he set his sleeping pattern, but now he goes the whole night without a change unless he poos.
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Good to know. My mama alarm wakes me too - but then usually she suckles until she's full and then goes back to sleep... Maybe I am just being super paranoid because she's growing and changing! I dunno. She doesn't seem to have a problem with weight *grins* - here's a link for you of a bunch of pics taken yesterday:

http://picasaweb.google.com/jeanne.b...eat=directlink
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She is a little chubber!
Precious!
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Hi JayJay! Right from the beginning Maggie has been sleeping a 6 hour stretch at night. we co-cleep as well. She stays tucked right in the crook of my arm next to my boob the whole night so I figure if she were hungry she'd let me know LOL I was a little concerned at first with her not eating for 6 hours straight, but she tends to cluster feed all evening and her diapers are fine. I've gotta say after 3 kids that didn't even come close to a 6 hour stretch until around 9 months I'm enjoying the sleep!
JayJay - your photos are gorgeous!!!! Love seeing miss Bella grow!
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My LO has just recently started to eat less too - I think she is getting more efficient at getting more at each feeding? I dunno but its a thought. She used to wake me about 8 times a night but now only about 3. I'm actually not complaining.
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during the growth spurt, they sleep more. i'd be tempted to just let her sleep!
Good golly. Your 4-week-postpartum body looks better than my body did pre-kids.
And your daughter is gorgeous.
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