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5 week-old continuiusly feeding at night

Hi all



My daughter is nearly 5 weeks old and is exclusively breastfed.



She's been pretty good but recently is ravenous at night. She usually gives me around 2 hrs between each feed and will feed from anywhere between 20mins to an hour. During the day she'll feed and be satisfied and fall asleep for about 2 hours sometimes more. At night she'll feed for up to 2 hours (including nappy change and countless times falling asleep) then I'll burp her on my shoulder and she's searching for food again and won't settle. She's absolutely shattered but won't give in and both her and I are getting increasingly frustrated with each other which isn't great!



Any help or advise is hugely appreciated!!



Xx

(also in baby)

Replies

  • Hi. We are the same. My son had a growth spurt last week and fed every hour day and night but it's a bit better a few days later. They say growth spurts are at 3,6 weeks and at 3 months but can happen any other time too. maybe that's happening to you too. Just hang on in there it will get better. I know how frustrating it can be at night, we both cry when it happens to us. I just keep reminding myself that it's not there fault and keep going. Good luck.
  • Hi and congrats on your new rrival!



    My dd was exactly the same. She was a big baby who fed a lot and seemed to have groth spurts every 3 weeks for the first 3 months. Like you describe she was constantly feeding at some points.



    Our solution was to express as big a bottle as poss every mornig so that dh could give a big feed at one of the night wakings. This would keep her conked for a bit longer and give me the rest I needed to keep tears etc at bay.



    You;ve both given your lo's a great start and while it's very tough at times like these, it settles down very soon and becomes a lot more manageable. My dd is 9 months now and down to one bf a day. Honestly, the time has flown!!



    xxx
  • Thanks for your responses ladies, I thought a growth spurt might be to blame. She was 4 weeks early and weighed 5lb 6 so guess she's playing catch up. I bought a pump yesterday so will do a nice big bottle for her for the evening.



    When expressing can you do a little at each feed and put in the same container or does it need to be a different sterilised one each time? Ive absolutely no clue about expressing!



    Many thanks again



    Xx
  • I wondered about that too? Can you use the same bottle? I tried to express but only a little bit.

    My baby was two weeks early and he was playing catch up too. It does make sense.
  • Yes you can add expressed milk as you produce it. I would keep a sterilized bottle in the fridge and add to it through the day. It takes a good bit of practice before you express lots but you will hopefully be able to pump a bottle in one go soon xx
  • Thank you for letting us know. I expressed 2oz this morning and will try to add some more during the day. I find it quite tricky and pray that my boy stays asleep so I won't have to give him bottle instead of breast right away.
  • Hi all

    Thanks again for your responses. Just wanted to give an update, she seems to have really calmed down this week, has even given me a 3 hour stretch between feeds at night (2 nights on the trot!) I discussed this with my health visitor on Monday and she said it was probably a bit of a growth spurt (is now 8lb 13oz!) and she also has a mild form of reflux. So have taken that on board and she now sleeps at an angle at night and seems much better, it's also easier to cope with knowing she's not just being difficult.

    Xx
  • Ps the expressing for the last feed of the day has helped too plus hubby gets to give it to her x
  • Glad things are improving xxx
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