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ps.com...

The current pattern is as follows. DD eats most efficiently at night.
We "put" her "down" (i.e. swaddle and rock her) at 7 p.m. She's
usually in a deep sleep by 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. She rouses lightly (not
fully awake) around 9 or 10 p.m., during the 11-12 o'clock hour,
during the 3-4 o'clock hour, the 5-6 o'clock hour, and then again
around 8 a.m.

From my experience, this pattern is pretty normal at 5 weeks and if she's
going back to sleep straight away, that's good. From my experience (bf 2
kids, DD for 18 mo and DS 2.5 years) they both fed at about the same times
as you describe as newborns, and dropped some of the feeds as they got a bit
older (both finally dropped the last 'night' feed at 11 mo). Your example
for me would mean only 2 times when I would have to wake up and feed baby at
night which ain't too bad at 5 weeks!

At this point she's pretty wet so I change her (we use
cloth diapers but that's another story) and she awakens. I feed her at
each of these intervals. The feedings are quick (15-20 minutes) and
very efficient - excellent latch, excellent pump, no slurping, no
smacking, just soft happy moans. She actually never really wakes up -
just makes enough "hungry" noises to awaken me at which point I pick
her up and put her to the breast. Daytime is a different story ... she
nurses about every 2 hours but is not nearly as efficient (unless
she's tired). She often pops of the breast, looks around, etc. And
often, during the day, she just wants to suck (no milk) so drinks a
little then protests until she can suck on my finger.

If she's alert in the day and goes easily back to sleep after stirring at
night, then it seems she does have her days and nights worked out.
The comfort sucking you describe is also normal.


So, how do I begin to change this pattern? I LOVE that she sleeps but
would love it even more if I could share it.

She'll decrease the number of feeds over time ... its early days and her
pattern sounds completely normal to me, especially if she's easily going
back to sleep after each feed at night and not ready to look around at the
world ... that's about as good as it gets at 5 weeks!
If its more sleep *you're* after, you could try co-sleeping.


My first inclination is to revamp the daytime nursing environment.
Usually we nurse in the living room where people are coming in and out
(DH is a student who works at home), the radio is on, and/or I'm
chatting with my mother-in-law or on the phone, etc. DH has really
started noticing her environment in the last week and I notice that
she pops of the breast to "look around". I'm thinking of setting up my
nursing station in the bedroom and investing in some sort of blanket
or nursing shawl.

How many feeds is she having during the day compared with at night? If
she's feeding 2 hourly in the day, she might just be snacking or she might
be hungry. Are you sure she's *hungry* if she's feeding 2 hourly in the day
.... she might just want a cuddle / comfort suck / hot / cold / gassy /
uncomfortable.


Bottom line concern: now that she's gone through her first "growth
spurt", DD seems to be weaning her (or me?) off of daytime feedings -
they are more social events (relative to nighttime). In light of this,
is switching her clock around impossible now? As I said, ironically,
she sleeps through the night - because I feed her before she fully
awakens.

"Social" feeds are normal. They're great during the day; they suck at
night (pun unintended).

Finally, in part because we've had a grandma here for the past 6
weeks, DH is worn, held, or rocked nearly all day (basically the only
time she's out of someone's arms is when she wants to be on the floor
or sit in her bouncing chair so that she can get an unobstructed view
of the room). We bed share at night and she sleeps in a special co-
sleeping sleep positioner.

OK so you are co-sleeping. But are you having to sit up to feed her or can
you bf her whilst lying down so you can both drift back off to sleep?

I also think its completely normal for her to be more alert during the day
whilst feeding. She very probably *is* taking in plenty of milk during her
"social feeds" but her interest in the world around her makes her want to
look around. ...just wait until she's 2 and doing gymnastics while feeding
or even better, the "drive-by snack" Is she having plenty of wet nappies
in the day ?

Personally, I think she's doing pretty well at 5 weeks and she will be
feeding a lot at night for the time being. Over time she'll drop some of
those night feeds and you'll get better sleep ... although probably not by
September.

my 2c
Amanda