In G6pUa.131718$OZ2.25972@rwcrnsc54 Lana wrote:
Hi, This is my first post, although I've been lurking since my son
was born 4/2/03. This group has been very informational for me, and I
thought I'd ask for advice.

My son was born 8lbs 9 oz, as of last weekend, he was a little over
18 lbs. so he has double his birthweight and then some, and he's not
yet 4 months. He has been almost exclusively breastfeed since birth (
except for the first few days when I was force to supplement w/
formula, due to my inverted nipples, but thank god for breast shields,
my BF savior, and he wean off of those at 10 weeks, but now is
refusing bottles of EBM but that's another story.) .

I've been lucky that he has always slept through the night since birth, (
4-6 hours) until he was 4 weeks then 5-7 hour when he was 6 weeks,
and 6-8 hours at 8 weeks, and 8 hours+ for the last 6 weeks. Well now
he is starting not to sleep through the night, I'd say for the past
week, he's woken up 4 time at midnight or 3 am, starving, last night
it was twice. Sometimes he cries, other times he is just tossing and
turning and sucking his fist vigoriously, and is smacking his lips. I
readily feed him, and he goes right back to sleep after 10 min or so,
but I'm wondering if milk is still enough for him. I mean I know
that it is, but I kind of like him sleeping through the night.

I don't think it's a growth spurt, I've actually not notice any except
for the 3 week one. I have a really good supply, but I think he can't
drink enough in the day sometimes to meet his intake requirement. The
few times that he has sucked my dry, my body does really well and
adjust the next day, and I get engorged for several days. I nurse
every 2-2.5 hours, but sometimes he won't nurse for more than 5 min.
most times he'll nurse for 10-12 min, but always refuses the other
breast. In all I'm nursing about 7 times during the day. I'm
debating starting solids.

I know about the allergies, but I'm worried that I can't nurse him
enough during the day for him not to be hungry in the middle of night.
I know some babies, don't sleep through the night til much later, but
I'm spoiled and don't want to give that up. Any advice for me to
either get him to nurse longer during the day? Part of the problem is
I think I have OAL, and I've heard that I should pump to relieve some
of that, but that just don't make sense to me, I mean if I pump won't
I continue to produce more than I need. And at what point should I
start trying solids, what the largest baby in this group who has gone
exclusive BF, and had the baby sleep through the night?

Maybe I should just suck it up, and do what's best for my son and just
exclusively BF until he's at least 6 months. Reading this I'm not
really sure what I'm asking but for some of you guys to share your
experiences with me. Especially those of you w/ larger babies, and
how long you exclusily breast feed for. I know I have enough and can
produce enough BM to keep him going but at what cost to me, and at the
rate he's gaining I expect the problem to just get worse.. And a side
note Dr. Sears said if your baby is taking 40 ounces of formula, you
should (it might have could) probably try to replace one of his
feedings with cereal. According to my calculations he needs 36-45
ounces a day (the 2 - 2.5 ounce per lb standard), so does that apply
to BF babies to? So I'm unsure of what I should do, a. try to get him
to nurse more during the day b. try to add cereal to his diet c. suck
it up, and feed BM whenever he wants it even if it means not sleep
through the night anymore.

I know this isn't a problem compared to what others are experiencing
but it goes through my head about every day, weather I should start
solid or not.

I have a 20 pound four month old (just got her weighed yesterday), and I
wouldn't dream of starting solids at this point. She can't even sit up
on her own. She does, however sleep about six hours at night, and I
think that's wonderful. My son (who is now 2) weighed 19 pounds at his
four month visit and never slept longer than two hours at a stretch
until he was about 2 1/2. And that was after he weaned. Some babies
sleep, some babies don't. I haven't found that it's related to food
intake, honestly.

Contrary to popular advice, solids do not usually make a baby sleep
through the night. I know a lot of people who try it, but I've rarely
ever seen it work.

Dr Sears says that if your *six to nine month old* formula fed baby is
taking 40 ounces of formula, you might try introducing solids. (http://
askdrsears.com/html/3/t032000.asp) I don't think he is a fan of
introducing solids early for the reasons listed on the link above.

As far as sleeping, try checking out "The No Cry Sleep Solution" by
Elizabeth Pantley. I will say, however, that it is really common for
babies in the second half of the first year to wake more often.
Developmental milestones, teething, and a bunch of other things can
disrupt sleep, and it's really normal.

Good luck,
Meredith