A Parenting & kids forum. ParentingBanter.com

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » ParentingBanter.com forum » misc.kids » Breastfeeding
Site Map Home Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

Tips to decrease nighttime nursing?



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old July 21st 07, 04:16 AM posted to misc.kids.breastfeeding
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2
Default Tips to decrease nighttime nursing?

Breastfeeding is going well. My 5 wk. old daughter is 11 lb. 4 oz.
We've managed to stave off some problems before they started (e.g.
thrush and sore nipples). Now that I'm feeling confident with that,
I'm ready to start thinking about getting more sleep. However, I of
course don't want to compromise my daughter's health or our chances
for extended breastfeeding down the road. I go back to school full
time in September and will need more sleep at that point. I'm
preparing for the transition now.

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. 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.

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.

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.

In addition, I've also thought about introducing the swing (i.e. the
Karp method) BUT I'd much prefer if DH led the way on this one ...

Any suggestions?

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.

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. I'm thrilled that my daughter doesn't know
a world where she's not held all the time and clearly at night she
doesn't feel the need to "comfort nurse", which is great (she makes up
for during the day). BUT DH and I are going to get busier in September
and she'll be doing more sitting and sleeping alone during the day.
(We aren't doing daycare - but rather will be taking turns working at
home.) I want to get this nighttime sleeping vs. daytime eating
routine established so, in the event that she doesn't feel like she's
getting adequate parent time during the day come September, nighttime
won't because eating PLUS social time. I hope that makes sense ...

Your suggestions are appreciated.

  #2  
Old July 21st 07, 07:09 AM posted to misc.kids.breastfeeding
Flowergirl
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 27
Default Tips to decrease nighttime nursing?


wrote in message
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


  #3  
Old July 21st 07, 11:29 AM posted to misc.kids.breastfeeding
betsy
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 234
Default Tips to decrease nighttime nursing?

On Jul 20, 8:16 pm, wrote:
Breastfeeding is going well. My 5 wk. old daughter is 11 lb. 4 oz.
We've managed to stave off some problems before they started (e.g.
thrush and sore nipples).


It sounds like you are doing a great job with her.

Now that I'm feeling confident with that,
I'm ready to start thinking about getting more sleep. However, I of
course don't want to compromise my daughter's health or our chances
for extended breastfeeding down the road. I go back to school full
time in September and will need more sleep at that point. I'm
preparing for the transition now.


September is coming up soon for you. For your DD, September is a long
way away. When September arrives, she will be more than twice as old
as she is now. She will naturally go through many changes by then.
From her point of view, it may be a bit soon to prepare for this.



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. 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.


One of the big differences I noticed over time with my babies is that
I got to the point that I, like the baby, could nurse at night
without really waking up. This came sooner with each baby, which was
a good thing since I only could take daytime naps with the first.

If you want to work on sleeping while you nurse, here are a few things
that helped me.

1. Prop baby's back into the right position during feeding.
2. Prop your own back/hip into the right position. I found a bunched
pu comforter behind me worked better for me than pillows.
3. Prop your bottom arm/hand into a comfortable position so your
shoulder doesn't get sore.
4. If your hand gets cold, wrap it in a light baby blanket.

The bigger my baby got, the less I needed to do these things. Even
though it seems like quite a bit, they became automatic for me.

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.

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.


It is likely to change on its own since your baby will be so much
older in September.

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.

In addition, I've also thought about introducing the swing (i.e. the
Karp method) BUT I'd much prefer if DH led the way on this one ...

Any suggestions?


All these things sound like they would be likely to make her sleep
more in the daytime. If she is tired and really needs to go down for
a nap, they could be good, though it may be more convenient for you if
she can nap with some activity going on.

If they make her nap more than she needs to in the daytime, then you
may find that nights turn into day for her and she is awake and ready
to play, not just nurse at night.

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).


This seems OK to me. Growth hormones are higher at night. At her
age, it seems normal that she would need more milk at night than in
the daytime. In general, it is good for her to be more social in the
daytime.

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.


I wouldn't do this at her age, but when she is bigger, you could try
waiting to see how much she needs to eat in the night by waiting to
see if she settles herself back to sleep without really waking, or
starts to really wake up. I wouldn't wait until she is upset though,
since that could make it much harder to get her back to sleep.

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. I'm thrilled that my daughter doesn't know
a world where she's not held all the time and clearly at night she
doesn't feel the need to "comfort nurse", which is great (she makes up
for during the day). BUT DH and I are going to get busier in September
and she'll be doing more sitting and sleeping alone during the day.
(We aren't doing daycare - but rather will be taking turns working at
home.) I want to get this nighttime sleeping vs. daytime eating
routine established so, in the event that she doesn't feel like she's
getting adequate parent time during the day come September, nighttime
won't because eating PLUS social time. I hope that makes sense ...

Your suggestions are appreciated.


Keeping daytime the social time seems like the way to go. Right now,
she has that right. As long as you don't increase the daytime sleep
time in order to get more work done then, and make sure she really
does get stimulation and parental interaction when she is awake in the
day (it doesn't take too much to stimulate a small baby) she is likely
to keep night for sleeping.

--Betsy

  #4  
Old July 22nd 07, 05:02 PM posted to misc.kids.breastfeeding
Sarah Vaughan
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 443
Default Tips to decrease nighttime nursing?

wrote:
[...]
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. 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.


She may not need feeding at each of these intervals. Often babies go
into a light sleep, make some noise, and then move into a deeper sleep
cycle spontaneously without needing anything doing. It might be worth
trying other methods to settle her at the middle of the night feedings -
patting, soothing shushing sounds, a dummy (pacifier) - or just waiting
5 - 10 minutes to see whether the hungry noises are actually settling
and she's going back to sleep in that time. Obviously, if she isn't
settling down or seems to be getting more upset, have a low threshold
for going ahead with a feed. Also, I wouldn't recommend trying to deal
with more than one night waking in a row by this method (if you get her
through one waking period without a feed that she's used to, she's
likely to be hungry by the next).

I take it from what you've written that you can't manage to get sleep
and nurse her at the same time? Working on this would be an alternate
way to go. You may well find that a few weeks down the line you're a
lot better at nursing while side-lying and can just surface part way to
latch her on and then go back to sleep yourself.

[...]
In addition, I've also thought about introducing the swing (i.e. the
Karp method) BUT I'd much prefer if DH led the way on this one ...


Not sure what benefit that would give you. Getting her back to sleep
isn't currently a problem - as far as I can see, all this would do (if
anything) would be to swap one method of getting her to sleep for
another that would still require input on your part and probably make it
harder for you just to get back to sleep. It's also possible it might
wake her up more. Maybe I'm missing something?

[...]
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. I'm thrilled that my daughter doesn't know
a world where she's not held all the time and clearly at night she
doesn't feel the need to "comfort nurse", which is great (she makes up
for during the day). BUT DH and I are going to get busier in September
and she'll be doing more sitting and sleeping alone during the day.
(We aren't doing daycare - but rather will be taking turns working at
home.)


Can't you hold her while working? I would have thought that with a good
baby carrier this would be quite feasible.


All the best,

Sarah
--
http://www.goodenoughmummy.typepad.com

"That which can be destroyed by the truth, should be" - P. C. Hodgell

  #5  
Old July 23rd 07, 05:47 PM posted to misc.kids.breastfeeding
Larry Mcmahan
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 143
Default Tips to decrease nighttime nursing?

Hi,

First let me say that you are doing an outstanding job raising your
daughter. Second I want to each another poster that at 5 weeks this
sounds like absolutely normal behavior. If I do my math right, she
will be about 9 weeks at the beginning of September. That's almost
twice as old! :-) A lot happens in 9 weeks. You will find that
her stomach will grow and her nursing sessions will spread out a
little. Second, as another poster asked about, you are not clear
about how you feed her at night. Do you sit up? Do you stay awake?
With a couple weeks of practice you should be able to simply lie
face to face with her, latch her on, and go back to sleep while she
nurses. We found that with a little practice, this works quite
well.

Good luck,
Larry


In article om,
says...
Breastfeeding is going well. My 5 wk. old daughter is 11 lb. 4 oz.
We've managed to stave off some problems before they started (e.g.
thrush and sore nipples). Now that I'm feeling confident with that,
I'm ready to start thinking about getting more sleep. However, I of
course don't want to compromise my daughter's health or our chances
for extended breastfeeding down the road. I go back to school full
time in September and will need more sleep at that point. I'm
preparing for the transition now.

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. 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.

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.

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.

In addition, I've also thought about introducing the swing (i.e. the
Karp method) BUT I'd much prefer if DH led the way on this one ...

Any suggestions?

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.

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. I'm thrilled that my daughter doesn't know
a world where she's not held all the time and clearly at night she
doesn't feel the need to "comfort nurse", which is great (she makes up
for during the day). BUT DH and I are going to get busier in September
and she'll be doing more sitting and sleeping alone during the day.
(We aren't doing daycare - but rather will be taking turns working at
home.) I want to get this nighttime sleeping vs. daytime eating
routine established so, in the event that she doesn't feel like she's
getting adequate parent time during the day come September, nighttime
won't because eating PLUS social time. I hope that makes sense ...

Your suggestions are appreciated.


  #6  
Old July 24th 07, 03:30 AM posted to misc.kids.breastfeeding
cjra
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,015
Default Tips to decrease nighttime nursing?

On Jul 20, 10:16 pm, wrote:
Breastfeeding is going well. My 5 wk. old daughter is 11 lb. 4 oz.
We've managed to stave off some problems before they started (e.g.
thrush and sore nipples). Now that I'm feeling confident with that,
I'm ready to start thinking about getting more sleep. However, I of
course don't want to compromise my daughter's health or our chances
for extended breastfeeding down the road. I go back to school full
time in September and will need more sleep at that point. I'm
preparing for the transition now.

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. 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.

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.

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.

In addition, I've also thought about introducing the swing (i.e. the
Karp method) BUT I'd much prefer if DH led the way on this one ...

Any suggestions?

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.

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. I'm thrilled that my daughter doesn't know
a world where she's not held all the time and clearly at night she
doesn't feel the need to "comfort nurse", which is great (she makes up
for during the day). BUT DH and I are going to get busier in September
and she'll be doing more sitting and sleeping alone during the day.
(We aren't doing daycare - but rather will be taking turns working at
home.) I want to get this nighttime sleeping vs. daytime eating
routine established so, in the event that she doesn't feel like she's
getting adequate parent time during the day come September, nighttime
won't because eating PLUS social time. I hope that makes sense ...

Your suggestions are appreciated.


Don't get discouraged by my response, but the nursing times you've
described sound exactly like what my DD is doing. ANd she is 12 months
old.... (plenty of other moms tell me their babies have been sleeping
through the night since 1-2 months though, so apparently DD is the
oddball).

The way I survive is to co-sleep. 90% of the time I only barely wake
up - we roll over, she latches on, we both fall back to sleep. I've
woken up more than once to find her latched on and having no
recollection of it (and 2x, she had been asleep in the crib and I
didn't remember getting up to bring her to bed!)

  #7  
Old August 7th 07, 07:30 AM posted to misc.kids.breastfeeding
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2
Default Tips to decrease nighttime nursing?

I had a really hard time BF while laying down because I am naturally a
small busted person and I don't remotely have pendulous breasts. In
addition, I had the worst ever case of engorgement with 2 kids, and
every tiny little baby noise made me let down during the night AND my
breasts absolutely refuse to leak even when they are about to burst.
(It's due to a genetic mutation I have--Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome--and
all but 1 BFing EDSer said that they had the exact same problem, which
I could never find in any published material). I never had a wet shirt
from let down--only from 1 of my kids projectile vomiting nearly every
feeding while still on the breast! I had to move my kids out to the
hallway and close the door even though I wanted to co-sleep or at
least have them in the same room. I would wake up only when they began
to actually cry and they would settle down just fine. I also could not
fall asleep when woken up to BF. I have to be wide awake to manage to
walk across the room and hold a baby without dropping it. (I have this
awful tendency to drop things once I forget that I am holding them, so
motherly instinct kicked in and I was wide awake.) If you can sleep
through the sucking sound, you will be just fine. Babies make sucking
sounds even when they aren't hungry. So hang in there and it will get
better, as all of the rest of us can attest to. I had to switch to
placing my kids in an electronic swing every night for about the first
year--I would set the timer and they would sleep like a baby. They
both had GERD, so I think that it was the sitting halfway upright that
did the trick. Plus I needed every second of sleep due to my long list
of medical issues.

Once your BFing is solidly established which it should be at 12 weeks,
you can sustain a more than ample supply of food even if baby sleeps
through the whole night. My grandmother-in-law claims that both her
babies slept through the night once they were 1 week old and she BF
just fine...I am a little skeptical that she didn't formula feed
occasionally in order to feed the babies enough to survive.

Now if you are wanting to use BF as a contraceptive, it won't work at
all unless you naturally don't ovulate much. My friends have found
that out the hard way...2nd baby born 9 months almost to the day from
the first baby. She got pregnant on her honeymoon too (she was a
virgin). Once you menstruate one time while only BFing (no supplements
at all), you are probably at least as fertile as you were before the
baby, and there is a good chance that 1 month before that you are
fertile. Having a baby 9 mos after the first one is not at all good
for either baby or yourself. It is extremely difficult to maintain an
exclusive BF if you are pregnant with a 1-mo old, and your new baby
gets the leftovers because, unless you have absolutely perfect
nutrition during both pregnancies, your body is badly depleted,
especially if you have horrible problems with morning, noon, and
evening sickness. And don't count on 2nd pregnancy to be nausea-free
if the first wasn't...because I only had a slight twinge of nausea
when I smelled leftover shrimp frying oil with the 1st, but the 2nd
one was constant nausea and lots of vomiting. I am assuming that an
avid co-sleeper wants to BF as long as possible within reason (they
have to be weaned by the time they're in college or you and the kid
need to see a shrink). Use birth control!!!! (Ok, so real birth
control is Lamaze and a better word is ovulation control.) I was
repeatedly warned about my friends' very hard experiences.

You can fairly easily continue to breastfeed a 2 year old while
pregnant, as long as the 2-year-old isn't exclusively breastfed, just
feeding once or twice a day. A friend's mother got pregnant every two
years practically on the dot, no matter what BC was being used. By #3
or 4, she definitely weaned completely and instantly the day the kid
was 2--she bribed the kids with whatever 1 thing they wanted and they
could wish whatever was biggest in their 2-year-old mind, and it
worked really well--my friend can remember being happy about her 2-
year-birthday-weaning--she got to go to a restaurant (they almost
never went otherwise). After #8 or 9 or 10 or something like that [I
know so many people with 12+ kids that any less than that is not a big
family and thus not remarkable] no baby was born 2 years later. Either
she was in menopause or she had to have a hysterectomy right before 2
years, and the rest of the family was quite disappointed when the baby
turned 2 and 1/2 and mommy wasn't having a baby [I bet she was
secretly happy just to have her body back to herself, even with no
baby] and I haven't heard of any babies after that.

Christina

 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
39w1d decrease in fundal height Susan M Pregnancy 10 February 13th 07 07:40 AM
Bottle strike and decrease food intake FayeC Breastfeeding 2 May 5th 06 06:57 PM
nighttime feeding stasya Breastfeeding 1 April 6th 06 03:39 PM
Still pregnant or not? hcg level only decrease by 100? miscarry twin only? SLC Pregnancy 3 February 19th 04 08:19 PM
Too much nighttime nursing? Zucca4 Breastfeeding 3 January 30th 04 08:12 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 07:17 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 ParentingBanter.com.
The comments are property of their posters.