Breastfeeding and Sleeping through the night

By some miracle, 6 week old DD started sleeping long stretches as of last night.

2 days ago, when I was feeding her last "day" feeding, She became frustrated when I was pretty empty and she seemed still hungry. So I gave her an extra ounce in a bottle. Same thing happened last night.

2 nights ago, she went 7 hours from that last feeding until the next one (She slept about 5 of those hours because it took so long to put her down). Last night, the same thing, only she is currently still sleeping - over 5.5 hours now.

So my questions:
1. Could I be over feeding her? Could that explain why she has been so tough to put down? I thought breastfed babies wouldn't over-eat, they would just spit it up if anything?

2. I had to wake up both nights and pump because I become so engorged. Does your body start to regulate this once the sleeping longer becomes routine?

3. What do I do about not having enough milk for that last feeding? She has been eating more frequently during the day - 3very 2.5 hours instead of 3 and I don't think I have enough time to fill up.

And lastly, how do I retrain myself to sleep through the night? It's been months of broken sleep starting at the end of pregnancy - hence this post at 5:15 am. haha

Re: Breastfeeding and Sleeping through the night

I tried to answer the best I could :)


1. Could I be over feeding her? Could that explain why she has been so tough to put down? I thought breastfed babies wouldn't over-eat, they would just spit it up if anything?

As they get older they just drink more. I don't think you are overfeeding her, same thing happen to DS around that age.

2. I had to wake up both nights and pump because I become so engorged. Does your body start to regulate this once the sleeping longer becomes routine? How many hours are you talking about? I got up and pumped every 6 hours until he was 6 months old. I never made enough without doing it. Plus, I would wake up feeling so engorged in the morning, it was awful!

3. What do I do about not having enough milk for that last feeding? She has been eating more frequently during the day - 3very 2.5 hours instead of 3 and I don't think I have enough time to fill up.
I was against supplementing and didn't. I truly think my DS was starving sometimes. I gave him what I had because I was told that my body makes enough. He would empty me and drink what I had pumped and still be sucking. Its my biggest regret with DS. Next baby I will do things different and supplement if I think he needs it.

And lastly, how do I retrain myself to sleep through the night? It's been months of broken sleep starting at the end of pregnancy - hence this post at 5:15 am.
It took me a while and I constantly got up to check on him! I would say after I stopped feeling engorged n the middle of the night I slept straight through :)

Re: Breastfeeding and Sleeping through the night

I have a slightly different view than PP...
1- Sometimes babies are still into sucking after they are "full" and so a bottle with milk in it is not really necessary. If DC is nursing more for comfort, he/she will use a different kind of suck. If DC is really hungry, he will still be actively trying to get more milk, and (it may take a day or two) your body will produce more. No need to supplement, as long as you are feeding on demand (i.e. even if he is hungry an hour later, you still feed him).
2- I NEVER woke to pump. Don't care if my boobs were rock hard in the morning, I hate the pump, and I love to lay in bed. Eventually, my body adjusted. :)
3- I think your body will make more milk for that last feeding.
GL!

Re: Breastfeeding and Sleeping through the night

your body will adjust...I doubt that your body isnt making that much...some babies are just fussy at that hour....and maybe it is not coming out fast enough for her. you can switch breasts or do breast compression while she is latched to help with the milk flow...

and as far as the middle of the night..what i always did..and it worked for me...was i would feed around 9 pm - then pump at 11pm right before I went to bed and that would be all for storage to use in the future and then I would sleep uptil I needed to feed again...if you feel full in the middle of the night....and then pump a full session now...your body will think it needs to make milk at that hour everyday...so if you feel really engorged i would pump for a few min just to relieve the pressure (less than 5 min) and eventually lessen even that...and then your body will regulate and "learn" not to make milk then

Message edited 2/14/2013 9:36:54 AM.

Re: Breastfeeding and Sleeping through the night

Message edited 2/14/2013 10:19:39 AM.

Re: Breastfeeding and Sleeping through the night

You are NEVER empty, it's constantly making more milk. Although the flow does slow down. They can also suck(for comfort) and not receive milk. They have full control over it. The extra milk in the bottle is pointless. My DS just started sleeping through the night a few weeks back at 21 months. It took 1-2 weeks for my body to adjust and to stop becoming engorged. If you need to pump to release some pressure, do not fully pump. It's all about supply and demand. Your body will never adjust if you keep telling it that you need more milk. Also giving a bottle could hurt your supply if you are taking your baby off the breast to give it.


ETA: every time your flow slows down and you offer a bottle you are harming your breastfeeding relationship. Your baby will become frustrated when it slows down and will eventually prefer the fast flow of the bottle and demand the bottle instead. Every time your baby pops off early it is slowly reducing the amount of milk produced because your body thinks baby is receiving too much milk at that time, so it will adjust and produce less. The key is to keep baby nursing if still hungry. Bottles ruin this. Skip the bottles at this time and your body will naturally adjust. Your baby is still getting the hind milk that will keep her/him feeling full.

Message edited 2/14/2013 1:14:34 PM.

Re: Breastfeeding and Sleeping through the night

Re: Breastfeeding and Sleeping through the night

Thanks for all the tips!

We will see if this trend continues tonight. Cross your fingers because Mommy is having some wine!!!