FTWM who exclusively BF

Hey!! First off my name is Diane and I was a 2011 bride!! And not I'm back an posting and it's sooo much fun!! Anyway I am a FTWM who exclusively BF my DD who is 4 1/2 mths old. I have been back to work for a month now. Before I went to work I had her sleeping at least 6 hrs a night sometimes even 8. But all of a sudden for the past week she has been waking up looking to nurse every 2-4hrs. Now she has gone threw growth spurts before so I know this isn't one because its been a little over a week. And to my knowledge they last a few days.She will sometimes even wake up when I go to lay her back down so what's up with this? Is it bc she misses the boob all day (haha) or could it be something else? Bc I'm afraid I am starting bad habits when she wakes up I nurse and I put her down and she won't go back to sleep, therefore I hold her bc I need sleep too! So just interested in ur thoughts and experiences on this

Thanks!

Re: FTWM who exclusively BF

Even though you joke, you're right--babies miss the bonding with mom and when they know you're around (at night) they will wake up to nurse.
How has she been eating during the day? Is she taking less ounces than usual?

I found this was one of the difficulties with BF--especially going back to work--but it passed after about 6mo.

FTWM who exclusively BF

Hi - welcome back! I am a FTWM and I exclusively BF (well she's 11 months now and she gets solids, too...but BM too). I was on maternity leave for 3 months and around 2 months she started to sleep through the night - I thought I was SO lucky. But then, when I went back to work she regressed and started waking a few times a night to nurse. I thought the same as you, she misses the boob. I really don't know what it is. Maybe she was hungry and wasn't getting as much through the bottle at daycare as she got straight from me? Not sure. In any case, she went back to STTN around 7-8 months. It was hard in those few months that she wasn't sleeping through the night and I was working full time, but tired became my new normal. It goes SO fast and now it seems like a distant memory for me. Hang in there.

You can probably try CIO, if you're comfortable with that, around 6 moths. I was about to do it when db was 8 months, but literally the night I said I was going to try CIO, she started to STTN!

FTWM who exclusively BF

She eats well during the day she gets about 2-3 bottles when I'm gone and eats about 4-6 ounces but I guess there is hope!!

Re: FTWM who exclusively BF

My dd started to do something similar when she was about 6 mos old. You may want to try going into her room but keeping the light off. She probably doesn't need to eat but at this point she may be convinced that she's hungry in the middle of the night because waking up has become a habit for her. If you pick her up and rock her a little she may fall back asleep without eating. Try that for a bit until it's normal to not feed her. Then at that point you can decide if you want to try crying it out. My daughter was up for five minutes the first night, maybe two the second night, and then stopped waking up completely. Good luck!

Re: FTWM who exclusively BF

I'm also a FTWM who EBF. My son is 4 1/2 months old (our kids must be born within days from each other). DS never really slept through the night. Even when I was home on Maternity Leave He was waking up 1x per night around 4am. The 2nd week back to work his sleep patterns changed dramatically! He was up every 2-3 hours! It was SO hard getting up all night and having to work all day. I also figured he must be missing me now that we're apart all day and he wanted the closeness so I would just go and nurse him with the lights off; not talking no kisses. And he'd fall right back asleep. Sometimes I don't feed him; I'll just pat his belly in the crib (I don't even pick him up); or if I do pick him up I'll just try rocking him. But 9 times out of 10; I do end up feeding him because he's still fussy; and I feel like I'm up anyway. Faster to feed him and put him back to sleep that way instead of rocking him for 15 minutes.

I will also say his sleep patterns are getting better week by week. They're not perfect. But when the babysitter has him outside he sleep better during the night. We had one last last week that he slept straight through the night; but then the 2 nights after that he was up every 3 hours!

FTWM who exclusively BF

Dd is 3 months and just started daycare today
My doctor warned me that her sleeping habits can change bc she will miss the bonding time that we uses to have during the day. Hopefully it doesn't last long

Message edited 5/13/2013 1:17:28 PM.

Re: FTWM who exclusively BF