My doctor:
Ok, so I went to my 6 week checkup yesterday. My doctor asked me if I had Danica on any sort of sleeping schedule. I told her, "Not really. I feed her every 3ish to 4 hours around the clock, unless she seems more hungry, I'll feed her sooner. When we first go to bed for the night she'll sleep 4 1/2 hours and then wake up every 3 after that" She asked me if I was tired. I said, "Yes!"
So she suggested this...
That I feed Danica every 2 hours (instead of 3) during the daytime...even if I have to wake her, so we can sleep better at night. Feeding her every 2 hours lets her take in the same amount of food during the daytime that she does in the 24 hour period so she wont be waking up as much during the night.
That makes sense to me.
She said I'll notice a difference after 3 days. We started yesterday. Feeding her every 2 hours keeps her up a lot more during the day and so I think she was pretty exhausted by the end of the night. She slept for 5 1/2 hours last night, I fed her and then she slept for 3 more, I fed her again, and she slept for 3 more. Then we started the every 2 hour feedings for today.
Danica's Pediatrician:
At Danica's two week appointment she was measuring great and he asked how often I fed her. I don't remember what it was... maybe every 2- 2 1/2 hours. He suggested that I feed her every 3 to 4 so I wasn't feeling like I was constantly feeding her. Then at night, to let her wake up on her own, but not let her sleep past 5 hours. She was gaining weight really well anyway. So that's what I did and that's been her schedule since. During the night she usually sleeps 4 to 4 1/2 hours, then 3 then 3. Sunday night she slept for 5 hours, then 3, then 3.
The doctors are telling me two different things. I realize I should probably listen to the pediatrician over my doctor, but I've heard my doctor's suggestions work for other moms.
So I was wondering what you've done or heard people doing? Any different suggestions that worked for you?
It's hard waking up every 3 hours, staying awake to change and feed her, and taking the time to fall back asleep and doing it again it a short amount of time.
She sleeps awesome at night. She always goes right back to sleep. So I'm afraid if this new feeding schedule doesn't work, it'll mess up the feeding/sleeping schedule we have now and it'll ruin her beautiful sleeping habits.
Speaking of... this happens to be her right now.
it is hard to get different advice. what i recommend is just feeding her on demand. that's just my style though. some people like to have really set schedules though. i just always fed max when he was hungry which happened to be every 2 to 3 hours, sometimes a little more, maybe even a little less. i never noticed his sleeping patterns changing at night from feeding him at different intervals during the day. it is hard getting up so often during the night but just remember it won't last forever. :) even though it seems like it will. i would just do what you feel is right - you know when she is hungry and you know the best way to take care of her!
ReplyDeleteI pretty much stuck to the 3 hours during the day and then at night, however long he slept I let him. If he slept more than 5 hours then so did I. I never woke my baby at night when he was sleeping. Especially if Danica is gaining weight good, don't ever wake her. I think it will just end up training her to wake sooner than she really needs. Every baby is different, so they will wake when they are hungry espcially now that she is over a month old. The night is rough for a while, but it will end. Colby started sleeping 6-7 hours at about 9 weeks. During the day try to keep her up playing as much as she can but not too much (overtiredness is worse!). Then what I would do in the evening is cluster feed. It was easy cuz we were usually just home eating dinner watching tv. So I would do the 3 hour during the day and then at about 5 I would feed and then again at 6:30-7 and then 9. Something like that. Kind of the same idea, they take in more food, plus my baby was a little more fussy at that time and that would soothe him. Personally I would keep mine up till 11, feed one last time and then we both went to bed. Then when he started sleeping longer he slept from 11-6 or 7. It was so nice, then he would usually go back to sleep till 9 or so. Anyways once he started sleeping 6-7 hours at night consistantly I slowly moved up his bedtime and last feeding just a little each night. But that was a few months out from where you're at. :) I hope this helps you. When it comes down to it just do what works for you and keeps Danica happy because that's all that matters and that she's gaining weight! Good luck. :)
ReplyDeleteOne other thing is that I think they will sleep through the night when they are ready. If she already understands that night is night (ie she eats and goes right back to sleep) then she will sleep through the night when her body is able. Just hang in there a little longer and it will get better, it just takes time. In the mean time nap when she does!
ReplyDeleteYou are brave to ask for advice! I found that the Babywise philosophy worked well for me. It's actually a book, so look it up. I'm planning on using it again for #2. This is what it is: During the day, you you feed every three hours. But within those three hours, you feed her, give her some play time, then put her to sleep (sleep for an hour or so). Then when the three hours is up, you wake her up and feed her, then let her plan, then put her down again. So here's how the schedule goes:
ReplyDelete6am: wake (or whenever she wake up) and feed
6:45ish am: play
7:30-8:00am: nap
9am: wake and feed (and the process starts all over again)
I would follow this schedule until the night when it's time to go to bed. Then I will put her down and not wake her until morning. The most we ever fed during the night was twice. Eventually that went down to once, then none!
The whole point of this is that the baby learns to put herself to sleep without having to nurse to sleep, or bottle-feed. Babies generally like schedules. When the baby wakes up, she is more ready to have a full feeding instead of falling asleep during a feeding and only getting a half-feeding. Following this schedule, Mari slept through the night by seven weeks. I always let her take her naps during the schedule. Before I started this schedule (when she was 5 days old) I let her stay awake for a long time and she had a harder time going to sleep and cried almost all night. That never happened again after I got into the groove of the eat/play/nap schedule.
This worked beautifully for my baby. I used the Babywise philosophy as the base then used what worked for me and made it my own. You will find a million philosophies out there. Good luck finding the one that's right for you!
My personal philosophy is never wake a sleeping baby. I just fed brock when he was hungry. Sometimes every 2 hours sometimes every 3 or 4. The result? I breastfed a lot it felt like, but, he was sleeping through the night by 7 weeks. Which was worth it to me. I think you should do what you fell is best for Danica. Mother knows best, because you know your baby!
ReplyDeletewow a lot of comments!
ReplyDeleteI fed Nathan and Rylie on demand. Some advice I follow for night time, though, is to not wake the baby up at night, let them wake you, and then when they do wake up, treat the situation differently than you would during the day... i.e. no playing, talking/singing, whatever... just change them, feed them, and put them back to bed (or feed then change, whatever you do). Sometimes it's hard to follow that, though, when the baby decides to be all cute and smiley at 4 in the morning... but usually it's pretty easy when you're that tired. =) Nathan started sleeping mostly through the night at 3 or 4 months... but Rylie didn't till around 9 months, and even then it wasn't every night.
I figure, every baby's different, and as long as you're happy and your baby is happy and gaining weight properly, then everything is fine.
You know what works for you and the baby, so go with that. Since she's gaining weight well you really have nothing to worry about. Each doctor is different in how they feel about those things, so listen to what they say and then find what works best for you. You are so lucky, Naomi woke up every couple of hours during the night for the first couple months until she finally slept at least 5 hours.
ReplyDeleteDanica is beautiful!!! I love the sleeping picture! What a precious moment!! As far as advice it looks like you have already gotten some great ideas!! I am such a bad example because Zeke is still not sleeping through the night (he did at one point but now he wakes up tons). I really don't mind it though :: I figure it can't last forever right and I love spending all the time I can with him :) I think do whatever feels right to you. Dr's have lots of experience with many different babies but only you have the most experience with Danica. It may be scary but follow your intuition. Try out different things if you want but I think between you and Danica you'll get it just right :)
ReplyDelete