If they're particularly stroppy (K mainly), then I have to hold one squirming baby and somehow feed the other one.Have you heard about suicide hour? We have double suicide hour from 5 to 7 pm, and another suicide hour just as a bonus between 7 and 8 am every day.
It's like they can sense that there's no other help but me, and then their father from 6 - 7 pm.
(One friend with boy/ girl twins told me they can sense your fear LOL)
Anyway....
A quick question about babies sleeping through the night...
When they start sleeping longer, do they
- wake up starving?
- wake more frequently during the day to make up for that extended stretch?
This is all Connor. Kendra can't be bothered with extending her sleep cycle yet!
He's had some nights where he sleeps 4,5 and 5 hours, but then when he wakes, he is absolutely starving (hence the feed in the pic above between 7 and 8 when he should sleep til at least 9) and also wakes up every 3 - 3,5 hours as if to make up for sleeping longer.
Is this normal?
I offer him more from after 5pm so that he can "stock up" on food and hopefully sleep longer. But he only eats until full which is usually not much more than his standard feed.
I thought I was being clever by taking all he normally eats in a day (8 X 100ml) and dividing it by 6 to get him into a 4 hour pattern.
He still does his own thing - stops when he's full. Sometimes he'll have more but not all the time.
My thinking is if my easy baby sleeps long or through the night, then we can easily cope with Kendra and at least one of us can sleep on the nights we don't have a night nanny.
What can I do to help him sleep longer?
We're moving to 4 hour feedings I've decided. I'm by myself most of the time and get very little help from DH since he works. My plan is to offer them 4 ounces and have them take as much as they please and then wait 4 hours. If I can't make it to four hours I'll let them fuss a bit, say 10 minutes, then feed them. I figure by next week we should be good to go. Claire isn't present a problem, however this other munchkin on my lap isn't liking the idea so much.
ReplyDeleteMy experience is that it's a matter of time as they get bigger. I've heard people say that you can rely on a baby not needing to eat at night once they are over 12 lbs. I've found that to be true with our boys. I think the waking up starving seems to be a personality thing. In our case Tommy is starving when he wakes in the morning, but Liam (who is also a great sleeper even though he's smaller) will be awake and not screaming to eat right away. They are seeming to wake more during the day to eat like 3 1/2 hours instead of 4 or 4 1/2 hours. Now that they are almost 4 months old, they are starting to fall into the regular pattern of morning, afternoon and maybe an evening nap. I'll post on my blog what their schedule roughly seems to be. Granted I'm not home all day anymore.
ReplyDeleteOh Heather your comment warmed my heart and gave me hope – I even got out the calculator to see when my two would reach that milestone
ReplyDeleteCan’t wait to read your post!
BB is only taking about 2 ounces (if we are lucky) at a time...which happens to be every 2-2 1/2 hours. And it takes her 30 minutes to feed...even though she is shrieking for a bottle! I'm hoping she increases her intake soon cuz I'm one tired mama!
ReplyDeleteI can only imagine how it must be with 2.
I don't know what you can do to get him to feed longer. When I was a baby my mom gave me cereal in my bottle when I was 3 months old. I know that's not recommended today but she said it helped me sleep through the night. ?????
My question for you...how can I get BB to eat more per session?!
We're still doing 4 hour feedings. Each bottle is 6oz, except for their morning bottle, which is 7oz because they're ravenous after their long stretch of sleep. The boys are still napping during the day, but I don't have set times for them. Once could be awake and the other asleep. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI nominated you for a blog award -- the info is on my page!!
I'm a few days late, but I have a few minutes to catch up on everyone's blogs from the last week. My babies actually don't need a bottle the minute they wake up anymore. They are now so happy and playful in the mornings, and they can wait up to about 30 minutes if I need to finish getting ready or something. I love their morning personalities! They go back down for a short morning nap within about an hour and a half of waking.
ReplyDeleteEven though they sleep all night, they still eat basically every 3 hours during the day (5-6 ounces). Just about the only time they go 4 hours is if they are napping or if we are out and about, when they are distracted. They even eat baby food once a day and still have a bottle every 3 hours!
Deanna, your babies need to come teach mine about sleeping through the night!!!
ReplyDeleteBoth D and I are not morning people – and I see Connor is also grumpy in the mornings... and of course, Kendra always has a little scowl on her face!
All babies will eat quite small and frequent meals as newborns, and seem to "grow out of it" somewhere between 10 and 12 lbs or around 3 months. They are GROWING very fast and need lots of calories to keep up. A lot depends on size of baby's stomach, how well developed baby's digestive system was at birth, and personality - sometimes there are medical concerns like allergies, colic, or gastric reflux ... among the common ones. Some babies have tons of problems digesting even milk for several months. Adding cereal to the formula will only make it worse - think how you feel with stomach cramps, gas, and indigestion. We had good results with Carnation Good Start (I think-put out by Nestle) and there are some prescription ones available - at least here in the states. Sometimes you just have to try several until one works - you can often get a company to send a free sample coupon. Most of these babies will grow out of this by 4 or 5 months (adjusting for premies - might take 6 months).
ReplyDeleteAlso try feeding them as upright as possible - that helps things move down better.
Sleeping through the night will come as they slow down their growing patterns. And there WILL be weeks that they will grow very fast and stop sleeping and demand more food - phases which will happen until around 18 months to 2 years old. As they get older - they will just have weeks that they are forever hungry, usually followed by a week of seeming to eat nothing.
In spite of the "grow a little every day" mind set, kids really don't, they grow in fits and starts after about 6 months. I LOVE math and numbers, so measure my kids nearly weekly - at least monthly - and what I have found is that they will spend months at the same height/weight combo, and suddenly one day (actually, usually overnight) they will shoot up 1/2 - 1 inch. And yes, I've measured one day and got one measurement, see them hit a head on something they could walk under yesterday, and checked to find this much growth.
Anyway - a healthy apatite means the baby is growing rapidly - a good thing. Fussy while eating usually means they are uncomfortable or hurting (and it might just be a growling tummy - or the bottle nipple lets out too much or too little at a time - or too much air - try different bottles and nipples).