Almost 4 month old still feeding every 1-2 hours 24/7 for 5 weeks, I'm about to lose my sanity

@patrickmoore89 He sure was! Hello birthday twin!

We ended up cosleeping last night to catch up on rest. The parenting helpline suggested I need to move to a feed play sleep routine..but I don’t know how that works when your baby wakes 6 times a night for feeds lol. I said to my OH this morning that this regression is about survival.. we can work on feed to sleep associations later. If I can get one nap in his cot without feeding prior it will be a win
 
@jesusmaybeblessed232 Hi! Haha 😂

Oof... Yeah. My son also woke to eat 6 times, if we weren't cosleeping I'd be going insane by now. Googling yesterday I found out that someone called this "the 3 month breastfeeding crisis", and that this is the most common time to stop and switch to formula because it's so challenging. I believe them. I hope we can get through this because I don't want to stop BF!

It's 100% about survival, and yeah, we can work on feed to sleep associations later. For me, my son doesn't feed to sleep during the day most of the time... Sometimes, but honestly not often. Sometimes I wish it was that easy! 🥲

We plan on letting my husband take him alone and me in another room so my husband can try to soothe him back to sleep first before he gets the boob. We'll probably start tomorrow as he can nap on Saturday and Sunday if his sleep turns crap, and see how it goes going forward...
 
@patrickmoore89 So at this age he could start solids which would make him feel more full. I’m in the USA so obviously don’t know the recommendations of drs in the EU. 6 months used to be the gold standard but in the last few years there has been a shift back to starting solids earlier due to newer studies. Anecdotally, my family has always started solids when baby suddenly stops sleeping through the night (normally 3-4 months) as a cue that they need more than milk. Of course, “solids” would be very bland and liquidity at this stage.
 
@ptindasky Oh this is so interesting to hear. He'll be able to start trying the occasional purée soon by 4 months, so I'm hoping to talk to his nurse during his 4 month check up and see if we could potentially try some porridge in the evening given some time, to get him to stay full for longer.

I'm currently trying to space out the feeds to see if it increases his nursing time. 6 months is still the gold standard here too, but having some tastes from 4 months is encouraged as long as milk stays his main nutrition.
 
@patrickmoore89 How long do you burp him for? The bending and flailing, on and off the breast behaviour happens for us when my daughter needs to burp or have a big poop.

What I eat changes the way she behaves at the breast as well. I haven’t had broccoli, cauliflower or Brussel sprouts in forever because they make my baby gassy. I had a spicy chicken sandwich from Tim Hortons on Sunday and we’re just getting all of those explosive poops out of her system.

If you’re drinking lots of water and are producing enough nutrient rich milk he should be able to go longer than 1 hour.
 
@yourwealth I try to burp every feed but he's not always burping. I try a few minutes but he just ends up standing in my lap when I do, eagerly looking around. I normally get him to do a small burp when I hold him straight. He's only flailing and moving a lot during daytime feeds. Sideways nursing he can kick himself up higher if he's eager to eat. There's a little spit-up every meal pretty much, but not a lot. I can get him to eat calmer sometimes by giving him his pacifier first, then removing to offer boob (and in 95% of cases he takes it then). But still not eating longer than 3-5 minutes.
Edit to add: he used to swallow more air before his latch worked out a few weeks back.

I don't eat a lot of gassy-making things, and he's pooping about once or twice every 7-8 days (not constipated). He's however always been a very gassy baby, farting tons.

I try to drink lots of water, often drinking ~1.5-2L of fluids in a day. Also drinking electrolytes at least once a day since I don't get up to drink at night.

He's been gaining weight as expected and is growing like a weed, so I think my milk is fine? He's just constantly snacking instead or something, IDK ...
 
@patrickmoore89 I’m not an expert and I don’t know if supply is an issue, but on the fluid intake I would suggest having more. I drink about 5L of water from my big bottle PLUS anything else like tea, oat milk (allegedly good for supply) and electrolyte drink).
 
@thewalk316 I had an oversupply the first 3 months and leaked up to 50ml/day (~1.7 oz), and a lactation consultant could confirm I have a lot of milk (as did my mom and sister). Now I'm regulated but I've noticed it feels like it's less and less probably due to the sleep, so I've made oat muffins with fruits and berries to snack on, and have so far been drinking more than I normally do today. Hoping to keep it up, and that it fills him more 🤞
 
@yourwealth Can also add that he's always been moving a fair bit while eating. Early on he was flailing with his arms a lot when he was a newborn, and that calmed down once I burped. But around 1.5 months he started being distracted by everything around him 🫠
 
@patrickmoore89 Ugh, sounds like you’re doing all the things. Solidarity girl. My first was like this too so I hear you. I had to rock her to sleep and pace the house with her. It was also every two hours and I eventually co-slept and fed her to sleep. She didn’t mellow out a little until we started her on baby cereal at 5 months and then finally did a bit of cry it out at 9 months when I couldn’t do it anymore. Luckily for me my second is the complete opposite.

Just remember it’s only a moment in time, it doesn’t last forever and we’re lucky that we get a good length mat leave. I’m on month 5 and go back to work next November.

Wish I had better advice, good luck girl. Sending positive vibes.
 
@yourwealth Thank you ❤️ and glad your second is the opposite! I wouldn't wish this on anyone, it really is hell when you're in it 🤪

Really longing for when there's an end in sight. We're having the 4 month visit next week, and will talk about starting tasting solids, and I'm planning on talking to them to see if there's any porridge we can start to eventually give in the evenings to see if it helps him feel full for longer.
 
@patrickmoore89 IF you’re up for it this might be a really good time to move baby into his own room or at least in a bassinet across the room. Baby can smell your milk and probably is going to only want that as long as it’s an option. If you’re able to move him to his own space and have dad do the first round of soothing you MAY have some success with helping him settle without the boob!
 
@alibalibea We plan on trying this during the weekend with start tomorrow! We can move him to his bedside crib and have it on dad's side, and then me in another room for a night or two to see if dad can get him to settle (up to 15 minutes) before getting him to me. This way dad can nap during the day, and also learn to be more in tune with the baby. We'll have to see how it works... Hoping it gets us some sleep 😅
 
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