Will I ever sleep again? 🫠

[exicon]

I had my 2nd daughter 5 weeks ago. I did not get to EBF my 1st daughter and ended up exclusively pumping for 1 year. Of course that has its pros and cons but the pros included dad getting to do overnight feedings and getting to leave the house for more than 2 hours. My 5 week old is EBF and will not take a bottle (I know it’s still early & we still practice every day) and I’m getting next to no sleep. This is an example of what last night was like and I’m not sure if it’s normal because other people on this thread seem to be getting longer stretches of sleep so I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong. After she’s done nursing, settled back to sleep and diaper changed, I’m maybe getting 30mins-1hr of sleep at a time. I have an over supply so I know she’s getting enough milk. Any advice?

• 7:25pm - 11 minutes L breast
• 7:43pm - 11 minutes R breast
• 11:33pm - 10 minutes R breast
• 11:46pm - 5 minutes L breast
• 1:26am - 7 minutes R breast
• 3:26am- 16 minutes R breast
• 3:50am - 12 minutes L breast
• 6:04am - 16 minutes L breast

 

[cisty]

@exicon So 1. yes, eventually (I think haha) 2. this is normal and also SO brutal. 3. you can still pump and give a bottle so you can get an uninterrupted chunk of 4 hours of sleep, just have to pump again within a 24 period to make up for the feeding

Also second the pacifier thing if you haven't tried!

 

[jwray]

@exicon Does your baby take a pacifier? My second was nursing constantly at night because he just wanted to comfort nurse/suckle all night long. We ended up introducing the pacifier at less than a week old because we weren't getting any sleep.

 

[exicon]

@jwray No she won’t take a pacifier either. Reacts to it like the bottle- with total disgust

 

[jwray]

@exicon Ugh that's rough.

Is this sleep disruption recent? 5/6 weeks is a pretty big developmental stage and some babies sleep is pretty disrupted by it.

 

[nofoou2]

@exicon My 3 week old did the same, we introduced añil pacifiers because they are the most similar to a nipple. May be worth a shot

 

[advikasharma]

@exicon Funny I don’t remember changing the boob in one session of feeding. Do you unlatch her or she just stops herself?

Also yes there’s a leap on 5th week or so. I remember from that point on I started co-sleeping in the mornings, I was falling asleep anyway so I thought I might as well make it safe according to guidelines. I had my morning sleep until about 9-10 months like that.

 

[exicon]

@advikasharma I hadn’t been doing that initially but would get super engorged in my other breast between feedings. She will unlatch so on those feedings I may not have worn my Hakka and will offer her the 2nd breast after changing diaper/if she wake up and stays awake on transferring her to sleep.

 

[johnnathanturner1989]

@exicon Yes I definitely had nights like the one you’ve described above. By 11 weeks I consider feeding 3x in a night a “bad” night, by which I mean you will rapidly get through this stage and forget how bad it was. If you can afford to be tired now, you are laying the foundations of a great breastfeeding journey in the future as you’ve done the groundwork on building supply and those essential ozs of weight gain in the first few weeks.

By 8 weeks I experienced my first four hour stretch and it genuinely changed my life.

(By the way I’ve never used a pacifier and despite my efforts baby currently doesn’t take a bottle so I’m not putting any energy into pumping which can sometimes be a hindrance, I wouldn’t lose sleep to pumping unless you have to or there’s a benefit to gaining sleep along the way. You can always pump eventually, you don’t have to start now)

 

[binti1962]

@exicon I don’t have any words of advice, just that my daughter had a similar schedule early on, though a bit more spacing and longer feedings. I wish more people reminded me at the time that it ends, so - things will get better!! Eventually my husband did a good chunk of night feedings with either pumped milk or formula and the extra sleep made a world of difference. I hear you on getting super engorged. Me too but that also got better. We’ve been through the wringer with BF, me and baby girl, but she’s almost a year now and we have the sweetest, most beautiful BF relationship I could imagine. Hanging in there is not right for everyone, but I’m so glad we did. Good luck!!

 

[renette]

@exicon Ugh feel this - I have a one month old and I’m really struggling with the lack of sleep. Feels like I’ll never sleep again and I am such a zombie. I’m worried this will be how I have to function for a long time and I won’t be able to sustain the BF. Feels really defeating.