Advice from doc re baby sleeping - hadn't heard this before

[Annpan]

Just quickly can I check what DD and LO mean, seen them a couple of times, can guess but still haven't quite worked it out!

DD = Darling Daughter
DS = Darling Son
LO = Little One
OH = Other Half


HTH = Hope that helps

[rockchick]

Thank you Annpan, has been bugging me for weeks!

[DeneciePie]

I raised three on breast and worked over 20 years as maternal child nurse here in the States..
Never heard anything about feeding at night stunting growth. BUT I know sure as shooting, a Mom will sleep better if she rouses the little one to feed just before HER bedtime. Then its more likely both will get a good bit of sleep before the dreaded middle of the night feeding and often both are ready to waken for the early morning feed and get going for their day.
Four times a night? That has to be almost every hour of sleep once you get up. change, feed and get back to bed! No wonder you are tired. Watch that you get plenty of fluids, If you are tired, parched and harried the supply may be less than demand and that WILL cause multiple frequent feeds! Four little kids will keep you busy and its easy to let your needs come last in the rush of things. Have a nice glass of something each each time to sit down to nurse and see if it gets better.

Enjoy these days, you'll miss them when they are gone!

[lsm1066]

Actually once my younger ds got himself established, he pretty much took care of himself. I would wake up, but only briefly. Amazing how much less you change your second compared to your first. And if anything, he got less nappy rash than his brother. Breastfeeding produces a hormone in the mother that acts as a soporific, so you fall asleep fairly easily, at least compared to someone who has to get up, heat a bottle and sit there doing a feed at 2am. Which was my main motivation for breastfeeding. Sheer laziness.

[Annpan]

Actually once my younger ds got himself established, he pretty much took care of himself. I would wake up, but only briefly. Amazing how much less you change your second compared to your first. And if anything, he got less nappy rash than his brother. Breastfeeding produces a hormone in the mother that acts as a soporific, so you fall asleep fairly easily, at least compared to someone who has to get up, heat a bottle and sit there doing a feed at 2am. Which was my main motivation for breastfeeding. Sheer laziness.

Amen to that - I had no choice but to bottle feed (nearly killed myself trying to breast feed... literally) but Ohh to wake up and have baby milk ready and at the right temperature, and in sterile packaging everywhere you go (not to mention it being the best thing in the world).... that must be bliss, sheer bliss.

[goo]

Couldn't believe a doctor said this to you!

It is very common for women to give up breastfeeding around the 12 week mark as a number of things happen at this stage:

Babies often have a growth spurt at this age and so need to increase their milk supply. Mothers suddenly worry their supply is no longer adequate and supplement with bottle feeds, this destroys the necessary demand/supply chain needed to increase supply and continue breastfeeding. Night-feeding is essential. Night feeds cause the hormone prolactin to surge and thus boost your supply at a critical time, there is less prolactin released during the day. Release of this hormone also is supposed to relax the mother and help her sleep. (Can't remember this from my own experience!)

The other hormone involved in milk production is oxcytocin, and is concerned with the let-down reflex, in other words makes the milk flow. Many women are aware of this sensation, but it often disappears at around 12 weeks and some mothers become convinced they are no longer producing milk.

From about 12 weeks onwards babies become more efficient feeders and need to spend less time at the breast. Again these shorter feeds sometimes convince mothers they don't have enough milk.

I wouldn't recommend any kind of sleep training programme for an infant under 1 year. Even then I'm not sure it's worth the effort and tears. I wish I had never bothered with it, I think at the time I was being unnecessarily neurotic and we would all be exactly where we are now (sleeping well!) without doing it.

[MrsD'ville mkII]

I must set the record straight - two of the children are DH's teenagers from a previous existence; I couldn't have anyone thinking I'm the kind of superwoman who could cope with four small kids! Must also confess that I don't change DS in the night unless absolutely unavoidable, which is a rarity.

I'm going with what feels right. So far I've offered water one night and then he had about three droplets. His sleeping pattern changes quite frequently, as it's bound to with him being so wee (14 weeks today). A couple of nights ago he slept 7.30-3.30, 8 hours, his personal best! I'm just going with it, it's generally pretty manageable.