Question on Sleeping and Bottlefeeding

[Bella923]

Hello Ladies....I have 2 question for all of you...

Question 1

When did you notice that your babies started to sleep longer and go longer between feedings??

I am starting to go crazy! She is 7 weeks old and she is still eating every 2 hours during the day (and when she has a growth spurt its every hour and a half).. and then at night it's was every 3 hours but the last 2 weeks its every 2 hours at night too!!!! Occasionally she will go 4hours (Only once did she go 6 and I think that is because we gave her tylenol b/c of her shot). I am soooo tired.... DH and I were thinking of having him do a feeding at night so we each could get some more sleep but she is refusing to take the bottle!!! I just want to see the light at the end of the tunnel... I know every baby is different but I was just curious to hear your experiences.

I love my little girl but I need more sleep soon! The other night she must have been getting ready for another growth spurt because she was up every 1 1/2 hr!!!!! NOT FUN!

Question 2
As I mentioned Gabi wont take a bottle! She screams bloody murder when we try!
As a matter of fact DH and I tried to go out to dinner and a movie for our anniversary since my parents had so generously offered to babysit. Well we made it through dinner and we were about 35 minutes into the movie when we got a call that Gabi was refusing to eat and had not eaten in 5 hours and was a very unhappy camper. So needless to say we left.
Any suggestions on what to do there?
Any ideas or suggestions??!?

Thanks for any help you can offer and for sharing your experiences!
_________________

[wantingbabynumber2]

I had to pump initially since Hannah was in the NICU and she came home on every 3 hours eating. She did go down to every 2 for awhile but I just rolled with it. I was a walking zombie most of the time. Hannah slept through the night 7 hours when she was about 4 1/2 months old. Scared me I woke up and hadn't been up all night I made hubby go check on her to make sure she didn't die of SIDS I know wierd but I was totally worried she went from eating every 3 hours to sleeping 7 hours in one day.

As for bottle Hannah preferred me but had the bottle in the NICU so was used to it. In your case I would let her nurse till she is almost quiet and asleep and see if you can sneak that bottle in. Some kids won't take a bottle from mom since they know you have to good stuff. So try maybe dad doing it away from you so she can't smell you or hear you. Usually most kids will give up and eat but my neice was stubborn as all get out and just wouldn't eat. We finally had to hold her almost like breastfeeding with the bottle under our armpits before she ever took it and only from me or my mom never anyone else. It is so totally frustrating when the kid sits there and screams. Also what type of bottles are you using? They say to use the nuk style nipples medela sells some and gerber I think. They also say no playtex nursers they really are not good for breastfeeding babies. There is also a brand I will have to look up the name for you but the nicu recommended it to us to use to get hannah on the breast and later the LC told us to use it when Hannah had to bottle feed. It looks literally like a big boob. It simulates the feel of the breast touching their face and the flow is a bunch of tiny holes and they have to work for it so they dont' rely on the fast flow of a regular baby bottle.

[wantingbabynumber2]

Here's that bottle we used



http://www.adiri.com/main/index.php

[kelli3384]

Bella~ The only thing that helped us was to try different bottles. He only liked certain natural shaped ones. He liked the ventaire natural shape and the playtex nursers. I would also try to keep offering it to her. I was talking to Mike's boss's wife the other day and she said that her son would never take a bottle and when they went to a wedding once they had to hire a babysitter to go with them and stay at the hotel and call her when he wanted to eat. Then, she would leave and go feed him. So, I guess some babies just wont do both.

[proud2Bamommy]

I don't know anything about this topic of course cause my son refuses to nurse but for bottles I use the new Evenflo Elan, they are like the big fat bottles. The nipples have textures on them to be more like the breast and all that. You could try those. Sorry I couldn't be more help!

[cvalentine]

I use the Playtex bottles and Emma takes those well and even took me (I solely feed from the bottle 95% of the time) so I'm guessing it's pretty close to the same if she could do that! Good luck!!

[RE]

Gosh, 7 weeks sounds a little early to sleep through the night, although I'm sure it happends for a lot of moms. It could be a lot worse! Imagine having to pump, then bottle feed twins (one at a time of course) every 3 hours on the dot! Talk about sleep deprevation. Since I had a low milk supply (due to PCOS) I was pumping their milk for each feeding at that time....so there was no back up supply in the fridge. All of this took me at least an hour so I only had about one hour of sleep at a time. Finally they both started sleeping through the night at 4 months old - how did I do it - I prayed to God every night and finally my prayers were answered. They haven't woken up at night since *knocking on wood*

[JAMIE]

I absolutely love the Platex drop in bottles & the nipples are supposed to be easy for babies to transition between bfding & bottle feeding. Aiden couldn't bf but I have lots of friends that use the same bottles.

Unfortunately for me it was 4 months before Aiden didn't wake me up several times a night to eat and he's 6 1/2 months and still doesn't sleep through the night so every baby is different. He doesn't wake up to eat unless it's a growth spurt just wakes up. He still eats every 3 - 3 1/2 hours and that's just his routine.

[kirsten]

Bella - Hank refuses the bottle, and I know a few other moms in the same situation. He is seven months old and I have not found a solution.

He ate every two hours during the day until about five months old. And during a growth spurt it was every hour and a half.

He was also up every three hours during the night (when he would sleep) for the first three months. I really think that is normal, especially for a breastfed baby.

He is still up one to two times per night.

The first twelve weeks are sometimes referred to as the fourth trimester. Thinking of it like that helped me. Your little bean is still so small and needs you a lot. It won't last forever.

Seven weeks is also really the peak. I've read that babies get progressively fussier the first six weeks, and then progressively easier the next six weeks.

The first twelve weeks is just exhausting, there is no way around it.
It will get easier.
Try to enjoy this time as much as possible.
Sleep during the day when you can.
Let the dishes go, etc.
Ask others to cook, or bring you food.
It's temporary.