[ShannonMVT]

Omg, my child is HUNGRY. He ate 5 times from 7 am to 2 pm. Granted a few were short sessions to get him to nap/take a poo and then he stopped. Then I gave him to Dh because I was tired from not getting much sleep the night before and all his naps were only lasting an hour.

He had nursed a good solid 30 minutes at 1:45. Dh gave him a bottle (pumped millk) at 3:00 and had to heat up another because he was still hungry. He took almost 6.5 ounces! And then finally took a 2.5 hour nap.

Holy cow, he is hungry! Isn't that just a ton of milk for 2 months old?! Maybe a growth spurt? I think he's in a growth spurt like every week.

I'm calling the LC again tomorrow. I had told her I was worried about my milk supply because sometimes he cries and nurses all evening and it's like he can't get full. Maybe this is why. Dh wants to give a bottle of formula in the evening but I'm afraid of it hurting my supply.

I've committed to pumping once each morning when he goes down for a nap to try and get enough for an evening bottle if it's needed. No way I can get 6 ounces though. Maybe 3-4 and that's it.

[Frozendesire]

Both my boys had super big fussy times during 2 to 3 months. They would cry, nurse, sleep, cry. They cried alot. By 3.5 months or so they became happy. I don't think it was anything to do with my supply but more the transitioning to everything around them and all the growing, changing, learning, etc. I think they were just overwhelmed. It's like when they learned to smile, coo, and talk things got MUCH better.

I don't know if that's the case for you but it's just something I've seen in some babies around that age.

[soImarriedAnerd]

Most babies will eat 1-3 more oz off a bottle then the breast...thats normal, doesn't mean he isn't getting enough from the breast (go by the amount of wet diapers to know that!). It takes 20min for our stomach to signal to our brains we are full. So the speed in which you eat makes a big difference....if baby has to work at it more (breast) they will get less then if its just pouring into them (bottle). Same goes for adults. But less isn't always BAD, its the reason BF babies are less likely to become obese as adults--because they learn to eat slower and know their full cues better then the babies who just chug in the same amount of time. Does that make since? plus yeah it could be a growth spurt- I just am putting myself in the mind set now that its one long growth spurt from birth till 3 months! LMAO! Your doing so great!!! Keep up the great work moma!!

I remember constantly wondering if Kirsty was growth-spurting also.

But it is completely normal for them to cluster feed early evening until bedtime - it's supposed to be them tanking up to get through the night... yeah right, they still eat through the night as well! However, it will get easier, I recall Kirsty settling down around 3 months also.

[Mars]

I too remember Amara cluster feeding a couple times. Fortunately for me, Amara liked to sleep through her growth spurts even though she still fed more often than usual. It shold settle down by 3 months.

[ShannonMVT]

I don't know how much longer I can keep this up. I need some sleep. He ate an hour and a half straight last night, then slept 4 hours, then woke to eat, then slept 1.5 hours, woke to eat, then slept another hour and now he's up for the day. By the time I get him settled, and get to sleep myself I'm not getting very many hours at all. This is exactly what he did the night before. At least yesterday Dh was here to help but today I'm on my own and when Matthew does his hour long naps, I end up getting 15 minutes sleep out of each one. I felt really angry when he woke up after only an hour sleep this last night. I don't even think he's hungry. He just woke and I couldn't get him to resettle.

If I have another month of this, I'm not going to make it. People eventually die if they don't get sleep, right? I am only partly joking.

[ANGWife]

I have no advice. Just wanted to say you are doing an awesome job and I admire you!

[Resi]

I don't know. It sounds normal to what I experienced. Oliver always ate every 2 hours around that age and sometimes more often.

[ShannonMVT]

Originally Posted by Resi

I don't know. It sounds normal to what I experienced. Oliver always ate every 2 hours around that age and sometimes more often.

Even at night? When did it slow down for you? How does everyone survive on so little sleep? I guess I am just a pansy.

It just seems like everyone in my DDC has babies that sleep through the night, take great naps and I'm struggling so much.

[Resi]

Originally Posted by ShannonMVT

Even at night? When did it slow down for you? How does everyone survive on so little sleep? I guess I am just a pansy.

It just seems like everyone in my DDC has babies that sleep through the night, take great naps and I'm struggling so much.

Yes! When he was a newborn I got an hour of sleep at a time during the night. I think I would get about 4 hours of very broken sleep the first month or so. After that I was lucky to get 2 hours in a hours. Oliver STILL wakes up every 2 to 3 hours and he is 9 months old. He NEVER sleep through the night. For the most part I'm okay on sleep. I think what saves me is having him right next to me. The hard nights are when he tosses and turns because of teething.

It seems like most moms I have met have babies that have slept through the night. I always feel alone with the only baby that doesn't sleep through the night.

[soImarriedAnerd]

If you ask I'm sure the majority of women's babies are NOT "sleeping through the night" at that age. Just the vocal ones also I know people who would count 4 hrs AS sleeping through the night---so it really depends on how many hours a mom counts as sleeping through the night.

It would be an interesting poll....
How many hours at once does your baby sleep at night?
How many hours do you consider is "sleeping through the night"?
Does your baby sleep "through the night"?

[~*Bethy*~]

Angela I do have to say - Im obese and I was BF as a baby, my kids were bottle fed, and their not chunky kids...where did you get that info?

[soImarriedAnerd]

Originally Posted by ~*Bethy*~

Angela I do have to say - Im obese and I was BF as a baby, my kids were bottle fed, and their not chunky kids...where did you get that info?

Its not a guarantee of course--there are TONS of other reasons that people become obese besides how they are feed as an infant.

I was taught that in nursing school, and during my lactation training while working in L&D, doula training, etc...pretty much every time I learn about BF its one of the things they talk to us about.

Here is some research article if you want to know more specific info on why that is--

Dewey, K.G., Heinig, M.J., and Nommsen, L.A. et al. Breast-fed infants are leaner than formula-fed infants at 1 year of age: The Darling Study. Am J Clin Nutr 1993; 57:140-45.

Freedman, D.S., Khan, L.K., and Dietz, W. et al. Relationship of childhood obesity to coronary heart disease risk factors in adulthood: The Bogalusa heart study. Pediatrics 2001; 108(3):712-71.

Gillman, M.W., Rifas-Shiman, S.L., and Camargo, C.A. et al. Risk of overweight among adolescents who were breastfed as infants. JAMA 2001; 285(19):2461-67.


"Breastfed infants learn to control the amount of human milk and calories they consume better than bottle-fed infants, who are often forced to continue feeding and finish a bottle after they are satisfied. Energy-dense infant formulas may stimulate the endocrine system to secrete more insulin and growth factor than human milk does, which leads to increased rates of body fat in formula-fed babies"--Hediger, M.L., Overpeck, M.D., and Kuczmarski, R.J. et al. Association between infant breastfeeding and overweight in young children. J Am Med Assoc 2001; 285(19):2453-60.

Ogden, C.L., Flegal, K.M., and Carroll, M.D. et al. Prevalence and trends in overweight among US children and adolescents, 1999-2000. J Am Med Assoc 2002; 288:1723-27.

I have more but these are some of the "bigger gun" publications.