I.AM.EXHAUSTED.
Levi was up at 2:30, 3:30, 4:15, and 5 crying. We finally got up with him at 5 to feed him. Mike said as soon as he picked him up, he turned towards him to eat, so clearly he was really hungry.
I don't know what to do.
I really want him to sleep through the night, and some nights he is a champ. He'll sleep from 9-6 without a peep. Then we have nights like last night, and I wonder if maybe he has hit a growth spurt and wants/needs to eat, or if he is just being stubborn about sleeping through the night? If he really has hit a growth spurt and NEEDS it, then okay.. but if he just WANTS it......
These are the moments I wish he could talk and tell me what he wants.
His schedule is as follows.
Nurse 5-6am
Breakfast Cereal about 8:30
Nurse 12ish
Nurse 4
Dinner Cereal 6
Nurse 8-9
Maybe he's ready for more than just cereal? He does follow us religiously when we eat... He watches us take a bite, follows it to our mouth and repeats the motion... the entire time...
While I ponder all of this, I'll be inserting a coffee IV......
5 comments:
This might sound counter-intuitive, but have you thought about putting in another nursing session during the day? Maybe right before or after dinner? I know when I would try to cut out a daytime feeding to four or below both of my kids seemed to need to add it back in at night until they were pretty close to a year (10 months or so).
Obviously you know Levi best, but four times a day may not be enough for what his calorie needs are right now.
You could try adding in more solids since it sounds like he'd like to have mealtimes with you guys, but really they get so few calories from what they eat before 9 months, you'll have a hard time adding enough to fill him up...
Also, if it makes you feel any better, my kids went through phases where they would sleep through the night, but no matter what we tried neither of them would do it consistently for more than a couple of weeks straight before a year...some kids are just better at it than others. Good luck figuring out what your little man needs...and staying awake, I know how rought these days are. :)
if you're looking for opinions, i would suggest he's not nursing nearly enough. (if you're not, just ignore me, lol.) and because you've not been nursing/pumping during the night, your supply is probably reduced. i'd amp up the nursing during the day, every two hours, to get your supply up again, before i'd try solids. if your supply doesn't respond after a week or two, then you'll need to try more solids or even formula.
sleeping through the night is a very elusive thing. no baby of mine has consistently done it until age two. there are so many developmental things going on every few months that something always wakes them up again. you'll have periods of more sleep and periods of less. just part of parenting a baby.
Both of my kids (H moreso) nursed consistently every 2-3 hours when they were awake (and every 3-5 hours during the night). H did this until she was at least one. I think L stopped a little sooner - maybe 9 months? But he liked solids way more than H did so maybe that is why.
I know it makes "sense" in one's mind to add more solids if your baby seems hungry all of the time. But it is true that they get more calories from nursing.
Hi Jen,
My baby is still really little but I am reading this book about sleep right now and have had it recommended to me by a lot of my friends. It's called "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child". It's a popular book right now and I've found it REALLY helpful because it goes through the biology of how/why a kid needs a certain amount of sleep through each stage in his life. It isn't a philosophy book, but again, it's based on what kids need at certain ages. Good luck!!
Your schedule should be more like this:
6 am nurse
Rice cereal (at least 1/4 cup)
9 am nurse
Solid food (your choice - start with yellow veggies, then green veggies, then fruit in that order. Introduce one new one every 3 days)
12 pm nurse
3 pm nurse
6 pm nurse
Rice cereal (at least 1/4 cup)
7:30 / 8 pm nurse and put him to bed. He shouldn't need to eat again until the AM.
He needs more nursing time (or formula. Make sure he's taking at least 7 ounces at each session).
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