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@kodybear: i always do give him a bottle after a feeding but i got so desperate 2 nights ago that i tried giving him a 4oz bottle (he usually breastfeeds both sides then gets a 2oz bottle, of which he finishes about 1oz) and he would not have it!! I ended up nursing him for a bit that made him fall asleep but of course he was up in an hour.

@Apples4Teacher: LO is fussy for me at night always! he is perfect during the day, then he just turns when the sun goes down - i really really dread the night time these days.

@Apples4Teacher: Weaning off the shield is slow going... It worked great when the LC was here, but its almost impossible to do on my own because I have to hold my breast carefully and his hands get in the way! Its a little better when DH is here to help though.

Here's what she suggested: Start feeding with the shield, then somewhere around 3/4 of the way through (a little sleepy, but not too much), quickly pop the shield off and try to get baby to latch onto the breast. Angle the nipple up to the top lip and try and get him to open wide. Keep trying until you have success or until baby gets angry (and if so, but the shield back on).

I'm going to contact her and ask if she has any suggestions on what to do with those hands!

@Mrs.Someone: I was just going to ask about feeding schedules because stemming from my last question is that I fear that feeding on demand during the day maybe is causing him to not know how to sleep for longer stretches at night.

i follow the moms on call book with both lo#1 and lo#2. the main points being feed every 3 hours during the day even if you have to wake them up from a nap, no naps more than 2-2.5 hours. they say feeding them more during the day will help get longer stretches at night.

hey all! help! DS is 4 weeks 5 days old today and the last 36 hours have been…trying. he was diagnosed with reflux a week ago, and has been on zantac 3x a day and it seemed to helping him be more comfortable, but two nights ago it seemed to stop working. he was so fussy and had crying jags that seemed inconsolable for about 3-4 minutes, and was fussy at the breast as well. it stopped during the day yesterday, but happened all again last night (AND his sleep worsened- until last night, we were getting a reliable stretch 4-3-2, from about 9 PM to 8 AM. last night, he didn't sleep longer than 2.5 hours and had a much harder time getting back to sleep.) Sadly, this same fussiness continued into today and we've oscillated between eating for 10 minutes, getting angry/crying/fussy at the boob, passing out on me for about 45 minutes or until i put him in the pack and play and he wakes up. this has happened since 9 AM today and i am worried he is sick (no temp, from what i can tell) and i'm not helping him OR that this is a particularly difficult growth spurt (the 5 week wonder week maybe?) but it seems… more challenging than the first growth spurt he had 2 weeks old. he doesn't seem to get full when he eats because he gets so upset.

does this sound familiar at all to anyone? any suggestions?

@yellowskates: ugh this is how he is sometimes at night I haven't gotten longer than a 2-2.5 hr stretch of sleep since he's been home. He will feed and fall asleep on me but as soon as I put him down in the pnp next to my bed he starts fussing and by the time I finally do get him down I have maybe an hr until the next feeding. Yesterday he was like this even during the day and it was truly exhausting to say the least. He has reflux also and gas drops don't help so i just try to burp him frequently and I have to keep him upright after every feeding for a while. I have no advice for you since I'm going through the same thing but hang in there we will somehow make it through.

Ahh as if bf isn't hard enough the last two feedings he is refusing to do it - my problem with bf wasn't him he was always great latched great first try, it was always my stress of supply worries and supplementing confusion. This evening and night he screams and pops off as soon as he latches on (and poorly) inlet it go on 10 min before giving up and giving him the bottle. I thought it was a fluke but he just did it again and took the bottle fine. And went down easy. I've been contemplating switching to formula exclusively, is he just trying to make this decision easy for me??

To all the mommas looking for sleep suggestions - we added a dreamfeed a couple weeks ago and it has been great. Before we got sleep in a 4 then 3 then 2 hr stretch which I think is exactly what @yellowskates was saying. Then we added a dreamfeed about 2.5-3 hrs after the last feed. So I feed LO around 7:30 and put him down, then DH does a dreamfeed from a bottle around 10-10:30. The first few nights we did this he woke up again around 1:30-2:00, but very quickly started going to ~4:30 which is where we're at now. So we pretty much always get a stretch from at least 11-4:30, often enough he'll go till 5:30 or so and twice we got a 6:30 I can't say for sure that the dreamfeed did it or if its just him getting bigger/older. But its really nice that his sleep corresponds with when we try to sleep.

As for me, today was my first day back at work I'm doing split half days with DH for the next two weeks to ease myself back into things, but it sure was hard to leave LO behind today. At least once I got to work it wasn't so bad. But I am absolutely exhausted from both not being able to take a nap and having to actually do stuff.

Yesterday I went to a breastfeeding drop in group that is facilitated by my LC. I still haven't had any luck getting DS to latch without the breast shield, so I wanted her to take another look. Though I did get him to latch on my left, but the pain was so awful.

She thinks that my supply went down in the last week because of the shields And according to her scale, he didn't gain enough weight. So she gave me a tincure, and referred DS to craniosacral therapy for the latching issues. We go in on Thursday.

@yellowskates: we pull him out of his crib but avoid any other stimulation, so no diaper change or reswaddling unless it's really necessary. The first few nights DS stayed super asleep and we had to kind of force the bottle and he only drank about half, which it now occurs to me is probably why it didn't work very well for increasing sleep....duh! But then after a few nights he seemed to get the hang of it and will drink his whole 3.5-4 oz bottle. DH holds him upright for a bit with some rubbing, not patting, in case he needs to burp, then right back down in the crib. Good luck if you guys decide to try it! I hope it works well for you too. We actually got another 11-6:45 stretch last night

@chibee: Yep, I now totally understand why some people wean early! Our mental health is important too. I hope you get to the bottom of J's reflux soon...

@chibee: Sounds like you're working pretty darn hard to me! Have you talked to your ped about the spitting up and fussyness?

@Mrs.Someone: how old is your lo again? he might be going through the 6 week growth spurt/wonder week!! hopefully in a couple days it'll pass. and we give a bottle at night too to make sure he is nice and full and to get that long stretch of sleep!

@Mrs.Someone: i have a hard time putting J down at night after a feeding - for some reason, he seems to be wide awake after his night feedings and dozes off right away during the day after his feeding. No idea, this baby is a mystery - every day is different.

Does pregnancy seem like a distant memory to you guys? I was just sitting on the couch and looked down at my stomach and it seems like ages ago it used to be huge and tight and uncomfortable! I thought my pregnancy would never end - and now it seems like I was pregnant years ago, it's a weird feeling!

Also, how are you guys recovering? I feel maybe 80% back to normal now - still having really, really light bleeding and I still don't feel right down there but no pain really. I used to have pretty strong core strength (by no means did I have a 6 pack or anything, just strong ab muscles from pilates/working out) and I noticed it is ALL gone and scared to work to build it back up. Has anyone started working out yet?

@chibee: I'm re-joining the gym soon. I have my 6-week post-partum visit next week so I figured I would wait for the go ahead from the OB. I feel pretty weak in my core areas too and also my lower back sometimes. I know from the first time around it will most likely get better though!

@Apples4Teacher: Sorry you are stressing about going back. I went back to teaching (for a few months to finish the school) with my first when she was 11-weeks old and it went much better than I imagined. Pumping at school wasn't easy at first with limited time to do it, but in the end I made enough and never had to supplement. I even had a 2 hour total commute which I was sure was going to mess with pumping/timing of when to pump, but it didn't. Wishing you the best of luck!!!

Ugh, the last 2 nights have been rough. We tried to top off with a bottle (of BM) last night, but it was an epic fail. When I was finished feeding him at the boob, he spit up a ton. Then after the bottle he spit up a ton more. I couldn't get him to sleep until after 1am (the night before was 2am). And he cried most of the evening. Not sure what to do DH thinks its over-stimulation and we need to just wait it out?

@chibee: Wow, sorry to hear it 2 days of it and I'm having a hard time. His first stretch of night sleep is usually 3-4 hours, so same.

Can someone explain wonder weeks to me? I get it at a high level.. they'll reach a new milestone and so they'll be fussy before it? I googled it but I'm confusing myself.. My boys are about 5.5 weeks old. They dont seem particularly fussy *knock on wood*.. What are other symptoms? Is 6 weeks a wonder week? or a growth spurt?

And how many ounces are your LOs eating? I know if you're BFing, it's hard to gauge. I EP and supplement with formula.. and my boys are eating around 22-26oz a day on average these days.

Today didn't start out very well.. I went back to the breastfeeding drop in group and according to that scale, DS only gained .5oz in a week! From there I went straight to the pediatrician to find by their scale he gained 4oz in 10 days. Better, but still not good. But the last weigh-in from the ped had him gaining great - 1oz/day. So I have no idea what happened. My supply is good, but baby for some reason can't get it all out They told me to offer him both sides for 15mins each, then a 1oz bottle of pumped milk, plus pump after the feed. No idea how I'm going to manage that all on my own. Waiting to hear back from the LC as to when she can come back and help.

Anyway, the summary here is breastfeeding sucks

@T.H.O.U.: Every 2-3hrs normally, but today has been an anomaly because of our rough morning. I had a really hard time waking him up to feed 3hrs after his last feed too. I don't know that I could convince him to feed more often until the evenings.