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Sorry for the long rambling reply that follows...

I am on a similar wake up schedule with my LO and have been back at work the same amount of time. LO goes down at 8pm. I go to bed by 10pm. She is up once around 2am (or sometime between midnight and 3am) and up again around 5-6 am. I am up for the day at 7, sometimes she is still asleep, dad gets her ready and off to daycare.

My main strategies are getting to bed as early as a I can, and I bring her in the bed and nurse her side lying at the second wakeup (5am). Previously we would both fall back asleep then until my alarm goes off. Lately she won't cosleep though so I am nursing her and then transferring her back to the pnp - often I don't fall asleep again after this. So I don't get as much sleep this way but I think she is getting more.

Would you be open to trying some cosleeping so the wake up is less disruptive?

I find the first stretch of sleep to be critical for me. If I can get as close to four hours in that first stretch as possible, I can survive the rest of the night and function the next day.

Otherwise not much advice, just commiseration. Because I am just pumping enough, I actually don't want to drop the 2am wakeup, because I fear it will hurt my supply. It has helped me at least psychologically to remind myself when I'm tired that every ounce she drinks at night is an ounce she doesn't need in a bottle at daycare.

That said, if you are approaching the need to supplement anyways and are open to using formula, maybe give formula a shot at night and see if she sleeps longer? I've heard mixed things from friends on this approach.

I went through the same thing with my son. I worked full-time and EBF, and he didn't start really sleeping through the night until about 9-10 months (and even then, he'd wake up at 5 am). My advice is to stick it out until she turns 6 months, because there's a possibility that she actually needs to eat twice a night still, but I think at 6 months or so you can start to let them cry it out a little. Maybe at 6 months, you can have your DH go in for the first waking and pat her and give her a paci, and then leave and just not feed her. Then hopefully she will start falling back asleep without milk, and you can get up and feed her for her second waking.

Eventually she will sleep though the night, even if it seems so far away now. And you will start to feel better at work. Trust me, I would have 3 cups of coffee a day and was still exhausted, but you get over it and you will be glad you kept up the breastfeeding.

@JoJoGirl: I have a lot of the same issues. Still at 10 months we're trying to figure it all out. Honestly getting good sleep helps my supply more than anything so having your hubs take over a middle of the night feeding might not have the negative effect you think.

@JoJoGirl: It seems like you could try it for a night or two and see what happens. Would you need to get up to pump or could you sleep through? Maybe you could get up to pump at like 3 or 3:30 so you could get your 6 hours but still get a good stretch of sleep? As I'm suggesting this I know I wouldn't want to do that regularly because I feel like I pump all the time as it is, but maybe once a week wouldn't be so bad. Sleep deprivation is the worst. And maybe like @MamaMoose: said, the sleep might actually help your supply.

@JoJoGirl: Yeah, given your current feeding schedule, it probably wouldn't buy you anything! Could you try cluster feeding to "tank her up" to see if she lasts longer? Before I did the dream feed, I did cluster feeding and tried to feed Xander every 1.5 hours, but this was when he was staying up until 9:00 anyway, so I'd feed him 6:00, 7:30, 9:00 and I've now cut out the 7:30 and do a dreamfeed at 9:00 instead. Not sure if something like that would work for you?

No advice, just commiseration. This is my fourth week back at work, and DS gets up between 3 and 5 times a night. No rhyme or reason to it. Holy hell.

To be honest, I don't really know how I function. DH works nights so I don't have help...I'm probably actually NOT functioning and I'm too dazed to realize it. I'm sure its obvious to everyone else but me

We coslept and made it to 6 months. We could have sleep trained but he was FTT so I wasn't okay with that. If he hadn't been FTT we would have done some sleep training at about 4 months old.

With R's first regression, I have no clue how I did it. Cause I pretty much got up all times with her. I wouldn't even get 5 hours total sleep. I have a hard time falling back asleep when getting up with her.

This 2nd regression, was the same if DH was home, he would try and get her back asleep for the 1st wake up. I still wouldn't sleep when he was up with her, but it was nice to at least lay in bed and not get up.

@Smurfette: For one night I think I need to start keeping him up to nurse for a full feeding...The only thing I can think of now that he's out of my room is that he falls asleep before he's full? I know its not my supply because I freeze an extra 60+ ounces a week. My LC said it could be reverse cycling, i.e., eating less during the day and nursing all night - but he takes 12-16 ounces while I'm gone! I'm stumped. And tired. ha

@Smurfette: He wakes up when I try to dream feed, but I'm going to have DH try to feed him every two hours! He never refuses a feeding.

@JoJoGirl: it would take time to kick in. Some is hunger and some is pattern. I liked the no cry sleep solution and it was to reduce the time spent nursing each night. So if you want to drop the first wake up, you increase calories in the day and then nurse for 1 minute less than normal. Then a few days later drop another minute. Until it isn't worth waking up for.

@JoJoGirl: it gets better I promise. It just takes time. At about 18 months is when I wanted another one. It isn't in the cards for us but it doesn't change that I wanted one.

Cosleeping... and coffee! The funny thing is my first kid was a much "better" sleeper and I thought I was so sleep deprived! Now I have a girl who sleeps horribly but she sleeps with us (sidecar) and eats multiple like 3-4 times a night, and I feel OK. Not great, but OK. So I'm not sure if it's the cosleeping, that I just am used to it by now or that I know it won't last forever.... Good luck!

@JoJoGirl: It's hard to remember, but I had an oversuppy and would wake up engorged even when I nursed her. I stopped getting so engorged when I let DH help out, but I still could pump enought to cover her daycare bottles just not have any extra. So maybe my supply just evened with her demand?

I hope you find something that works! Sorry I don't have any advice, my LO is 8 weeks and I'm mainly skimming to prepare myself for that time period. My guy is basically on your guy's schedule, waking up at 2am and 5am for feedings and I have to be in at work for 7am. I've only been back for one week and I feel like a zombie, so I can only imagine how it is for you at 6 weeks back!

@Adira: What is a dream feeding? o.O

@ZombieBullfrogHoller: A dream feed is where you literally feed your baby in his sleep. You don't talk to him, or put the lights on. Mine is technically NOT a dream feed because Xander does wake up a little bit, but he's so sleepy during it and falls right back to sleep after, so I still call it a dream feed. You don't change their diaper or even burp them. Just pick them up, feed them, put them back down! Though it doesn't always work with all babies - some babies will always wake up and then can't fall back to sleep, so it might not be worth it. For us, it's the only way to get Xander to sleep until 5:00/5:30 a.m., which is when I'm ready to feed him before work. Otherwise he was waking up around 3:00 a.m.!