Dreamfeeding the older child

[Pixie]

Eliza is 14 months old and still wakes up around 4 times a night if I am honest with myself here! For feeds she feeds like I haven't fed her all day, despite her eating sandwiches/fruit/yoghurt/ whatever she has around 6 BF a day I was down to 4 but I think she is in the middle of a growth spurt so she is wanting more.

I was thinking about this she normally goes down around 8.30-9pm and then 1 hour later wakes up now for the past week I have managed to cut out this feed which has been routine since day 1 :smiliedance: and rock and sing her back to sleep, I was thinking of setting an alarm for 11ish and getting her fed then and seeing how she goes she normally wakes around 12.30 for a feed and then again at 2 and 4 ughh shoot me lol

Am I just wasting my time and should I just let her suck me dry of a night lol, she sleeps in our bed, but I am starting to get a little bit over it, she is quite big and rambuncous so need more space we are moving soon and she is going into her own "Big bed" which she'll be cool with as she sleeps on the bed in the day times.

man I am really waffling

so extending BF help me :D
CK and Queen, FC help lol

[cosmic]

Hey Nat, you know I'm not breastfeeding anymore but if it makes you feel better, Annabelle has recently gone through a stage of wanting to be fed overnight. She was having none then suddenly she started wanting a full bottle, then two! :eek: These are like 200ml bottles!

Last night she went to bed at 7.15pm, woke at 9.30pm insisting on being fed, then slept till 5am thank Christ.. but still 5am! ****!!! And she was hungry then too.

I've just put it down to a growth spurt or something - it's been going on for well over a month.. since she turned one actually..

Good luck. This too shall pass (we hope....)

[reAllytee]

Hey Nat, you know I'm not breastfeeding anymore but if it makes you feel better, Annabelle has recently gone through a stage of wanting to be fed overnight. She was having none then suddenly she started wanting a full bottle, then two! :eek: These are like 200ml bottles!

Last night she went to bed at 7.15pm, woke at 9.30pm insisting on being fed, then slept till 5am thank Christ.. but still 5am! ****!!! And she was hungry then too.

I've just put it down to a growth spurt or something - it's been going on for well over a month.. since she turned one actually..

Good luck. This too shall pass (we hope....)

Boof went through this stage too drove me insane !

I think our big bubbas need that bit extra sometimes.

PM Rainbowbrite she may have some ideas !

[♥Heaven Sent♥]

I think i will join the club,Sasha is 11 months now but is stil being dream fed up to 4 times a night,and light you it is driving me insane.

It feels like i dont get a break.

He hardly feeds during the day probably has about 4-5 feeds but they are only short.I am trying to figure out how i can let him go longer without a feed during the night,or is this just wishful thinking?

[the_queen]

My boy is lately having extra feeds through the night too. I do the cluster feed thing and he zonks asleep around 9pm, and then whenever I go to bed I pop him on the boob then. And this USED to get him through until around 6am, but lately he wakes at least once before dawn :sleeping: [MODS: we need a "wide awake even though i desperately want to sleep" smilie!!]

The alternative is that you try to pat/rock her back to sleep at 2 and 4am, and if it was me I'd try for no longer than 10 minutes before relenting and boobing her :D

Something I found which helps Curtis get from one sleep-cycle to the next, without waking up, is to put a really heavy blanket on him - I put him on his daybed as usual, with a snuggly blanky over him, but then on top of that I put a double-size pure-wool blanket, folded up so it's just the size of him. It's very heavy, and I think it just gives him that cosy, swaddled feeling (even though he hated being wrapped as a newborn) so when he stirs after 45 minutes or so, he kinda turns his head from side to side, maybe lifts his head and looks around, and then just goes back to sleep (he sleeps on his belly). If he was really awake (and an hour later, this does happen) he could scramble out of the blanket, but when he's still tired but has reached the end of one sleep cycle, having that weighted blanket on him really helps him to just go straight back to sleep.
Before I discovered this trick, I would pick him up, give him a cuddle (because he was still tired so he'd be crying a bit) and feed him, and within 2 minutes he would be back asleep. But now he can have an almost-2 hour nap without needing a feed in the middle.


Hope I've been of some assistance, Pix-ilator :kiss:

[AM]

Hmmm...confession time..dreamfeeding the older child...I night nurse both my 40 month old, and my 17 month old...I'm just so used to it, i don't really notice it anymore:eek: :laughing:

[the_queen]

Pix, do you sleep topless? I know Eliza comes up and helps herself during the day :D perhaps if the breastaurant is fully open for business at night time, she could just pop on and off at her leisure?

[Pixie]

Thanks girls, topless I can't then I would have 4 sets of hands on me lol no seriously I still leak like mad so am still wearing breastickle pads and changing them twice a day,

anyone for a glass of milk :D

AM wow!

:wave:Cosmic

allyoo ya giants to tend to eat a lot huh lol

[AM]

Hey Queen...that's one of my alltime fav songs...:thumbsup: