I need a fool proof, loud, alarm clock

[kijip]

I bought my current alarm clock for my first apartment when I was 17. It has been pretty hit and miss over the last year- the buzz alarm works, but not always the radio/CD alarm. Which was not an issue since I always woke up in the morning even without an alarm. And now the buzzer on this alarm is not enough to wake me when I am super tired either.

Now I have a baby who needs to be woken up in the middle of the night to eat. I am concerned that if I let him sleep through all the time (which he will do- sleep about 7 hours at least, that is as long as I have accidentally stayed asleep), my milk supply will take a hit and we will lose the gains we have made on him gaining weight. He was born at 36 weeks and left the hospital at 6 pounds 2 ounces and is now 7 pounds 3 ounces, most of that in the last 2 and 1/2 weeks- it took him awhile to start gaining. As such I try to feed him no less than every 3ish hours at night and we feed on cue during the day, about every 1.5-2.5 hours. He is pretty much asleep unless we wake him from 10PM till 6 AM. Since he does not wake up to eat, I need to set a:

LOUD Alarm to rouse me because with a new baby to care for, it's not like if not otherwise disturbed I am going to pop out of bed every 3 hours magically. Or since the tiniest baby noise wakes me maybe one that sounds like Finn sneezing, LOL.

Any suggestions? We want one that plays CDs and has a radio but also has a LOUD, un-ignorable buzzer. The company that made mine is no longer making them.

Also, do moms of smaller, slower gaining infants have any ideas on when I should not worry about letting him sleep 4, 5 or 6 hours?

ETA: I was using my photo timer, which is super loud but that only goes for 60 minutes. And waking myself up every 60 minutes seems counter to the best interests of my health. And Finn won't/can't/should not wake up every hour for food. I have only messed up a few times and slept for more than 3.5 hours but my alarm is very hit or miss, so I need a new one.

[brittone2]

I bought my current alarm clock for my first apartment when I was 17. It has been pretty hit and miss over the last year- the buzz alarm works, but not always the radio/CD alarm. Which was not an issue since I always woke up in the morning even without an alarm. And now the buzzer on this alarm is not enough to wake me when I am super tired either.

Now I have a baby who needs to be woken up in the middle of the night to eat. I am concerned that if I let him sleep through all the time (which he will do- sleep about 7 hours at least, that is as long as I have accidentally stayed asleep), my milk supply will take a hit and we will lose the gains we have made on him gaining weight. He was born at 36 weeks and left the hospital at 6 pounds 2 ounces and is now 7 pounds 3 ounces, most of that in the last 2 and 1/2 weeks- it took him awhile to start gaining. As such I try to feed him no less than every 3ish hours at night and we feed on cue during the day, about every 1.5-2.5 hours. He is pretty much asleep unless we wake him from 10PM till 6 AM. Since he does not wake up to eat, I need to set a:

LOUD Alarm to rouse me because with a new baby to care for, it's not like if not otherwise disturbed I am going to pop out of bed every 3 hours magically. Or since the tiniest baby noise wakes me maybe one that sounds like Finn sneezing, LOL.

Any suggestions? We want one that plays CDs and has a radio but also has a LOUD, un-ignorable buzzer. The company that made mine is no longer making them.

Also, do moms of smaller, slower gaining infants have any ideas on when I should not worry about letting him sleep 4, 5 or 6 hours?

I don't have any great advice on when to start letting him go longer at night, but I think you are on the right track w/ waking him...I think between him being on the early side (and perhaps he's a little less efficient with his nursing as a result? I dunno. You know your little one, obviously), and being slow to gain until recently, the waking is a good idea for now. I'd get a good pattern of weight gain, etc. going and make sure you are comfy with your supply, etc. before letting him sleep more than 3-4 hours...but that sounds like the plan you have already. So I'm really no help!!

[egoldber]

Also, do moms of smaller, slower gaining infants have any ideas on when I should not worry about letting him sleep 4, 5 or 6 hours?

I would wait until he show consistent, appropriate weight gain over at least a 2 week period.

Although we never had this problem, since my slower growing infant STILL does not sleep that long at night.

[kijip]

(and perhaps he's a little less efficient with his nursing as a result? I dunno. You know your little one, obviously)

We have had his suck evaluated by 2 different, quality, LCs and it seems fine. I think the main issue is that he is small and thus really can only eat so much at a time. And in order for those smaller feedings to equal weight gain, he needs a lot of them. When he nurses too quickly (swallowing every suck at a rapid pace) or I am engorged and he nurses for a long time, he loses most of the feeding- there is just not a lot of room in there I guess. He does fine with longer, leisurely feedings after I have pumped off a bit of the excess milk or 1-1.5 hours after the last feed so I am not engorged. Because he was slow to gain (only gained 4 ounces in the first two weeks after leaving the hospital), we have offered him a supplement (usually breast milk in a bottle) a few times a day after and before nursing but he is rarely hungry for it and most of it goes to waste. Now that he is has gained 6-7 ounces a week for the last two weeks, we are offering fewer supplements since he was not usually hungry for them anyways (he will drink from a bottle if he is hungry).

ETA: Per the ped, we are calling in Monday since F has been urping up more and more since his last appointment a week ago and the ped thinks it might be reflux because of the slow gain despite what seems to be a decent supply of milk and is a lot of feedings. But since he sleeps for a long time and is not in the least bit fussy (I keep waiting for him to "wake up" now that we are past his due date but when awake he is alert and calm unless we have the audacity to strap him in his carseat), I wonder how that adds up to reflux. However he does like being upright a lot, especially after feeding and if I put him down he does better in his bouncy seat or very reclined highchair than laying down. It's a mixed bag.

ETA: I know he was very sleepy on the breast for the first couple of weeks but thankfully he is more alert at the breast now and he is easier to wake up at night. Before it was...um...hard. Like strip him down and shake his feet and arms and stroke his face, hire a brass band to startle him hard. Now he is like, oh, I can eat, yummy and wakes up easily for at least 20 minutes to actually eat, followed by snoozy comfort nursing. He just does not wake up on his own in the middle of the night. Of all the things to be a problem, I know.

[brittone2]

Hmmm...do you have an overactive letdown by any chance?

I had that with DS but it took me a while to realize it. He would swallow nonstop. And then eventually lose most of it. Just thinking out loud

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/fa....html#symptoms

Even if his suck is fine, any chance he's fatiguing quickly since he was on the earlier side? Not sure if the LC looked at that aspect? I'm probably just repeating stuff you have already considered. Eta: just thinking he may fatigue more quickly because the coordinating suck-swallow-breathe thing might be tough for a little guy born on the early side. Once you pump off a little, it would be easier to coordinate suck-swallow-breathe than when they are gulping constantly. I would think your LCs checked that though. Just trying to brainstorm.

[egoldber]

In addition to reflux, slow weight gain with increased spitting up could also be a symptom of a food intolerance. Or an intolerance that exacerbates the reflux.

[caheinz]

Also, do moms of smaller, slower gaining infants have any ideas on when I should not worry about letting him sleep 4, 5 or 6 hours?

I was told that as long as they were back up to birth weight and over two weeks old, it was all right to let them sleep. It took about 3 weeks for these two to get back to birth weight, but they've been gaining steadily. They're around the 3rd percentile now, but since they came around 36 weeks (and the doc's not using a premie growth chart) and have been slowing gaining on the curves (started out slightly below the last curve), we're just going with the flow...

Of course, I'm dealing with two at a time, so my information might have been geared toward me getting any rest....

[roobee]

I just use the alarm on my cell phone. It's easy to set and I'm never able to sleep through a ringing phone.

[MamaKath]

I just use the alarm on my cell phone. It's easy to set and I'm never able to sleep through a ringing phone.

This is what I use also. My current one has 3 separate alarms which you cna choose different sounds for. If you don't turn it off or wake up to it, it goes off every 5 minutes for half an hour. It works better than any alarm clock I have ever had!!! Okay with the exception of the days my mother would keep calling me until I got up during college.

[mamaoftwins]

Also, do moms of smaller, slower gaining infants have any ideas on when I should not worry about letting him sleep 4, 5 or 6 hours?

I got this cheap alarm clock from Bed, Bath & Beyond a few yrs ago, and while simple (no radio, just alarm, and snooze), it is LOUD. Seriously, the loudest I have ever owned.

To answer the above, the boys were born at 35wks, weighed 4lbs 7oz and 5lbs, slow, but steady gains, and I stopped waking them to eat around 8 wks. I wish mine had been as good at sleeping as Finn sounds like he is!