5 Month old still BF every 2 hours! Help!

[jesseandgrace]

My five month old DD is still breastfeeding at least every two hours. She is now over 20 pounds and about 27 inches long. My pediatrician says BF babies can not be over fed, and I have to say she is really cute, but she is HUGE and I am getting very tired of all the feeding. She will not take a bottle she spits it out and cries. She also will not take a pacifier. We have tried over and over. My pediatrician said not to start solids until 6 months, but I just started giving her baby food once a day because I want some way for someone else to feed her.

She eats every two hours all night also. I don't like the idea of letting her cry it out. I fed my son once a night until he was almost two, but every two hours is really hard. I have tried briefly to leave her but she seems very opinionated and wants to eat. If she is fed, she will go right back to sleep, so it just seems easier to give her what she wants.

When do they stop eating every two hours? How often do other mothers BF feed?

Thanks!

[pritchettzoo]

Has she been checked for reflux? Your experience sounds really similar to a good friend's. Her son did that until they got him settled on Zantac (maybe another med? brain tired...forming words difficult...). The gastro-interologist said that he was BF-ing lots in order to push the acid back down and make himself more comfortable. Just a thought!

Anna
Mama to Gracie (9/16/03)

[houseof3boys]

For the most part, Ryan averages about every 2 hours still during the day. He is much more of a snacker though most of the time. At night he can usually sleep for 5-6 hours and then is up to feed, goes back to sleep and then is up about every 1-1.5 hours after that. Sometimes he will surprise us and sleep 8 hours at a stretch!

The fact that at night she is still waking up so often may be just for comfort though. Do you try to soothe without feeding at night when she cries? I believe the No Cry Sleep Solution by Pantley actually discusses this and how to ease the waking so often.

Every baby is different though and this could just be her pattern. Ryan is 15 pounds soaking wet and about 26" long at a little over 5 months, but just today we met a 5 month old that was the same as your baby 20 pounds and 27" long!

Perhaps someone can give you some advice but I just wanted to give you another perspective from a fellow 5 monther!

[Rachels]

Oh, I feel for you. Abigail did that. She did turn out to have silent reflux, and the nursing slowed to a more manageable level once we got it controlled. In the meantime, cosleeping was the only way I survived. If I had had to get out of bed every two hours, I would have keeled over. I struggled with whether to nurse as often as she was demanding it, but it was important to me to try to respect what she was saying she needed. Now I'm so grateful I hung in there and nursed her that often. Babies are pretty wise. I was tired, for sure, but she really did NEED me. I'm glad I listened to her.

Hang in there! You WILL get through it. I know it's really hard. If you need some moe support, we're here.

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[annex]

Mine was the same size at 5 months, and on the 2 hour schedule as well, so I feel for you! She's now 7 months, and it has gotten better. She will sleep much longer stretches at night on a semi-regular basis. As long as I am not co-sleeping, I can generally get at least one 5 or 6 hour stretch of sleep (occasionally even more than that.) If she's sleeping with me, though, (on the nights when she's too fussy from teething to sleep in the crib) she reverts back to every 2 hours wanting the breast for one or two sucks before going straight back to sleep.

During the daytime, though, we're still firmly on the 2 hour schedule. She will sort of take a bottle - chews on the nipple more than she sucks - so I have been able to leave her for the occasional 2-3 hour stretch without a total meltdown occuring. We also started solids and a sippy cup with water around her 6 month birthday, but she rarely takes more than an ounce of solids and two of water per day, so I don't think that was much of a factor in the change. You might consider trying a sippy cup with EBM now to see if that is more palatable to her than a bottle. I like the small Gerber ones because you can take the valve out and the liquid comes out at a slow dribble and doesn't make a huge mess compared to ther brands.

Anne

[sunny2003]

My 6.5 month old was still bf every 2 hours during the day until recently (though not at night). Now that she eats 3 meals a day, she is bfing every 3 hours which is a huge difference - we started her on solids at 5 months per ped's direction and she only recently started stretching the feedings. So, maybe when you do get on a solid schedule, that will help but every baby is different. Hang in there!

Viv
Mommy to Kayley born on 4/28/03

[momofboys]

Does your dd eat well at all her feeds? When she cries (?) after 2 hours, during the day, are you certain it is food that she needs? My ds (6/30/03) was eating every 2 hours or less. I realized that he was just snacking all day & never really filling up enough to enable him to go without nnursing for a longer period of time. Some nights he nursed all night & some nights he went up to 8 hours. For 3 days now I have been working on feeding him every 3 hours. It has been working wonderfully. After the morning feed, when he starts getting squirmy (about an hour later), I give him 1 Tbs. oatmeal & then an ounce or 2 of water if he seems thirsty. If he is still upset & wanting to nurse, I give him a nice long bath, massage, then I take him out for a walk & generally play with him to occupy him till 3 hours has passed. At the next feed, he is "starving" & nursing so well that it is much easier to coax him to wait 3 hours again. Today was day 3 & it was much easier. I do NOT let him cry. I just play, take him for a walk, etc. to push him off. I think at this age, they can be "taught" to fill up at a feed so that it will last. The key is to get them hungry enough so that they "fill up the tank". He even napped today & went 4 hours instead of 3! Yesterday though, he was really cranky in the evening, so I fed him after 2 1/2 hours. You cannot be too rigid. As far as nights, if you keep your baby in bed with you then the night should not be so hard & may even out once the day is on a more normal schedule. I have no energy to work on this at night. I'd rather sleep & blearily turn from side to side as ds wants. As I've said before, lately he is surprising me with longer stratches. Good Luck. HTH

[lizamann]

DD is 6 months and still eats all the time. I saw the LC at 5 mos. and she said that the baby may just be snacking because the world is so exciting that they just eat enough to take off the edge so they can get back to the excitement. Then they get hungry more quickly and also want to nurse a lot at night to make up for eating less during the day.

I've thought of trying something like momofboys distraction approach to space out the feeds, but it's a heck of a lot easier to pop the baby on the breast (while surfing or reading!) than it is to run around crazy trying to distract her. Sometimes I wonder if I've made her like this out of laziness!

The co-sleeping also really helps us at night. I think I would be very bitter and hate life if I had to get up every 2 hours! Flipping baby over is enough to make me feel like cursing sometimes, but I'm trying not to let that become a habit!

Just know that I am there with you, waiting for it to get less frequent.

Oh, I forgot to say that DD is a mere 13.5 ish lbs at 6 months. A tiny little thing who eats all the time...

[jesseandgrace]

Thanks everyone. I definitely have some great ideas to try. I do have her in the bed with me because there is NO WAY I could get out of bed every two hours. Also, she wakes up again if moved and wants to keep eating. I'm a very light sleeper, so the co-sleeping works for me. I'll let everyone know what works, if anything :).

Jennifer

[votre_ami03]

I feel for you. My son is 17 weeks & he is up every 3 hours or so to eat. He is about the same size as your DD, by my guestimate, 19lbs & probably around the same length.

I can't seem to get him interested in anything but BM, wants nothing to do with cereal.

Christy & baby Nolan 7/22/03

[lizajane]

my child was 20lbs and 29 inches at his 6 mo appt. he is currently 7.5 months, 30 inches and still around 20 lbs. he is exclusively breastfed. he eats 4-5 times per day and (with the exception of the past week and a half of teething) sleeps 11-12 hours at night.

i don't have much time for wording this post carefully, so please ignore anything i say that doesn't suit you and know that if my style is different from yours, you are welcome to throw what i say out of the window!

i don't think big babies need to eat more often, as proved by my child, because of their size.

i think maybe she is in the habit of eating so often, as others have said, because she knows she can eat again in 2 hours so she doesn't actually eat a full meal at each feeding.

i think it you work toward stretching out the time in between feedings (barring any medical conditions like reflux that i know nothing about, of course!) i think she would start eating less frequently. perhaps you could feed at 8am, encouraging her to continue eating after she seems to want to stop to see if she will take more at 8am. then offer again at 10:15 or 10:30. the next day, 10:20 or 10:40, etc. i would think, from what i have learned for myself and my child, that she would start to eat more at each feeding and she would start to expect to wait longer.

i also think, from what i have read/heard from others, that feeding at night encourages feeding at night. you don't need to change anything because you can't overfeed a breastfed baby, but if YOU feel like you need a change, then maybe you could try stretching out the night feedings, as well, in order to limit them or eliminate them.

here is my child's schedule, and has been his approx. schedule for the past few months-
wake 7am, eat
nap 9-11, wake/eat
nap 2-3, wake/eat
5pm eat
6:45pm bedtime snack
7pm bedtime

we did use some CIO sleep training, but i have ALWAYS fed him on cue and have NEVER denied him a feeding or made him wait for it when he was hungry. we established a play, sleep, wake, eat, play... routine very early on, so he expects to eat when he wakes and that is it. except for the evening cluster feeding, which has been his "thing" since day one.

again, ignore me if you think my advice is bunk. i don't want to suggest that you HAVE to stretch feedings. i just wanted to offer support if doing so would make YOU happier, which may help you to have more fun with him!

good luck!!

edited to change the pronouns because i am braindead and kept writing he instead of she...

[momofboys]

I just remembered something. At the end of every feeding, especially on days 1 & 2 of our "schedule training", when ds stopped sucking actively, I would do breast compressions to encourage ds to suck just a bit more & get the fatty hindmilk which might keep him fuller & help him to go longer till the next feed. Also I am trying not to let him nurse & nurse for an hour at a time even though he loves it. I'd be surfing or reading & I'd realize an hour has passed & he is just gumming gently without really eating. I think this is a bad habit, because he will then want this all the time, which leaves me with no life & leaves him without learning how to keep himself busy at all & learn stimulating new things. I've been really happy with the way he is adjusting. The funny thing is that he is happier too & waaaaaay calmer than he was before. After a good feed, he will play under his Gymini for a while, bounce in his saucer or just contemplate his toes for a longer time than he ever did before! Good Luck. Keep us posted. I'd like to hear how it works out for you.

[drsweetie]

As someone asked, are you sure it's food that your DD wants? I fed Laura every 2 hours (basically, whenever she cried) for the longest time until I realized that the 2-hour crying meant sleepy, not hungry. She sometimes fusses for 5 min or so at a maximum, but she usually goes to sleep -- if she's hungry, a nap won't satisfy her, so there's no "crying it out" involved.

Ellen
Mom to Laura 6/9/03