Author Topic: Breastfed baby wont nap!  (Read 1872 times)

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Offline Monty2016

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Breastfed baby wont nap!
« on: January 31, 2017, 10:37:52 am »
My son is three months and is exclusivly breastfed.
He was only five eleven when born and on the lowest centilee.
He has never been a napper,now and again he wil fall asleep in his car seat and stay asleep for a couple of hours but on the whole he doesnt sleep during the day at all and is quite grumpy for at least half of his awake time.
He also doesnt sleep very long at night either. I get three hoyrs between 8-11 then hes either up eveey two hours or sometimes every hour..depending on the length of his feed.
He does fall asleep while nursing and ive gotten inro the habit of letting him sleeep on me becaise i am am so worried that hes only getting 5-6 hours of sleep a day. His feeds last at least an hour then he has half an hour where he is happy then half an hour of skriking before i feed him again.
I have been told by my partner and a doctor that i am spoiling him by feeding this frequently buthow can i not feed him if hes humgry.. Hes gaining weight nicely and if i start limiting him surely he will stop gaining weight?
Would really appreciate some advice as i am at my wits end, my partner is constantly telling me that i am spoiling my baby, docs telling me to feed every three hours for 20 mins then if hes still hungry to give him formula..which i dont want to do..i literally have twenty mins between his feeds for time for myself before he wants feeding again so i rush round trying to do things like shopping..washing etc then back to feeding.
I thought he would need less feeding the older he got and would love it if he would even just take an hours nap diring the day....hes done it once but it took me an hour of him crying in his crib.

Offline cath~

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Re: Breastfed baby wont nap!
« Reply #1 on: February 02, 2017, 18:30:26 pm »
Just bumping this up for you

((Hugs)) sounds really tough for you ATM

Haven't got time to post properly I'm afraid but have you looked at the FAQs? Lots of tips for getting started on better naps etc there.

Fwiw I think at this age you def don't need to introduce a bottle if he's gaining weight fine.

Hope someone will be along soon with some advice. Xx
DD1 - 8 years old
DD2 - 5 years old

Offline michaeljacknnugg

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Re: Breastfed baby wont nap!
« Reply #2 on: February 02, 2017, 20:34:46 pm »
((Hugs), that sounds really tough.

Ignore what people are saying and go with your instincts. He might just be a hungry baby trying to catch up, and you can't spoil him - or know exactly why he wants feeding so much at this stage. It does pass, scarily quickly for me this time around.

Wrt sleep, I had a non-napper who is still really hard to get to sleep at times. But a routine and good sleep habits emerged over time. Just start with the end in mind, if that makes sense? At three months we still had all naps in the sling (exhausting!) as he wouldn't have slept otherwise, but we gradually made the move to the cot.

Don't worry, enjoy him being little as much as you can.
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Offline *Ali*

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Re: Breastfed baby wont nap!
« Reply #3 on: February 03, 2017, 00:15:51 am »
Of course you must feed him if he's hungry. You can't spoil a baby by BFing him!

Have you tried feeding him lying down next to him so you can slip away without having to move him?

Was he just low birth weight or was he early?
Cadan Dec 2009 and Colby Aug 2011


Offline zissi

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Re: Breastfed baby wont nap!
« Reply #4 on: February 08, 2017, 21:30:57 pm »
I can only confirm what the others have said, follow your instinct and don't listen to the others, especially your doctor. your baby is only 3 months and still needs loads of feeds and cuddles. both of mine didn't want to be put down, so I had to carry them a lot. you could feed in the bed and sleep as well for naps? his feeds seem to be very long, have you ruled out tongue tie? it could be that he is not very efficient at feeding, hence the long and frequent feeding. might be worth checking it out. but other than this you are doing a great job. responding to your babies needs is exactly the right thing to do. hugs
Franziska