Saturday, November 8, 2008

Feeding Pattern

Hmm... guess mummy have a frequent snacker on the boobs around the clock. Baby Zheng is one aggresive and alert baby. Thank goodness that he allows mummy to have time for daily 3 main meals and a few uninterrupt hours to sleep at night.

All the while been thinking breastfeed babies will have 1-2 hours interval between feed and sleep. Well, different baby has different pattern which is definitely so true! Baby Zheng wakes up everyday right after mummy had breakfast at around 8a.m. Sometimes mummy is able to get a short nap before he wakes up. Then, start the feeding session till 11.30am or 12.30pm (mummy's lunch time). In between this 3 hours, baby Zheng never sleep and goes on feed --> pee --> feed --> poo --> feed --> ... and repeats and repeats till he sleeps. Mummy suspected that he sleeps due to tireness instead of fullness (of the tummy).

After 2-3 hours sleep, he wakes up for boobies again. The same pattern applies for the whole afternoon till 6 or 6.30pm, which is the time for mummy's dinner. Then he'll sleeps for another 2-3 hours before bedtime feeding which will last 2-3 hours too. Mummy is so tired of this frequent snacker as he will sucks for 20 minutes, then dozed off for a few minutes. By the time we thought he's sound asleep, put him down and he'll yell for the breast, oh... perhaps his walking pacifier? Mummy even can feel the boobies is producing non-stop around the clock, having slight engorgement even without feeding for 1 hour! Good news??

Luckily, both nipples already heal with slight soreness still due to baby Zheng prolong suckling. Lately, mummy discover some discomfort or... pain to be exact when baby Zheng sucks. There's no bleeding or cracked nipples but mummy is sure he's using his gum when suckling. He has the habit of curling in his lower lips even after mummy corrected him again and again. Looks like this journey is not a smooth one for us. Mummy won't give up anymore as we already went through the most terrible phase, will determine going on no matter what.

This is such a new esperience as compare to a formula-fed En En. Mummy even feels so "syiok" to see his poo poo... not even using any strength to poo! Haha! Let's see what's baby Zheng feeding pattern will be after his full moon.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

For my first boy, I jot down the feeding and sleep pattern but for my gal, I didn't do anything. Just feed when she wanted and let her develop her own pattern. I found that it's less stressful to both of us.
But his pattern sounds ok to me, at least he let you sleep for a few hours at night. :) Just take rest when he rests, ok?

Chinneeq said...

Sharine, good to hear that u are not giving up. Imagine i have 2, rotating to suck and i had to basically sit there all day long. But i tell u, it will get easier as yur bb grows (even feeding time gets shorter). By then u will not regret breastfeeding at all when Bb Zheng gets bigger :)

All the best!

Anonymous said...

its normal and once past 1 or 1.5 mths, feeding will be more regular and on schedule. u jsut have to feed on demand and can lie down to feed bb and u sleep at the same time. no need sit up to feed.
bb sleeps, u sleep too! engorgement means u are not feeding enuff, so in a way its not good news lor, just feed on demand and later one u will be fine edi...
good luck!

chanelwong said...

dont worry..once he grow bigger..will not be that often...keep it up

jazzmint said...

wahh...but u are still very persevered and determined. keep up the good work, sure u can do it

slavemom said...

U're doing great! At least he lets u eat ur 3 meals n sleep at night. :D

Anonymous said...

Hey, glad to see you're enjoying the breastfeeding experience :)

For my first month, it was 2 hours interval also in between feeds. Then, it became 3 hours from month 2 onwards.

I used to just let Lucas take his time but then my CL said it's a bad habit esp since I never had rest!

After reading up on it, if baby sleeps at the breast halfway feeding, he should be woken up. Baby should only sleep after a full feed so he'll develop a regular 'meal time' routine.

When Lucas got drowsy after a few sucks, I'd touch his cheek and call him to wake up and drink. He would frown but then suck again until he was fully fed. And then he slept on when I laid him down on the bed. Phew!

Anyway, each baby is different so see how it goes for you...

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you are on the right track! Great job, and keep at it!

Peridot&Sapphire said...

Thanks all for the encouragement and support... really appreciate at times like this!

shoppingmum: I jot down the input (Feeding) and output of my boy too, easier to keep track. But there are days when he just suckle non-stop so basically unable to record down anything as there's no time at all!

chinnee, chanel: I do hope he grows faster so that this terrible phase will go away!

wen: Hardly can sleep on lying down position as bb still bites me!

kittycat: my boy refuse to sleep when I place hime down. My mum said I need to hang bb in front of my boobies!!