Izzy has his days and nights mixed up, and its killing me. He sleeps so peacefully all day and is incredibly restless at night. I have been waking him up every two hours during the day. When I can manage to get his sleepy little eyes open, I try to keep him entertained and awake for about an hour. Although I thought that this plan would produce effective results, I have yet to see many changes in his sleep patterns.
At night, he wants to nurse excessively. I will feed him, and he'll happily drift off to sleep. As soon as I lay him down, he is whining and crying to nurse again. Its very frustrating. I have tried to nurse Izzy in the side-lying position, but we just can't seem to figure it out. Either I am uncomfortable, and he is latched or I am comfortable, and he keeps popping off.
So, I need some advice. How do you master the side-lying position? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I need some sleep.
8 comments:
Have you tried propping a pillow behind him, so it keeps him in a position that works for you, yet leaves your hands free to work with him on getting a comfortable latch?
Unfortunately I cannot help with the whole feeding thing......as I am a man. However, K did master the side feeding thing and you could email her with questions if you would like. Her email is mnclampits@sleepyeyetel.net.
Welcome back and Izzy is SOOOO cute!!
Max did not get to be good at side lying till he was much older. I could never get it right when he was really little. It was too hard for him. I would let Max nurse across my chest and then use a binky. I hope you find a good way for both you and Izzy.
I am with Dooneybug - I still use a pillow behind my daughter and she is 5 months old. Also, Izzy might still be a little small for the side-lying position. I remember it being 2-3 weeks before we could get it down really good.
Also, all the illustrations for side-lying did not work for me. I lie on my side with a pillow and my arm underneath the pillow. I lay the other arm over the baby, resting on the top of the pillow just behind her. Does that make sense? Definitely experiment around and don't think you just have to follow the "perfect" pictures you see everywhere.
Hang in there!
Erm, I hate to tell you this...but Baby E did not master the side-lying nursing until she was 3-4 months old, because she was just too little. Good luck!
Just agreeing with everyone else; we didn't master side lying for a few months. I think it's a size and head control thing. Does cradle hold work for you? because sometimes I nurse almost lying down, with a lot of pillows under my elbow/arm, and the baby basically in cradle across my body. I didn't do that then they were younger but they were so small I could only do football hold then.
Other thoughts about the day/night thing:
See if you can get him to nurse more during the day, though you may not be able to.
Make sure you have lots of bright lights on during the day and none at night. Try to even change diapers in as little light as possible at night.
Are you swaddling? You could try nursing him already swaddled, so that the transition to putting him down doesn't feel as big a change.
Good luck! As you know, these first few weeks are all about survival.
I can't remember now, but is Izzy too old to be cluster feeding still? Oh, I remember those cluster feedings. They are very very draining.
Like everyone else said, my babe was much older as well before we could do the side lying position. I think it was a combination of better neck control and a swift ability to relatch.
G is right. I did get the hang of the side feeding. I loved that postion because we would end up falling asleep in the end. I propped a pillow up behind her body so she wasn't really facing my chest, it was more like she was facing where my body and the bed met. I hope you get the hang of it cause it is a great way to cuddle and BF. Take care!
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