My 2 month old only sleeps 1 hour sometimes 1.5 hours at night at a time. During the day he will only fall asleep in the swing...but he sleeps so well...usually 2 hours, 2-3 times a day. At what age should he begin to sleep longer at night? Should I worry about only falling asleep in the swing? Also how do you know if your breast milk supply is slowing down? My little guy only sucks calmly for about 5 minutes and then he pops on and off continuously..I have to force him to stay on...and when I look, there is no milk in the shield. (he has to use a nipple shield to feed).
I would also advise against Babywise. It's not a very forgiving book. Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby and the Baby Whisperer are good books.
First off I think you need to wean him off the nipple shield. It can be a good tool to establish breastfeeding for babies who have early breastfeeding problems, but after 6 weeks or so they are better able to latch. As the early overabundance tapers off, the shield can actually prevent the baby from getting the milk he needs and can interfere with further milk production. Once he is getting enough to eat, he should sleep longer. Start nursing him with the shield, but once your milk lets down take him off the breast, remove the shield, and latch him back on. It may be rough the first few days but he should get the hang of it really quickly! Once he is latching well without the shield after the initial letdown try putting him on without the shield at the beginning. Good job for continuing to nurse him in the face of difficulties!!!
Hi C.,
I HIGHLY recommend you read the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. Dr. Weissbluth has extensive experience in sleep and sleep disorders. Reading his book helped me understand biological sleep rhythms and how the help my daughter get into an age appropriate sleep schedule. The beginning is a little dry as it explains the whys and whens of sleep, but is worth it. As for Babywise, the AAP has warned parents AGAINST this book and its method, giving it an "F".
As for the breastfeeding issues, I would contact a lactation consultant for help. I didn't have much luck with breastfeeding, regardless of what I did.
Email me if you have questions on Dr. Weissbluth's methods, I'm always happy to help.
Sincerely,
L.
You could try pumping the other side while he is nursing, this will help with the let down. He's still very small. I had kids who slept 5 hours at 5 weeks and I had two others who didn't sleep that long until they were almost 12 months. The sleep will come soon. There is a book called Baby Wise, it helps train your child to sleep longer by implementing a schedule. I have a few friends who swore by that book.
Talk to your pedi. Also I recommend the Heatlhy Sleeping Habits book. I also got good info from Babywise (by reading about it on Amazon). If you think your supply is low, then pump and feed him from a bottle. Maybe try formula if you think he is not getting enough. I heard of babies sleeping in swings, next to dishwashers, in the laundry room with the dryer going, etc. White noise helps a lot.
