Baby Feeds Every Two Hours - Exhausted

by Anonymous

My baby is 11 weeks old. Since day 1 she feeds every 2 hours. I'm exhausted. My milk dried up last week so she is now bottle fed.

She's hungry all the time so we've added a small amount of baby rice to her feeds. Still every 2 hours she feeds.

She screams a lot and won't sleep as often as she should. I have also noticed that when she urinates she screams as if in pain, this happens when she passes wind too.

I'm a single mom although my parents are a great help. I really wish my baby would sleep through the night. Day and night she sleeps for 20 minutes the most between feeds. It's driving me mad. The health visitors say its normal. Please give me some advice. Thank you.

Baby Help Line Response:

Coping As A New Mom When Baby Eats All The Time

I really feel for you - you're obviously completely exhausted. I can't even imagine how hard it must be to be a single mom in your situation - it is hard enough if you're a couple! But, gladly your parents are there for you!

The first advice I have for you is to ask your parents a huge favor...

In my experience, the one thing that really drives you mad when your baby doesn't sleep is that you never get to sleep for more than short periods at a time. It drives you crazy! Now, since you bottle-feed, there are no practical obstacles to your parents helping you.

My suggestion is that you ask for help once a week at night (or more or less depending on what works for your parents). What you do is to go to bed after feeding your girl at for example 9 pm. Use ear plugs and sleep in a separate room (away from your daughter).

Your mom or dad handles the feeding and caring for your daughter for as long as you have agreed - all night or until midnight or whatever. This way you will have recurring nights of coherent sleep at least once per week, (or whatever you choose).

This might seem like a small change, but believe me; it can make a huge difference to your quality of life during these first intensive months with a new baby!

In addition, you should of course strive to help your baby sleep better. Read through our baby sleep tips and try to establish routines that fit you and your daughter.

Also, make sure you check our tips for improving mom's sleep. Since some of them talk about dad helping out; in your case this will have to be your parents (or a friend, maybe).

You also mention that your girl cries a lot. I completely understand that you add rice cereal since she seems to be so hungry, but just be aware of that this can also result in tummy pain as well as constipation for such young babies. If you notice something like that, consider reducing the share of cereal or take it away completely.

Feeding every second hour is normal, but exhausting! If you think your girl passes a lot of wind, baby massage can be quite effective.

Last, what might be good for you to know is that you are likely to have passed the worst period. Probably within a month, the tummy pain will start diminishing as your baby's digestive system matures further. Also, many babies start sleeping better at around the age of 4 months or so.

I really hope you'll find some help among all those tips. Don't hesitate to ask your parents and also don't hesitate to post back here if you need more advice.

Paula

Find answers and comments below.