Sleep deprived - exclusively breastfeeding mom. Help!

[neni]

Hi mga sis. 2 months na si baby and until now, d sya nakakatulog ng straight sa gabi. Longest is 1 hour pag nasa crib and 3hours sa chest ko. Mag feed sya ng madaling araw 1-2 hours minsan, kasama na yun makakatulog on my breast then gising to feed again. Zombie mode na ko for 2.5months. Help pls

[daveigh]

^ Sis, ganun talaga. That happened to me and its very exhausting talaga. My baby started to sleep through the night mga 3 months na ata sya. You should sleep when your baby sleeps sa umaga.  So my husband decided to do the feeding (bottle) sa gabi para makapahinga ako kahit 5-6 hrs.

One more thing, you can hand express your milk tapos yun ang i-feed mo sa gabi.

Matatapos ka rin sa phase na yan, hang on.

[sistah!]

I feel you sis! I breastfed exclusively for almost 14 months before we decided to mix feed because I wanted to stop pumping at work na. The first few months are tough. For me, it nearly made me switch to formula. Good thing my husband, mom and our doctors were incredibly supportive of the decision to breastfeed so even under stress, I kept on.

Try to determine when your baby sleeps longest. For me, I noticed that the 8PM to midnight, she slept rather soundly so I slept at that time and left her with the yaya or my husband to watch over. They would then wake me if the baby needed to feed (I never learned to keep a schedule, I fed her on demand). I also learned to take catnaps when the baby slept during the day. This was difficult but when you're tired, your body will learn to adjust. If your child is 2.5 months, konting tiis na lang. You can also do a sidelying position at night so you can sleep while your baby nurses. If you are uneasy about this, ask your husband to watch while you sleep on your side to make sure that the baby is ok.

Pumping helps and does wonders! I used to get up religiously at 4AM to pump an extra 2 to 3oz. That's incredibly helpful on those nights when you desperately need to sleep so your yaya or husband can feed baby themselves. It also encourages dads to be more active in the childcare role.

Congratulations on your breastfeeding journey! It's not easy, but it's such a great choice to make. Konting tiis na lang. By the 3rd or 4th month, it became so easy for me na rin. Kayang kaya mo yan sis. I didn't think I could do it, but I did. And I don't have the kind of steely resolve that other stronger women do. I'm sure you'll make it.

[i.am.lee]

same lang tayo sis..si baby ko naman magtu-2 months pa lang..hindi ko sya masabayan ng tulog sa umaga since hubby works abroad so ako lahat..we do side lying position nakakatulong yun sa pagtulog sa gabi..mga 9pm sya nakalatulog then 4am fully awake na sya..every 2-3 hrs feeding time nya at night..i think ang nakakatulong talaga is yung thought na after few weeks lilipas din ang gantong situation..kaya natin to sis!

[i.am.lee]

same lang tayo sis..si baby ko naman magtu-2 months pa lang..hindi ko sya masabayan ng tulog sa umaga since hubby works abroad so ako lahat..we do side lying position nakakatulong yun sa pagtulog sa gabi..mga 9pm sya nakalatulog then 4am fully awake na sya..every 2-3 hrs feeding time nya at night..i think ang nakakatulong talaga is yung thought na after few weeks lilipas din ang gantong situation..kaya natin to sis!

[neni]

Sis daveigh: thanks sa tip. Medyo takot [textspeak!] kasi ako na c yaya mag feed sa gabi kasi baka inaantok tpos malaglag si baby. Paranoid lang hehe but will try next week kasi sometimes not nman hungry, more on comfort feeding lang

Sis sistah: thanks sa encouragement, really trying my best to stick to breastfeeding esp nakikita ko yun benefits. My yaya has cough n colds for the longest time n d pa nahahawa c baby, thank god. Sana nga by 3mos magbago na sked nya. Feel like crying na hehe hard for me magfeed sa side kasi nangangalay ako so no choice tpos nagbabago yun sked nya everytime may growth spurt so hard to say [textspeak!] longest sleep nya sa ngyon. i hope i can last for as long as you did

Sis i.am.lee: congrats supermom. You're right, lilipas nga 'to, minsan [textspeak!] mahirap isipin pag kulang sa tulog hehe kaya natin 'to

Any suggestions sa equipment na makahelp? thanks mga sis. Big help yun encouragement n tips nyo

[nerlynjen]

ganyan talaga sis every 2-3 hours gutom sila

[m_lim]

buy a breast pump. para naman di mo ma feel na hostage ka ni baby. nakakabaliw kaya!

[neni]

^ meron ako sis, hindi nga lang ganun kadami napapump ko kaya need to save it for errands. Pero mag eeffort na ko ngayon mag pump for night feedings

[ia]

kaya mo yan sis... sabi nga ng ibang mommies dito, lilipas din yung phase na yan...just think of the benefits of BM. Exclusive BM rin ang baby ko for nine months, tyagaan lang talaga considering na im a working mom, so after two months, mega-pump ako sa office 

Ngayon, mixed feeding na ako, but most often my baby still prefers my milk especially if matutulog na siya, as in itataboy niya palayo yung bottle... i take pride in that... effective sa akin yung sleep when the baby sleeps and magpadede ng side lying position, but i make sure na nasa tabi ko either si hubby or si yaya para just in case makatulog ako, may sasalo ke baby. 

[neni]

^ Aww.. Kakatuwa naman na mommy pa rin kesa bottle gusto ni baby thanks sis. Lumalakas loob ko pag nakakarinig ako ng mga success stories ng BF. Sana nga lumipas na hehe

May nakakaalam ba kung may nagbebenta ng swing dito sa pinas? Yun parang duyan na electronic? TIA

[ayami]

Sleep deprived pa rin ako at 4 months exclusive BF. Wala rin kaming yaya kaya halos mabaliw na ko dati. Night shift si hubby kaya lalong wala akong katulong sa hirap. Nakakainggit nga ang may mga yaya. Minsan pag good mood yung mom ko tutulungan niya ko pero more often than not hindi.

Anlalim na ng eyebags ko and tumanda talaga itsura ko. Pero compared nung first 3 months mas ok na sleep pattern ni baby ngayon. 2 times na lang ako nagpapadede sa madaling-araw. Ang next challenge dyan yung teething. Good luck satin haha

[rhia_luvs_harvey]

i breastfed well still breastfeeding my babies..1st daughter ko until she was 2 and 2 months old but since  i was already 7 months pregnant with my second child...my bunso is already 2 years and 4 months but she is still breastfeeding. if i can give any advise it would be to establish a routine. every night at the exact same time breastfeed your baby whether she/he is sleeping, playing or whatnot breastfeed. and when you do this go to a specific room if possible, dim the lights and minimize the sound that way you help your baby differentiate night and day. if the baby stops feeding, put him/her down and let the baby sleep on their own. right after your baby falls asleep, ka din. after 2 to 3 hours whether the baby awakes or not, breastfeed. the secret to less tantrums at night is not to wait for the baby to wake up hungry kasi by that time irritated na sya. then again after feeding and burping put the baby. repeat this every 2 to 4 hours until your baby gets the routine. magiging regular din sleeping pattern mo and magugulat ka nalang you're getting as much sleep as you need. if tulog si baby take advantage and sleep ka din.

don't rely on the baby to adjust or change pattern it should be instilled.

here's a sched i used to do with my babies

8pm prep for sleep time (dim lights and lower the television sound if possible turn it off, this helps baby to relax and identify night time)
12am feeding
2 am feeding
6 am feeding
8 am half open blinds to left sunlight in (to introduce daytime)

hope this helps, it worked for my 2 angels

[tiggerlily]

try mo sya i-burp baka kaya hindi nya masulit ang pagtulog dahil may kabag?

also, google for the side-lying position. magtabi kayo matulog - mas mahihimbing kayo pareho. kapag nagising sya for a feeding, all you have to do is pop a boob feed baby and go back to sleep. ito ang secret para mas mahaba ang tulog ng mga breastfeeding moms. once nakasanayan mo na this position, you can even do it without opening your eyes. wag lang si daddy ang mapadodo ha. hehe!

don't give up. breastfeeding always starts a bit difficult but it gets easier. and the benefits are definitely worth the effort!

[tiggerlily]

oh yeah... nun natuto na gumapang ang anak ko, he learned how to find my boob na. so haba na talaga ng tulog ko. i think he was about 9 months. i would know that he fed kasi nakataas yung shirt ko. LOL

[Pookiekai]

ako rin, sobrang puyat at pagod na sa pag aalaga sa 1.5mos. na baby boy ko. hirap pa nito, hinahanap nya talaga ako kasi kahit karga ng iba at katatapos lang dumede sa bottle, (mixed feeding kami) gusto nya sa akin magpakarga sabay comfort nurse.may minsan na sa tyan ko na [textspeak!] sya idinadapa o kaya sa arms ko sya natutulog para lang makasleep ako kahit 3hrs.pag kasi inilalapag ko sya kahit tulog na, gigising at gigising after an hour.sana nga magchange na pattern ng baby ko.sobrang nakakadrain ng energy.nakikihiram lang kasi ako ng helper sa kabilang bahay pag di ko na talaga kaya. wala na ko mom at lola,yun naman mil ko wapakels sa amin.kaya solo buhay until dumating si hubby this nov.

[Dyewel]

Mahirap talaga breastfeeding sa first month pero mas dumadali habang tumatagal.

Try your best na sabayang matulog si baby.

Noon, i make sure na may na pump ako before makatulog para pag nagising si baby may ipapa-dede si hubby.

Ngayon, pampatulog pa rin nya breastfeeding. Twice   pa magising, around 12 am and before 5am pero sariling hanap na ng boobs, nakakatulugan ko na pagdede. Pagkulang bm ko, wait nya timplang gatas ni hubby. Mix feeding na sya ngaun at 1yr9mo.

Until now mas gusto nya boobs, pag masama ang pakiramdam nagiging human 'pacifier' ako.

[ladydominion]

I am sleep deprived for 11 months now. I am a wfh mom. come november 2014, my LO won't sleep long at night. he usually wakes up almost every hour. so to put him back to sleep, i breastfeed him. we already sought the help of 3 pedias but they just said that his sleeping pattern is not yet stable. any mom's here experiencing the same thing? i feel hopeless & restless too

[nikki]

^is your baby eating solid food now? As in the same food that u eat like rice with ulam?  One of things that pedia told me so that babies sleep through without feeding during the night is make sure they eat well at dinner time.. More on protein is advisable because they will feel a lot fuller.

I am hoping to prove this with my 2nd baby. He is almost 11mos now but when we tried to feed him that kind of food Medyo fail pa so we're back to organic/mostly puréed food. The only good thing about my situation now is that I breastfeed at night and he sleeps with me in the bed so kahit pano nakaka tulog ako.  Hindi siya deep sleeper unlike my panganay so konting galaw.. Medyo magigising, closed eyes but he will look after my breast para makatulog ulit.  I haven't really tracked every when he would ask for milk.. But I think it varies every night. I am fine with this set up than having to prepare for formula at night Kasi dito Gising ka Talaga. So yes, sleep deprived pa rin (almost 3 yrs and the longest sleep would be 4hrs on average 😄 )

With my first baby naman, I had to give him formula because I got pregnant when he was 8mos and I had no more BM.  What worked here though was he would sleep solid 3-4 hrs before he asks for milk. And because I was pregnant then, Gising din ako Palagi sa gabi to pee.  He finally stopped asking for milk when he was 1yr and 4mos.  And then I gave birth that same month so tuloy ang puyatan. Lol

[_AiaH_]

I can totally relate to this. My baby is just a week old and the first few days made me cry, a LOT! I was exhausted. I gave birth to her via CS and got discharged sa hospital but my BP's very unstable. I was told to take a lot of rest kaso with my baby being exclusively breastfed, walang wala ako time magpahinga. there were mornings I would cry sa asawa ko kasi i'm very exhausted. The first week, i can count with my 2 hands the hours of sleep i'm able to get the entire week na. I was rushed to the ER pa kasi my BP shot up again.

Everytime I think of giving up, I think of reasons why I started and wanted it in the first place. Pregnant palang ako, I promised myself na breastfed baby ang anak ko for as long as I possibly can. we have a can of formula here na pinabili ng pedia nya nung nanganak ako kasi they can't make her latch dahil suka ako ng suka sa recovery room.

Lahat ng advises here are true. sabayan si baby when they sleep. I noticed her pattern na tulog sya buong araw. she sleeps soundly until 2am so tulog kami sa araw or I sleep after 6pm feeds nya kasi 4-5hrs of continuous sleep is okay na for me. then after nun, cat naps na. kahit pa 30, 20mins na singit ng tulog until 7am good enough na for me.

so far I am adjusting na and we just got back sa pedia nya for her follow up check up, she gained 300gms considering na nagllose pa sila ng weight sa first week so she probably gained more but lost it.

Maganda rin may support system. my husband is very hands on din sa anak namin, sobra. my parents help out a lot din kapag magpapahinga ako sa gabi. i basically take the early morning until afternoon shift. then sila na when they're around.

I'm hoping makalampas na kami sa stage na to. post op, marami parin ako nararamdaman and hindi pa regular bodily functions ko so medyo mahirap parin.