Expert: ruth kraft - 1/28/2011

Question
This is my first child and in the early days, I felt I didn't have enough milk and allowed her to feed for several hours at a time. She would cry if not latched on and I took this to mean she was still hungry.  Now at nearly 14 weeks, I still am yet to see her last much more than 2 1/4 hours between feeds including through the night. She will not settle through the night without feeding at each wake even when I have tried to passify her without food but she becomes hysterical. The night time pattern is leaving her and I exhausted.  

Feeding i getting quicker, but she has never swallowed after every 2 sucks, I have never leaked milk when not feeding and have never felt engorged,

She is providing plenty of wet and dirty nappies and is gaining wait in line with expectations.

What should I be looking to do to create more of a gap between feeds through the night?

Answer
It sounds as though she is getting enough milk to me. There are so many things that could be going into this and the reason she is waking etc. Every child is different and doesn't follow the same pattern. It would take much more time than these emails will provide to really get into the sleeping issues. I suggest though a fantastic book called "the no cry sleep solution" by susan pantley. It will give advice and help you step by step to your specific situation.

Best of luck! I know how frustrating it can be!