Desperate and losing the plot :(

Apologies in advance cos I think this will be long...

I don't know what to do anymore, Blake has been consistently waking up every 3-4 hours during the night (at different times) and is hungry each time - he has that 'cough' sounding cry in the back of his throat that he does when he's hungry and he feeds for a good 20 mins or so. We are on a 3 hour routine during the day of wake, eat, play, sleep and he normally has a 1hr sleep in the morning, 1 1/2 - 2hr midday and another 1 - 1 1/2 hr in the afternoon - I always put him down awake and 9 times out of 10 he goes to sleep really easily. He has done a 7 hour stretch at night 3 times (weeks apart) and was doing 5-6 hours but has gone backwards for the last 2-3 weeks so I don't think it's a growth spurt.

He was 4 weeks prem and IUGR (2kg at birth) and is now about 5 1/2kg at 18 weeks and is fully b/f. I think he must be waking in the night because he hasn't had enough during the day but how do I feed him more? He has one side then we do a nappy change then he has the other side - he doesn't cry when he feeds or after and for the most part he is a very happy, smiley baby. Does he need a top-up? I'm wondering about giving him formula for his dreamfeed but he has never had a bottle, not even a dummy so not sure how that would go (don't know until we try though).

He has a feed usually around 5pm, then at 7pm then a dreamfeed at 10.30/11pm but still wakes at 1-2am and then again at 5-6.30am. I don't drink coffee or coke, just 1 or 2 Earl Grey teas - could the quality of my milk be poor? My diet is ok, could be better but i do have a lot of dairy. Or do I just have to try ride it out? I just feel like I'm losing the plot with lack of sleep and it's affecting everything.

Can anyone suggest anything? I'm off to my solids group at Plunket this morning so will ask them as well - I just don't know how much longer I can go on like this

Sorry for the ramble...my brain is mush at the moment

Hmmmm I'm not sure I would start solids since he was prem.. he wouldn't quite be 4 months corrected would he?

There were posts on making "super milk" some time ago, might be worth a search

slow poster here... yeah i agree with stacey i dont think solids would be the way to go either... i know that even tho eden was showing the traditional signs like watching us eat etc she didnt really want the food... and i know too that solids wont necessarily make them sleep thru.

Yeah Bizzy, I wonder about that dreamfeed because it doesn't seem to extend his sleep any and as hard as I try I always end up waking him up so it feels like I'm just enforcing the 3 hourly feeds IYKWIM?

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I feel better knowing that at least there are things I can try. You know the saying ' the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result' ? - that's how I'm feeling at the moment!

Ethan didnt sleep through till bout 6 months and not every night till 2 weeks ago.. and he is FF.. and for him solids didn't make much of a difference(though they do for a lot of bubs we know) 6-8 months of being the only one who gets up all night every night really did my head in so though I don;t have any advice I totally feel for you..

I went to a course on the Growing baby 4 - 6 months, and the educator stressed that at 4 months, most babies go through a change of sleeping patterns and the best thing to do is ride it out! Feed when they are hungry and like Bizzy said, keep him up for the hour and half, feeding on both sides.
She also said it doesnt necessarily mean they are ready for solids even though they could be showing some of the signs...its all confusing being a mum, hey!
I really hope Blake settles down for you soon, Jo, and this stage doesnt last too long!
It sounds like you are doing a great job

Sorry, me again. The feeding guide I was talking about is called First Foods for Premature Babies - looks like it's by Auckland City Hospital and the Auckland District Health Board. I was given mine by the KidzFirst nurses who followed up Ems care after she was discharged from Middlemore NICU. Maybe you could try to contact Auckland City Hospital or the Health Board to find out more.

Thanks TrudandEm, we never got any info, maybe because he was in SCBU not NICU? We were at NSH the whole time.

Oh, and weighed him today, he's 5.72kg, he's put on 640gm in a month - is that enough? That would be about 160gm a week. Are there any guidelines as to how much they should be gaining?

Thanks for that, that pamphlet is really interesting and Blake ticks off a lot of the readiness questions. According to the pamphlet the earliest date for solids for him would be 4 October, and the latest 30 Dec so I guess anywhere in that range is ok. I think I'll leave it for a couple of weeks, see how things go and try introducing a little bit then. Thanks so much for the info

Good luck with the Family Centre, Jo
the one here in Hamilton really got us on the right track when hayley was 7 weeks old
On average Hayley has put on around 160grams per week over the last month, Plunket were happy with that