Breastfeeding Help - 8 weeks old feeding every 2 hours

Question

Does anyone have any advice for getting my 8 week old to sleep longer during the night? A little background, he is up every 2 hours to eat. i have tried getting him to eat more by changing him, etc, but he eats and is done and is back asleep. he has gone for a 4 hour stretch before so i know he can do it. and for about 4 nights he was going every 3 hours, but then now for the passed 3 nights went back to every 2 hours. i'm just exhausted and am considering giving him formula at this point. i don't know what to do. i don't know if i should let him cry? i feel selfish wanting to sleep longer and giving him formula to do so and not giving him what i consider the best.

please help!

Answer

A growth spurt around 2 months is very common. I would not recommend giving formula for two reasons: 1) Contrary to popular belief, formula doesn't help babies STTN. I know BF babies who STTN at 6 weeks, and formula fed babies who didn't STTN at 9 months. 2) your baby is likely increasing your supply to meet his nutritional needs. Introducing formula will interfere with that process and cause you to produce insufficient milk, requiring more formula supplementation.

Now as for helping with the situation - how often is he nursing during the day? how long is he napping? Does he take 3-4 hour naps during the daytime? If so, wake him up after 2 hours and nurse him during the day. Also, try offering the breast every hour in the evening for about 3 hours before his normal bedtime (i.e. if he goes to bed at 8, offer the breast at 5, 6, 7, and 8p). Encouraging cluster feeding in the evenings can help babies sleep longer through the nighttime hours.

Unfortunately, he is too young for any kind of sleep training or cry-it-out methods. If he's crying at this point, it's because he needs something, not just because he can't get back to sleep, so he'll likely keep crying until his needs are met. Pediatric sleep experts are pretty universal in their recommendation to wait until 4 months old before trying the cry it out approach.

A couple other things that might help him sleep. 1) have you tried swaddling? Some babies sleep better when swaddled. I would recommend using a special swaddler such as the miracle blanket or 'the swaddler' because they are less likely to come undone and get bunched around him.
2) have you tried using white noise such as a fan or white noise machine?
3) It's not a great habit to get into, but if you really need the sleep (and it sounds like you do!) have you tried putting him in a swing to sleep? I'd try not to do it too often but right now I would say sleep for you is more important than avoiding the swing. Right now he's really too little to develop bad sleep habits anyway.

Hope this helps and I hope he gets through this growth spurt soon!